For the past several years, there have been questions as to whether Mike Tomlin and Keith Butler should change the base formation of the Steelers' defense from a 3-4 to a 4-3, considering the success of other defenses in the NFL.
Of the final four teams in the playoffs this season, three employ traditional 4-3 style defenses: the Jaguars, Vikings and Eagles. The Vikings ranked as the top defense in the NFL before being destroyed, 38-7, by the Eagles. The Jaguars were ranked second, the Eagles fourth.
Butler took over the Steelers' defense in 2015 and made no such change, which has been a point of contention for fans. Especially after the team went from having a defense ranked fifth in yards allowed and seventh in points allowed to giving up 38 points to Blake Bortles and the Jaguars.
We examine why the Steelers don't need as much of a change to a traditional 4-3 defense, but need to find personnel that can fulfill certain roles or get more consistent production out of players on their roster:
MERITS TO THE FOUR-MAN FRONT
One thing that Butler has expressed repeatedly is that he wants pressure with just four rushers. This is because the traditional combination of rushers allows for two players to rush from each edge and two in the middle. Simultaneously, the defense can have their seven remaining defenders completely commit to coverage and execute various schemes that can make it more difficult for quarterbacks to process what is happening and where weak spots might be.
Take the Jaguars as the perfect example of how this can work, as 43 of the team's 55 sacks came from their front four. Their rushers are focused on stopping the run and getting to the quarterback without much concern for coverage on most occasions.
Take a look at how Dante Fowler Jr. beat Marcus Cannon around the edge to chase Tom Brady up into the pocket and then finish with the sack to force the field goal on third down. Fowler's explosion off the ball gets him around the edge so fast that Cannon's drop wasn't deep enough to stop him:
Fowler is a third overall pick from 2015 that displays a unique athleticism to make him the perfect candidate as an edge rusher. That's why he was picked so early, but he makes one bookend of an edge rushing tandem that terrorized the NFL in 2017.
But while edge rushers are usually the pride of the NFL's top-ranked defenses, interior pass rushers become just as vital when facing proficient quarterbacks who can step up in the pocket and buy more time. That's why the Jaguars went and traded to get Marcel Dareus in the middle of the season, as he had built a career as a stout run stopper and pass rush threat.
Here you can see Dareus set up a swim move and run right through the Patriots' B-gap to sack Brady later in the same game:
When a team can get pressure in this manner, an offensive line's protection has to key on their four primary rushers with each play. This requires them to prepare for the different moves, stunts and various methods those four-man rushes could take.
When a defense with a dominant front like that wants to get creative, they can line up more potential blitz threats along the line in order to distract the opposing line from identifying them and being in position. A solid example was when rookie Derek Barnett sacked Case Keenum on Sunday and forced a fumble.
Take a look at how free he comes off the line and how easily he dodges the only player who could have blocked him:
When a front causes havoc and consistently presents challenges, it is that much more likely that an offensive line will be on its heels when it comes to identifying and guessing where the pressure is coming from. That is a key element to Butler's style of pass rush right now, but we'll get more into that later.
When drafting players for this style of defense, a team can emphasize getting bigger, more physical linemen who specialize in just stopping the run and rushing the passer, instead of how the Steelers often draft outside linebackers who can rush and cover.
STOPPING THE RUN
In addition to the style of edge rushers, these types of fronts require defensive tackles who can play in the interior and occupy two gaps. While that sounds like it's a complicated task being made into something so simple, the keys to doing so involve dominating the opposing linemen so that you are pushing them backwards instead of the other way around.
Look at Fletcher Cox as he works 4 yards behind the line of scrimmage and goes from playing the left side of the defense to coming across two gaps to bring down the running back:
One of the keys to winning these battles is having a quick "first step," as scouts will describe it, so that the defensive lineman is upon the offensive linemen before they can build any momentum. Cox does this regularly, but he also combines other key fundamentals in his rush.
He uses his hands well by placing them inside the frame of his opponent and keeps his legs pumping so that he's never the one being put on roller skates. Dareus, of the Jaguars, did this a few times on Sunday to the Patriots.
Watch how he handles the Patriots' right guard by at first attacking one shoulder, but then keeping his head up and bouncing inside to take away Dion Lewis' escape route to create a tackle for loss:
The Steelers do have some of these players, especially in Cam Heyward, whose skills have made him one of the league's best 3-4 defensive ends. And again, this comes with an explosive first step, getting his hands inside his opponent's frame and pumping his legs to drive that player into the backfield and expand the ground Heyward takes away for the running back.
Take a look at when he did exactly that to the Colts' left guard and led the way for a tackle for no gain:
Heyward would fit the mold of a 3-4 defensive lineman and is one of those talents that could be placed on the end or within the interior. That's why he got selected to the AP All-Pro team and will be playing in the Pro Bowl this weekend.
But the problem the Steelers encountered came in their playoff loss to the Jaguars when their defensive front did not get the push they are used to showing off.
Consistency issues
That push to move the Jaguars' offensive line was nonexistent. The edge rushers in T.J. Watt and Bud Dupree weren't able to force Bortles up in the pocket to meet the interior rushers in Heyward and Stephon Tuitt. One of the Jaguars' biggest conversions on third down came when the Steelers tried one of those four-man rushes and ended up giving Bortles the perfect pocket to work:
And many of the defense's problems came from the team never having a method to adapt to the absence of Ryan Shazier. While Arthur Moats was experimenting with the role, it was a tall task to ask him to be the stopgap whenever the Ravens' offensive line was able to get a hat on a hat (phrase used for when each lineman goes one-on-one with the defense).
While Moats is expected to have a harder time making the play here, the Ravens were able to expand the hole for Alex Collins by sealing out Javon Hargrave and Heyward. This is a situation where the Steelers need their defensive line to drive the Ravens' offensive line backward and limit the holes Collins can attack.
The exact opposite happens when both Hargrave and Heyward are driven away from the play:
This is the problem the Steelers run into when they have to rely on just a few key players to win in those spots. When Shazier was active he was fast enough to jump into gaps where defensive linemen lost, and often one of the most reliable players was Heyward.
But no player can win every matchup all the time, which is why it is important to get stout players across the board. When Heyward lost in the above play, the Steelers didn't have the man in Hargrave who could dominate the center and close down on the hole for Collins.
Hargrave occasionally wins those battles, but not often enough to be a dominant force against either the run or the pass. That's why the Steelers don't just rely on four-man rushes like the other defenses.
Butler has had to get creative with how and when he employs his blitzes and that was a big reason the Steelers led the NFL in sacks. Take a look at this overload blitz when Tuitt and Watt occupied the left guard and tackle of the Bengals' offensive line, opening up a clear path for Vince Williams to sack Dalton:
The point here is not that the Steelers' scheme needs to change, because they employ complicated blitz packages that confuse offensive lines and put their players who aren't superstars in position to make plays.
The changes that need to be made are to add more dynamic weapons up front, primarily at the defensive tackle position, and look to get more from edge rushers to force quarterbacks up into those defensive tackles. Those same tackles would be the players who can make up ground by covering multiple gaps.
There is still time for the Steelers' young players to develop, considering Watt just finished his rookie season and Hargrave is in his second year, but they could still upgrade in their front in both the draft and free agency.