Communication has been the primary concern in improving of the Steelers' pass defense in recent seasons. Six of the team's 10 defensive backs on the roster are 25 or younger, and that has impacted their struggles with understanding everyone's roles.
But the past few games have seen significant improvement from the secondary, especially in preventing the deep ball. Let's break it all down:
In their first four games, the Steelers gave up an average of 304.75 passing yards against the Browns, Chiefs, Buccaneers and Ravens. But in their three most recent games, that average dropped to 212.67 against the Falcons, Bengals and Browns. Much of that has been because of how the secondary has been able to run with, pass off and bracket receivers all around the field.
There are many intricacies in how secondaries switch between zone and man coverages, particularly how receivers are passed off from cornerbacks to safeties when they run deeper routes. The key is each player knowing and understanding their teammates' responsibilities.
Let's look at one of the bigger mistakes this season, when the Steelers gave up a 33-yard touchdown to Ravens receiver John Brown. Watch how Brown's wheel route slips between Joe Haden and Cameron Sutton. The Steelers appear to be in Cover 3, which would mean Haden has the deep responsibility and should run with Brown, but he hesitates with Sutton there, and neither runs with Brown:
The key to communication between players in zone defense is understanding which safeties and cornerbacks should help in different situations. That didn't happen enough in their early games, and receivers often were left with just one defender in their area as the Steelers failed to create a tight window for the quarterback.
Creating those tight windows means bracketing receivers with a defender on top of and underneath the route when they cross between zones. Typically, that involves a safety over top and the cornerback underneath, but some defenses call for those situations to switch, which we have seen done well in recent weeks.
Watch this deep out from Julio Jones and how Haden covers the space by establishing outside leverage on Jones. Jones initially breaks to the inside, but both Sean Davis and Terrell Edmunds are in position to help if he crossed the field. But when he cuts back, Haden cuts with him and stays between Jones and the end zone, while Davis drops underneath. There is a window for Matt Ryan to hit, but it's small enough to force a miss:
Today's pass-happy NFL has a lot of offenses that are more than proficient at throwing the ball around the field. That gets amplified by film study, including in-game, and how advanced offenses recognize different coverage packages and how to attack them.
In the past, the Steelers would get picked apart by a quarterback who recognized their scheme and went right to their weak spot.
But in recent weeks, those soft spots have been much harder to target. Watch how the Bengals call an all-streaks play against the Steelers' man coverage with two deep safeties. Both safeties naturally break to the outside, leaving the middle of the field with little help. Tight end C.J. Uzomah has a one-on-one shot against Sutton, over whom he has a four-inch height advantage.
Andy Dalton recognizes it immediately and tests it, but Sutton knows he's the only man in the middle of the field, stays in front of Uzomah and breaks up the pass without needing safety help:
Knowing how to position yourself as a cornerback helps your teammates, because you can take away routes by design. Coty Sensabaugh got into the act when he pinned Cody Core to the sideline on a deep ball. When in man coverage, a cornerback usually must establish inside leverage and force the receiver to the sideline. Doing so makes the quarterback put the ball over them but short enough to avoid the sideline or the helping safety.
Sensabaugh did that, and Dalton couldn't fit the ball into the window:
You can also see Terrell Edmunds coming to help Sensabaugh should the pass be more up the field. That help has been much more consistent in the recent weeks, which has allowed the cornerbacks to be more aggressive with their underneath coverage. When they can afford to be aggressive, the easier throws get taken away.
One of the defense's most aggressive guys is Mike Hilton. And his trust of the team's safeties has allowed him to take away some of those plays, like this third-down pass to Tyler Boyd. Watch how Davis breaks to the sideline as soon as he recognizes the wheel route by Boyd. Dalton puts the ball on a line, and Hilton is there to swat it away. But if he tried to float it over Hilton further down the field, Davis would have been in position to help:
That's a coordinated effort from a defense that communicates to back each other up. In just seven games, they only rank 24th against the pass, but they also have played three of the top-four ranked passing offenses in the NFL in the Chiefs, Falcons and Buccaneers. The Ravens sit eighth in passing offense, but they didn't face a Steelers defense that is as consistent as they have been the past few weeks.
Sunday should be a solid test of whether the secondary has really improved.