While the Steelers' defense was far from one of the league's worst, it wasn't without its issues. Among them was a significantly down year from All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.
Instead of the ball-hawking safety we've grown accustomed to, we witnessed Fitzpatrick lining up farther and farther away from the line of scrimmage, trying to put out fires instead of wreaking havoc in the middle of the defense.
Fitzpatrick might have never been better than in his 2022 season. It wasn't his best in terms of pure coverage, but he tied for the NFL lead with six interceptions. Even when he didn't record an interception during the 2023 season, he allowed only a 66.9 passer-rating against, the second-best mark of his career.
In 2024, Fitzpatrick recorded just one interception, but also allowed a career-worst 126.0 passer-rating against. Of course, that raises concerns about whether or not his best football is behind him. However, there is some substantiative information that suggests Fitzpatrick was not being used in the best way possible.
The most perplexing part of Fitzpatrick's season was how far away he was from the line of scrimmage. No, this isn't just looking at the film and thinking that it seems as if he's far away a lot of the time. He actually was.
According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Fitzpatrick aligned 12.6 yards away from the line of scrimmage on average in 2024, the fourth-deepest of any player in the NFL that played at least 250 snaps.
That's absurd. This is a ball-hawking safety that's pretty much out of the play before the ball is even snapped.
However, when DeShon Elliott was sidelined in Weeks 15 and 16, Fitzpatrick was forced to move closer with Damontae Kazee filling in at free safety. During those two weeks, road games against the Eagles and Ravens, Fitzpatrick aligned just 6.9 yards away from the line of scrimmage on average, recording his lone interception and allowed a 0.0 passer rating.
Funny how that works.
Now, is this just complete idiocy by Mike Tomlin and Teryl Austin? No, it's not. They've used him the right way before, and they'd like to use him in a more impactful way in 2025 and beyond.
So, why? What's the reason for Fitzpatrick being misused?
There isn't an all-inclusive answer to that question, but there's enough evidence to suggest one good reason: They weren't a good man-coverage defense in 2024, forcing Fitzpatrick to become a security blanket.
The Steelers have been a predominantly single-high (Cover 1, Cover 3) defense for a long time. That hasn't changed. In 2022, Fitzpatrick's last All-Pro season, the Steelers operated in Cover 1 (one deep safety, man coverage underneath) 28.5% of the time, according to FantasyPoints.com. In 2024, they were in Cover 1 28.6% of the time -- nearly identical. In addition, the Steelers used man coverage 32.9% of the time last season, compared to 33.8% in 2022. Pretty similar.
However, there are some notable differences, mainly in the overall performance in man coverage. In 2022, the Steelers allowed a -4.1% completion percentage over expected (CPOE) when in man coverage, ranking seventh in the NFL. In 2024, they allowed a -0.4% CPOE, ranking 26th. As defined by the NFL, CPOE measures the success of a pass relative to the difficulty of the throw.
It's also clear Tomlin didn't trust his defense in man coverage in crucial situations last season. In 2024, the Steelers were in man coverage 31.9% of the time on third down, ranking 25th in the league. In 2022, they were in man coverage 42.4% of the time on third down, ranking 10th.
Because of the deficiency in man coverage, the Steelers were forced to become more of a Cover 3 team and less of a Cover 2 zone defense. In 2024, they were in Cover 3 6.6% more often than they were in 2022, and they were in Cover 2 zone 4.6% less often than they were in 2022. Most important, no team in the NFL was in a single-high coverage more than the Steelers last season, a whopping 66.4% of the time.
Why does that matter? Because Fitzpatrick was often the single-high safety. One isn't playing fourth-farthest away from the line of scrimmage if he's not.
Fitzpatrick is most dangerous when he can play closer to the line of scrimmage, in the middle of the field. Everyone remember this interception against the Browns from 2020?
Look at Fitzpatrick and Terrell Edumunds prior to the snap. They are both deep, showing a two-high look, most likely Cover 2 based on how close everyone else is to the line of scrimmage. This is actually Cover 1 Robber, which looks like Cover 2 to confuse the quarterback. Typically, the strong safety will drop down to "rob" the middle of the field while the free safety drops back as the lone deep defender.
In this play, Fitzpatrick -- a free safety -- is the robber. And he shows everyone exactly why.
Being marooned to the deep middle-third in Cover 3 or the lone, deep defender in Cover 1 handcuffs Fitzpatrick's ability to be a ball hawk. It's understandable that Tomlin needed someone he could trust because of the lack of reliable man coverage. With Joey Porter Jr. entering his second season, Donte Jackson a liability in man coverage and wildly inconsistent, and sometimes downright awful play from the slot cornerback position, Fitzpatrick was relegated to being a glorified and overpaid babysitter. As our buddy Matt Williamson likes to put it, he's the defense's firefighter, putting out fires all over the place.
To address this for 2025, the Steelers have already made one move that sets them up to be a better man-coverage team by adding Darius Slay in free agency, an upgrade over Jackson. According to Pro Football Focus, Slay ranked third-best in reception percentage when targeted (51.7%) and fourth-best in forced incompletion percentage (20%) among cornerbacks who played at least 350 snaps in 2024.
There was talk last offseason about Fitzpatrick needing to get back to playing "Minkah ball." That obviously didn't work out. Fitzpatrick is worth every penny he's paid if he's playing true Minkah ball. With the upgrades to the defensive front and a cornerback room that should be better in man coverage, the Steelers are better positioned to let Minkah be Minkah in 2025.
Want to participate in our comments?
Want an ad-free experience?
Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits! Make your voice heard on the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates, and hear right back from tens of thousands of fellow Pittsburgh sports fans worldwide! Plus, access all our premium content, including Dejan Kovacevic columns, Friday Insider, daily Live Qs with the staff, more! And yeah, that's right, no ads at all!
THE ASYLUM
Chris Halicke
10:52 pm - 05.06.2025South SideWhy Steelers misused Fitzpatrick last season
While the Steelers' defense was far from one of the league's worst, it wasn't without its issues. Among them was a significantly down year from All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.
Instead of the ball-hawking safety we've grown accustomed to, we witnessed Fitzpatrick lining up farther and farther away from the line of scrimmage, trying to put out fires instead of wreaking havoc in the middle of the defense.
Fitzpatrick might have never been better than in his 2022 season. It wasn't his best in terms of pure coverage, but he tied for the NFL lead with six interceptions. Even when he didn't record an interception during the 2023 season, he allowed only a 66.9 passer-rating against, the second-best mark of his career.
In 2024, Fitzpatrick recorded just one interception, but also allowed a career-worst 126.0 passer-rating against. Of course, that raises concerns about whether or not his best football is behind him. However, there is some substantiative information that suggests Fitzpatrick was not being used in the best way possible.
The most perplexing part of Fitzpatrick's season was how far away he was from the line of scrimmage. No, this isn't just looking at the film and thinking that it seems as if he's far away a lot of the time. He actually was.
According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Fitzpatrick aligned 12.6 yards away from the line of scrimmage on average in 2024, the fourth-deepest of any player in the NFL that played at least 250 snaps.
That's absurd. This is a ball-hawking safety that's pretty much out of the play before the ball is even snapped.
However, when DeShon Elliott was sidelined in Weeks 15 and 16, Fitzpatrick was forced to move closer with Damontae Kazee filling in at free safety. During those two weeks, road games against the Eagles and Ravens, Fitzpatrick aligned just 6.9 yards away from the line of scrimmage on average, recording his lone interception and allowed a 0.0 passer rating.
Funny how that works.
Now, is this just complete idiocy by Mike Tomlin and Teryl Austin? No, it's not. They've used him the right way before, and they'd like to use him in a more impactful way in 2025 and beyond.
So, why? What's the reason for Fitzpatrick being misused?
There isn't an all-inclusive answer to that question, but there's enough evidence to suggest one good reason: They weren't a good man-coverage defense in 2024, forcing Fitzpatrick to become a security blanket.
The Steelers have been a predominantly single-high (Cover 1, Cover 3) defense for a long time. That hasn't changed. In 2022, Fitzpatrick's last All-Pro season, the Steelers operated in Cover 1 (one deep safety, man coverage underneath) 28.5% of the time, according to FantasyPoints.com. In 2024, they were in Cover 1 28.6% of the time -- nearly identical. In addition, the Steelers used man coverage 32.9% of the time last season, compared to 33.8% in 2022. Pretty similar.
However, there are some notable differences, mainly in the overall performance in man coverage. In 2022, the Steelers allowed a -4.1% completion percentage over expected (CPOE) when in man coverage, ranking seventh in the NFL. In 2024, they allowed a -0.4% CPOE, ranking 26th. As defined by the NFL, CPOE measures the success of a pass relative to the difficulty of the throw.
It's also clear Tomlin didn't trust his defense in man coverage in crucial situations last season. In 2024, the Steelers were in man coverage 31.9% of the time on third down, ranking 25th in the league. In 2022, they were in man coverage 42.4% of the time on third down, ranking 10th.
Because of the deficiency in man coverage, the Steelers were forced to become more of a Cover 3 team and less of a Cover 2 zone defense. In 2024, they were in Cover 3 6.6% more often than they were in 2022, and they were in Cover 2 zone 4.6% less often than they were in 2022. Most important, no team in the NFL was in a single-high coverage more than the Steelers last season, a whopping 66.4% of the time.
Why does that matter? Because Fitzpatrick was often the single-high safety. One isn't playing fourth-farthest away from the line of scrimmage if he's not.
Fitzpatrick is most dangerous when he can play closer to the line of scrimmage, in the middle of the field. Everyone remember this interception against the Browns from 2020?
Look at Fitzpatrick and Terrell Edumunds prior to the snap. They are both deep, showing a two-high look, most likely Cover 2 based on how close everyone else is to the line of scrimmage. This is actually Cover 1 Robber, which looks like Cover 2 to confuse the quarterback. Typically, the strong safety will drop down to "rob" the middle of the field while the free safety drops back as the lone deep defender.
In this play, Fitzpatrick -- a free safety -- is the robber. And he shows everyone exactly why.
Being marooned to the deep middle-third in Cover 3 or the lone, deep defender in Cover 1 handcuffs Fitzpatrick's ability to be a ball hawk. It's understandable that Tomlin needed someone he could trust because of the lack of reliable man coverage. With Joey Porter Jr. entering his second season, Donte Jackson a liability in man coverage and wildly inconsistent, and sometimes downright awful play from the slot cornerback position, Fitzpatrick was relegated to being a glorified and overpaid babysitter. As our buddy Matt Williamson likes to put it, he's the defense's firefighter, putting out fires all over the place.
To address this for 2025, the Steelers have already made one move that sets them up to be a better man-coverage team by adding Darius Slay in free agency, an upgrade over Jackson. According to Pro Football Focus, Slay ranked third-best in reception percentage when targeted (51.7%) and fourth-best in forced incompletion percentage (20%) among cornerbacks who played at least 350 snaps in 2024.
There was talk last offseason about Fitzpatrick needing to get back to playing "Minkah ball." That obviously didn't work out. Fitzpatrick is worth every penny he's paid if he's playing true Minkah ball. With the upgrades to the defensive front and a cornerback room that should be better in man coverage, the Steelers are better positioned to let Minkah be Minkah in 2025.
Want to participate in our comments?
Want an ad-free experience?
Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits! Make your voice heard on the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates, and hear right back from tens of thousands of fellow Pittsburgh sports fans worldwide! Plus, access all our premium content, including Dejan Kovacevic columns, Friday Insider, daily Live Qs with the staff, more! And yeah, that's right, no ads at all!
We’d love to have you!