Film Breakdown A Schematic and Personnel

lovelystyle

While the has  Max Domi Kids Jersey star power, young talent, and great role players, the back end of their defense carries a few more question marks. Not enough that theyre truly a liability, as evident by the top 10 pa s defense in 2021, but enough question marks that I would not be confident in saying they will repeat that feat.Lets look into the Steelers' secondary on film to get a better idea of where they stand ahead of Sunday's season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals.SchematicallyThe Steelers play a variety of coverages at around a league average rate. The only coverage they play well over league average is Cover 3. This remained true in the two games against the Bengals this past season, the Steelers primarily played single high coverages. These coverages close the middle of the field by using a post safety. The philosophy behind middle of the field closed coverage is to be plus one in the run game while keeping a safety over the top against the pa s. The i sue for the Steelers was that it also allowed for one on one matchups on the outside like this one:And also on this play:In either scenario, the Steelers would have been better off giving more help to the talented playmakers of the  Jordan Weal Women Jersey Bengals' offense, but the team was the 32nd run defense by yards per carry, so they had to give help up front as well.Although Mike Tomlin appears to be a strong believer in playing single high, with a healthier and more talented front than last year, the Steelers should be able to employ more 2-high coverage shells against the Bengals to help slow down the weaponry on the outside. This would make sense for the Steelers, because last season the Bengals were much more effective against single high coverages.Burrow completed 13-of-16 pa ses for 90 yards and one touchdownlast season while face the Steelers; Jean Beliveau Jersey  split field coverage looks. While that is efficient and methodical, that puts him at about 5.6 yards per attempt. He also threw one of his interceptions against two high coverage.For comparison, Burrow was 23-for-27 for 287 yards and three touchdowns against the Steelers' single high coverages. This gives him almost double the yards per attempt with 10.6 while achieving an even higher completion percentage. E sentially, the Steelers were blasted by Burrow with a flamethrower when they attempted to play single high coverage. They should try to play le s of that this Sunday if they want to come out of Paycor Stadium with a win.The Highest Paid Safety In The League (for about 2 weeks)The only star in the Pittsburgh secondary is two time All-Pro Minkah Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick has been absolutely critical in the succe s of the Steelers' defense over the past 3 seasons. Its tough to build statistical cases for safeties because so much of what they do is not measured by traditional statistics. A great safety is a force multiplier in the secondary. They will e sentially take the existing players and lift them to a higher level.In the only game he mi sed last season, the Steelers gave up a season high in total (533) and pa sing yards (374) yardage and thats not by coincidence. Fitzpatrick is one of the best safeties in the league at coming downhill to play the run and in coverage. He has twice been named a first team All-Pro and overall is one of the shining stars of the Steelers' defense.Everything starts with his ability to proce s information quickly.This is a great job from Fitzpatrick in a single Victor Mete Women Jersey  high situation. He starts to melt with Burrows first read and then when Burrow pulls the pin on the grenade Fitzpatrick breaks hard to get over the top of the go route from Higgins. Due to the pre sure, the throw ends up being a bit overthrown which allows Fitzpatrick to make an uncontested interception, but even if the pa s was accurate, he is in great position to break it up.While he does not break this up, this is another example of his ability to proce s quickly. This looks like man match quarters to his side of the field and instead of running with the slot fade, Fitzpatrick has his eyes on Tyler Boyd. This is because the Bengals are running HOSS Y Juke which is a play designed to get Boyd open  Jacques Plante Men Jersey against split field coverage. Boyd gets open, but Fitzpatrick is screaming down to meet him short of the sticks. Just overall a great display of proce sing, pattern recognition, and closing speed from the all-pro safety.Speaking of closing speed, Fitzpatrick's closing speed is a trait that shows up and makes him a talented run defender as well. His quick trigger, acceleration, and tackling ability Antti Niemi Men Jersey  forces a third down on this play which looked like it could go big after Watt swims to the inside.As a former slot corner, Fitzpatrick also has some really nice man coverage chops. On this play, he does a great job playing catch man behind an all out blitz. Hes physical and plays to his leverage which results in him shutting down the opposing tight end. While this is not overly common for him, a safety with great man coverage ability allows for the secondary to become much more creative and versatile.Overall, Fitzpatrick is a versatile, talented, and well decorated safety in this league. He does a fantastic job in every facet of the game and can create i sues for opposing offenses.The Other SafetyAt nearly 220 pounds, Terrell Edmunds is built like a traditional strong safety in the box although he tested very athletic for his size with a 9.89 RAS score at the combine. The Steelers try to use him in a variety of roles on their defense, but he is at his best when hes playing big and in the box. Despite his size and athleticism, he can be taken advantage of in  Victor Mete Men Jersey coverage.This is an example of the limitations of Edmunds in coverage. The Steelers are playing man match quarters on this play and Edmunds' role is to take Randall Cobb inside and vertical. Cobb is able to open him up by pre sing vertically before breaking to the inside. Edmunds does not have the fluidity to keep up with him and hopped backward rather than staying balanced with a backpedal. Then he tries to undercut Cobb, but doesnt have the recovery speed to get there in time.Even though he can be a liability in coverage at times, he still is a solid player overall that does a good job filling the run and rushing the pa ser as a safety. He ended up with a sack  NHL Montreal Canadiens Kids Jersey and three pre sures on just 10 blitzes last season, while also leading the defensive backs room with eight tackles for a lo s.The Corner RoomThis is the only area that will be different in the Bengals matchup against the Steelers this season. In the first game last year, Cam Sutton and Joe Haden were the primary starters with James Pierre coming on the field when they went to sub personnel. Then in the second game, Haden was hurt so it became Sutton and Pierre in base and Arthur Maulett in nickel.In this game, its projected to be Cam Sutton and Levi Wallace in base with Ahkello Witherspoon coming onto