Football
The Pittsburgh Steelers have stars are all over the defensive side of the football once again. They should, too, considering the amount of money Pittsburgh has invested on that side of the football in recent years.
Yet that investment hasn’t paid off like many expected. Last season, words like “historic” and phrases like “best defense of all-time” were thrown around ahead of the season. And then the Steelers fell flat defensively.
Now, things are expected to be different with Patrick Graham taking over as defensive coordinator under first-year head coach Mike McCarthy. Those expectations still remain, especially for some new players joining the mix.
But there’s a real belief now that with a proper Xs-and-Os mastermind overseeing the defense, the Steelers will be so much better on that side of the football. Former NFL head coach Dave Wannstedt believes that will be the case.
Appearing on 93.7 The Fan’s Morning Show, Wannstedt spoke highly of Graham, and cited where he thinks it all went wrong for Pittsburgh defensively in recent years.
“Those guys are getting older, the clock’s running on all of them. That’s the biggest thing that I hear around the league with the Steelers defense: can they stay healthy with their age? But Patrick Graham’s gonna make a difference. He really is,” Wannstedt said, according to audio via The Fan. “And Teryl Austin, I mean, I’m a fan of his. I don’t have a problem with that, but they never recovered, in my opinion, after Dick LeBeau left.”
LeBeau resigned after the 2014 season before moving on to Tennessee, where he continued to coach for three more seasons. To say the Steelers never recovered from that seems like revisionist history, considering Pittsburgh had a great defense for a long stretch in the late 2010s and early 2020s.
Where Pittsburgh failed was in the struggles to adapt to the style of play in today’s game. The organization struggled to identify talent in the secondary, couldn’t figure out the inside linebacker position after Ryan Shazier’s career-ending injury, and did not properly invest in the trenches.
That’s largely all changed now. The Steelers still have some concerns at inside linebacker, but the defensive line is beefed up and looks like a massive strength, and the secondary is improved with the additions of Jamel Dean, Jaquan Brisker, Jalen Ramsey and DeShon Elliott in recent years, along with Joey Porter Jr.’s development.
So, the Steelers have recovered since LeBeau moved on. But they really struggled in recent years under Teryl Austin and Mike Tomlin. The scheme was bland and archaic, and it put players in difficult positions. That led to plenty of chatter late last season from players who expressed their frustrations with the scheme.
That’s all changed with Graham now in Pittsburgh, and players are genuinely excited about what’s ahead. He’s always been highly regarded as a defensive coach, but he’s never had a ton of talent at his disposal. Pittsburgh is a different story. It’s up to him to make a difference from a play-calling perspective.
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