So you want to know what is wrong with the Pittsburgh Steelers defense so far this season? Why not ask linebacker James Harrison?
Mike Prisuta of DVE Radio did just that on Monday and he asked Harrison what is wrong with the defense overall.
“Overall it\’s just breakdowns within the defense,” said Harrison. “Not executing. Guys playing different calls than what are actually called. Not getting all-around snap in, snap out execution of the defense.”
Prisuta next asked Harrison if it was a communication thing. “Some of it\’s communication,” said Harrison. “Some of it\’s knowledge. Some of it\’s just technique.”
Harrison was not afraid to point the finger at himself either. Prisuta finished the interview by asking the Steelers linebacker about the big catch and run that Tennessee Titans tight end Jared Cook had on the game-winning drive that resulted in the ball being well within field goal range.
“Bad technique,” said Harrison. “I didn\’t get in front of him – he took off and caught the ball. He did his job, I didn\’t.”
A few weeks ago defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau commented on players trying to do too much instead of simply playing the defense as called and trusting teammates to do their job.
“If a team is moving the ball just a little bit, they want to do a little bit more to stop them,” LeBeau said. “That’s a good problem to have. But it is a problem nonetheless. We can’t do that. We have to trust the defense, trust the teammate, focus and play.”
The Steelers take their 0-3 road record to Ohio Sunday night to play the Cincinnati Bengals and if the communication, knowledge and technique on defense does not improve drastically, the team will return home with a 0-4 road record.
