Remember the problems that the Pittsburgh Steelers defense had last season when it came to giving up explosive plays of 20 yards or more? Well, those problems still need to be fixed heading into second week of the 2014 season.
In the 2014 regular season opener Sunday at Heinz Field against the Cleveland Browns, the Steelers defense gave up six plays of 20 yards or more to the Browns offense with three of those plays coming on the ground.
The Browns use of misdirection and play-action out of the pistol formation gave the Steelers defense fits during the second half. Several players missed tackles throughout the game and quite a few substitutions needed to be made on the defense thanks to the Browns long drives that featured a lot of no-huddle.
“I thought the significant element was the play-action. Getting chunks and flipping the field,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin during his post game press conference.
Last season, the Steelers defense gave up 53 plays of 20 yards or more with seven of them coming on the ground.
While it’s only one game, the Browns gave other teams a good blueprint moving forward as it relates to getting chunks of yardage against the Steelers defense. A lot of what we saw the Browns do on offense Sunday, we’ll see other teams try to do until the Steelers defense proves they can stop it on a consistent basis.
