Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin talked on Thursday about how he doesn’t feel rookie CB Joey Porter Jr. is quite ready for a full-time starting role. I don’t think it’s entirely coincidental that in the same media availability session he talked about the importance of the boundaries—namely, the cornerbacks—in run defense.
“We’re all in charge of the run game”, he said, via transcript provided by the team’s media department, noting the need for their cornerbacks to do better in that area. “Absolutely. The one thing with our team, and the one thing that we talked to everybody about, is we’re not going to have a good run defense if our small guys don’t tackle, and we don’t play like that”.
As you’re probably aware, of course, Porter is the Steelers’ dime defender currently. He only comes onto the field, barring injury, in obvious passing situations, generally on possession downs with long distances. He has only played three run downs so far, in the Las Vegas Raiders game when Levi Wallace missed some time.
But we’ve also seen his work in open space, missing a couple of tackles on screen passes, such as to Cleveland Browns TE David Njoku a few weeks back. And we know that he had some struggles tackling during training camp, as well. Then again, Wallace and Patrick Peterson have had these issues, one might be inclined to point out. But I digress.
“We don’t just leave it up to the big guys and linebackers. It’s everybody’s got to be in charge, and everybody’s got a part in it”, Austin said about his run defense. Those guys will work hard. They’ve been working hard, and they know we have to do better. I’ve got to do better”.
“But we’ve all got to do better to stop the run game and stop the things hurting us”, he added, “because if they continue to show up, then obviously I’ve got to make sure that we understand the situation and what’s going on and put our guys in better positions to make plays”.
The Steelers rank 29th in total rushing defense this season, allowing 594 yards on the ground through the first four weeks. They are averaging 4.7 yards per carry allowed, which is also in the bottom five in the NFL.
A couple of outlier explosive runs have been a part of that—including missed tackles by the cornerbacks, mind you—but overall, down in and down out, the run defense has not been what the Steelers need it to be. It’s just that the lapses on the perimeter have allowed some of those average runs to turn into long gainers.
