Once again, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is giving the defense some grief for the team’s last two losses, both to 2-10 teams in the Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots. On The Mike Tomlin Show, Pittsburgh’s head coach said that the difference in the last two games for the Steelers has been the defense allowing teams to score touchdowns instead of holding them to field goals.
“Particularly when you look back at the New England game, our inability to force them to settle for three is really kind of the difference in the game. We’ve talked about it in several different fronts the last few weeks,” Tomlin said. “It hadn’t been what we’ve needed in recent weeks. New England’s ability to put seven points on the board in the red zone was really the difference in the game. And if you think about how we’ve played, that’s kind of the difference in the last couple of weeks relative to some of the other games.”
The defense hasn’t played as well the last two weeks, but injuries, particularly to the middle linebacker room, are one reason why, but the defense isn’t why Pittsburgh is losing. Tomlin’s comment of “if you think about we’ve played,” is basically his way of saying that for the Steelers to win, it has to be a low-scoring, grind-it-out affair. The offense isn’t good, and the offense is why they’re losing. They have too many empty possessions, and it’s led to them losing the field position battle in a pretty significant way, too.
The defense isn’t always being put into the most advantageous situations, and while it’s foolish to completely absolve the defense of blame, a lot of the defensive issues seem to be coaching-related. Using Mykal Walker extensively in coverage early against New England after watching him get torched by Trey McBride and the Arizona Cardinals was a mistake, and while Walker needs to execute better, the coaching staff isn’t doing him any favors by throwing him to the wolves in coverage when he’s struggled.
The Steelers need to get back on track against the Colts this weekend to save their season. Holding them to field goals will be important, but so will actually putting points on the board themselves early in the game is something that has to happen. If the offense continues to struggle against a Colts defense allowing 25.4 points per game, the Steelers will find themselves on the outside looking in when the postseason comes.
