Freshly anointed a Pro Bowler once again, Minkah Fitzpatrick attempted to explain the Steelers’ recent defensive issues. And he doesn’t believe it’s so complicated, after all—it’s a matter of their recent opponents exploiting an issue.
“I think teams are scheming us. They know that we’re having some issues with motions and stacks and bunches and stuff like that”, Fitzpatrick told reporters on Thursday, via the Steelers’ website. “If you look at the stuff that we’ve been beat on or guys are running open, it’s stuff that each team kind of got from the last two. So we’ve made a real big emphasis this week on those style of plays and even plays that can stem off from it. Working on communication, everybody being on the same page”.
The good news is Fitzpatrick believes the Steelers have gotten things under control. He suggested that their recent opponents have exploited a failing in their communication chain that was already there, and which was exposed. But now they buttoned that up—for the most part.
“There’s not a lot of people running open”, Fitzpatrick said of the Steelers’ practices this week. “We haven’t had to run back a lot of plays. Maybe only one from Wednesday. We’ve been doing a lot of extra work on the side when the offense is on the field, working on those communications, working on those adjustments”.
He did also mention when pressed for reasons for these issues that part of the problem had been veterans coming over from other teams using different signals and vocalizations. He indicated that there were times where they would communicate, but the communication was like another language. Prior to recent weeks, teams hadn’t been scheming to expose those issues Fitzpatrick said.
The Steelers did add several starters to the defense this year, particularly in the secondary. Minkah Fitzpatrick gained a new partner on the back end in DeShon Elliott, and Donte Jackson came in at cornerback. They also added Beanie Bishop Jr. in the slot, and Patrick Queen and rookie Payton Wilson at linebacker.
But this is far from the first time a team has acquired new starters in bulk during an offseason. It’s hard to believe the Steelers would have let certain things slide for months until teams started to notice the vulnerable thermal exhaust port.
I don’t know all the details. I just know the Steelers’ defense has been blowing up in the wrong ways in recent weeks. Minkah Fitzpatrick even managed an interception during that stretch and they made nothing out of it. That’s how you know things are bad if they’re wasting a Fitzpatrick interception.
