Once upon a time, the Pittsburgh Steelers were a lock every year to have one of the league’s best defenses. They used to set the standard for the rest of the league. This year, there was hope that they would return to that level. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case so far. The Steelers’ defense has been bad. They’re struggling to stop the run and the pass. Ben Roethlisberger thinks that their defense is too vanilla, and James Harrison agrees, citing his experience from his two different stints with the team.
“When I came back, Dick LeBeau was still the [defensive] coordinator, but they had changed that defense,” Harrison said Friday on his Deebo and Joe podcast. “When [Roethlisberger] says it’s vanilla, that’s a true statement. They changed the defense to make it easier to learn and understand, so that players could play sooner.
“True Dick LeBeau fire-zone, there is a real-life learning curve… When I came back, I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’ They’re like, ‘We had to simplify it.’ We called it dumb it down… Before, the learning curve was at least a year, if not two.”
Harrison’s first blossomed with the Steelers from 2004-2012. Then, in 2013, he joined the Cincinnati Bengals, but in 2014, he returned the Steelers. In that brief period of time, he noticed that the Steelers made significant changes to their defense.
It makes some sense why the Steelers changed things, though. During Harrison’s first real tenure with the team, their defense was full of talent. They had a tight-knit group that had grown together.
However, Father Time is undefeated. Eventually, as the 2010s began, that defense began to fall apart. Most of their stalwarts either retired or left to play for other teams. Harrison was one of the last members of that generation standing, sticking with the Steelers until 2017.
Now, it’s been over a decade since LeBeau was the Steelers’ defensive coordinator. In that time, their defense hasn’t quite hit the heights that it did during the 2000s. More recently, they’ve had serious struggles, being unable to stop the run or cover anyone at times.
During that same podcast, Harrison spoke on why he believes the Steelers simplifying their defense has hurt them more than it’s helped.
“I think, what they’re running into, with guys being out of place, people not being covered, is they’re changing things so much to try and make it simpler, but they’re adding more gaps and holes in the defense in the process.”
Communication has been an issue for the Steelers’ defense going back to last year. For such a talented, veteran group, it was confusing to see them struggle in that regard. However, perhaps Harrison is correct. It’s less about the players and more about the scheme.
What’s the solution? There likely isn’t an overnight fix for the Steelers’ defense. It’s tricky to craft a scheme that isn’t too complicated, while still being effective. If their defensive struggles continue, then maybe they’ll need to go back to the drawing board for their defense this offseason.
