A few weeks ago, I noted the Pittsburgh Steelers’ lack of dime defense. A six-defensive-back package used in obvious pass situations that had been making up 10-20 percent of the Steelers’ snaps. At the time, and still true now, it hadn’t been used once this season. With a defense scuffling off Thursday night’s loss that particularly struggled on third downs, maybe it’s time to try.
Pittsburgh has remained a nickel team, largely due to its confidence in Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson. These two athletic linebackers have range and, on paper, the ability to cover.
But the Steelers haven’t covered well on those money downs. Through six games and seven weeks, Pittsburgh’s defense ranks 25th on third down. A year ago, that unit ranked second. If that ranking holds, it’ll be the Steelers’ worst finish since 2009, Tomlin’s third season and one year after the team’s last Super Bowl, when the defense finished 28th.
More specifically, Pittsburgh ranks tied for 21st on third-and-long, seven or more yards. In those situations, the Steelers have allowed a first down 27.3 percent of the time. Those back-breaking conversions led to the Steelers’ high defensive snap count and troubling team imbalance.
Knowing that, why not use every defensive back at the team’s disposal? Utilizing dime defense would allow the Steelers to play CB Brandin Echols more consistently, a strong offseason signing who has impressed dating back to training camp. It could allow for more man coverage instead of the soft zones Pittsburgh has tended to play in these situations, including twice early in the loss to the Bengals.
If not Echols, Cory Trice Jr. could be an alternative. Though still on injured reserve, he’s presumably healthy or close to it after suffering a hamstring injury more than two months ago. During yesterday’s press conference, Tomlin confirmed Trice was nearing a return. To begin 2024, he served as the Steelers’ dime defender before suffering a hamstring injury. He has the cornerback and safety skillset that’s attractive as a dime defender playing in the middle of the field, tasked with a variety of assignments and body types to cover. Big slot receivers, small slot wideouts, tight ends, and even the occasional running back or blitz assignment.
Why hasn’t Pittsburgh used it? There could be a couple of explanations. One, the cornerbacks seemingly rarely make it through a game healthy. Darius Slay has been dinged up in virtually every game this season. Against the Minnesota Vikings, the team ran out of cornerbacks, at one point having just two healthy and available. Schematically, the Steelers have blitzed their inside linebackers more this year than in previous years, and like the flexibility of pressure looks having Wilson and Queen afford.
However, this would not necessarily limit Nick Herbig’s usage on passing downs. Instead of the 1-5-5 the team has been using, a 1-4-6 can still get T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, and Herbig on the field, along with Queen as the lone inside linebacker.
Dime isn’t the cure-all. But it’s an option that’s been on Pittsburgh’s table all season and has been ignored. That should begin to change in an effort to utilize its best people for these critical situations.
