The Pittsburgh Steelers defense, which is by far the highest paid defense in the NFL, has struggled over the last two games in their losses to the Indianapolis Colts and Dallas Cowboys.
After Dak Prescott diced the defense up for 352 passing yards, the Steelers defense is looking for solutions. Part of the issue is that their edge rusher rotation, once deep, is now depleted. Alex Highsmith, DeMarvin Leal, and Nick Herbig are injured, leaving just Jeremiah Moon and T.J. Watt healthy.
However, the Steelers’ concern is that they have significant communication issues on the back end of their defense. That should never happen for a defense full of veterans, but it has happened far too often for the Steelers.
So, Steelers star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick has a solution, and that is to take down the complex nature of the defense, and simplify it down to its bare bones so the team does not have these issues.
“We have to play simple defense,” Fitzpatrick said. “We have a lot of talent in the secondary, a lot of guys who can play man and play zone. We just have to make a play call, simplify it and it will allow us to play fast.”
The Steelers allowed well over 100 yards in busted coverages against the Cowboys. They did the same against the Colts, even allowing a touchdown on a blatantly busted coverage in that game.
Pittsburgh’s secondary has become the crux of an issue that the Steelers must fix to win games down the stretch after starting 3-0. Fitzpatrick’s solution seems easy enough to implement, but will that make it too easy for offenses to dice them up?
That is what the Steelers need to figure out heading into a crucial game against the Las Vegas Raiders.
