It's gone from a whisper to a roar.
Not so long ago, it was completely uncool inside the Steelers' locker room to diminish in any way anything related to Dick LeBeau. He was the living legend, the architect of two Super Bowl defenses and the zone blitz, and he was so beloved that the mere mention of his name once caused James Harrison to break up on national TV.
Well, here's what's up these days: The Steelers' defense now ranks seventh in the NFL in points allowed per game at 19.0, way up from 18th and 23.0 last season. It now ranks fourth with 16 sacks, way up from 26th and a total of 33 last season. It's hitting harder. It's hurrying the quarterback more. It's getting hands on the football.
It's getting actual interceptions and actual returns, for crying out loud ...
And it's funny how no one really seems inclined to keep quiet about it anymore.
"It's night and day," Mike Mitchell was telling me Thursday at the team's South Side HQ. "There's so much more cohesiveness, so much more awareness of what's happening around us and why ... I can't even put that into words."
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