The Steelers’ 41-17 victory over the Falcons two days ago at Heinz Field was their most complete of the 2018 season. It also featured major progress from a struggling defense.
Let’s dig deep …
TWO-MINUTE DRILL
• Where scheme beat team: The Steelers did something that great defenses have to do in today’s NFL — take away an offense’s elite talent. Of course that point of emphasis for this game was Julio Jones, but the Steelers made sure to limit Calvin Ridley, the pesky Mohamed Sanu, and the dual rushing threat of Tevin Coleman and Devonta Freeman.
Kudos to Keith Butler this week for that, but just as much credit goes to the players for pulling off this scheme. If there was ever an example what a prepared Steelers’ defense should look like this year, this was it. The Falcons regularly employ several packages, using motions, switches and various sets to throw off opponents. But that didn’t affect the Steelers.
Terrell Edmunds talked afterward about how prepared the Steelers were, as they had “very few” mental mistakes in practices all week:
Joe Haden was the star of the secondary as he eliminated Julio Jones as a threat, limiting him to zero catches in the first three quarters and allowing just five catches for 62 yards in what was practically garbage time. Haden’s best ability is not getting lost while guarding athletic opponents like Jones.
Jones’ career has been a highlight reel of him out-running, out-jumping, and out-muscling opposing defensive backs. Big plays happen when he gets open because someone can’t keep up with him. While Haden limited that as much as possible, it was a team effort to stop Jones.
Defenses cannot afford to blandly stick to the same plan throughout a game in today’s NFL because offenses will eventually adjust and tear them apart. Good defenses are able to make proper switches at the defensive line and prepare going into games for when those switches are appropriate.
Take this example. Haden talks to Mike Hilton at the line just before Jones goes in motion at the top of the formation. Haden’s communication to Hilton lets him know the motion is coming, and that Hilton will need to get in front of Jones on his coming corner route:
Hilton receives timely help from Sean Davis to properly bracket Jones and force Matt Ryan to throw a perfect pass — bracketing receivers is essential to forcing the perfect pass. In the Steelers’ game against the Chiefs, almost no receiver was ever bracketed to limit Patrick Maholmes.
But throughout the Falcons’ game, the Steelers were able to apply proper coverage regardless of the schemes and route combinations drawn up by Atlanta offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian.
Davis was able to see all of the Steelers’ adjustments unfold in front of him, as he was the deep safety. Remarkably, Ryan only completed one pass all game that traveled 20 or more yards in the air. That showed how well the Steelers took away the Falcons’ dependence on big plays.
When I talked to Davis, he praised his fellow members of the secondary, and suggested he needed to buy the rest of the secondary something nice for all their hard work. That perked up the ears of Hilton, who wanted to make sure Davis followed through on that promise:
The Steelers’ defensive plan has been in place each game, but the players hadn’t been able to pull it off consistently throughout a game until this week. Limiting the NFL’s ninth-best scoring offense when you’re ranked 25th in scoring defense is a good rebound.
• All about the tackling: Missed tackles were a main problem for the Steelers in 2017, as Pro Football Focus revealed with their number-crunching on that team:
Last season, the #Steelers missed a tackle on 16.1% of run plays (31st in NFL).
They added sure tackling veterans this offseason in S Morgan Burnett and LB Jon Bostic, who ranked 1st and 8th respectively at their positions in tackling efficiency. https://t.co/R2sUJejvPY
— PFF PIT Steelers (@PFF_Steelers) July 19, 2018
Because of that, our commitment this season is to keep a close eye on this facet.
The Steelers’ defensive effort was arguably their best of the season, missing only two tackles in the process. T.J. Watt led the team in tackling for the first time this season with eight, finding the ball over fifteen percent of the time he was on the field. Terrell Edmunds gets high marks, as well, for his seven tackles and finding the ball more than eleven percent of plays on the field. His lone missed tackle came late in the fourth quarter when the game was all but finished.
Also notable is L.J. Fort, who had the third-most tackles on the team despite having the fourth-fewest snaps on the defense. His six tackles often came on third downs, which showed the Falcons thought they could exploit him as a weakness. But he rose to that challenge and found the ball more than 25 percent of his time on the field.
Tyler Matakevich deserves a nod, too, for his four tackles in limited play.
• Key Matchups: The Falcons and Steelers’ skillsets gave each team certain advantages. Here is how the key matchups played out:
• Steelers’ secondary vs. Falcons receiving trio: The Steelers knew the Falcons were extremely dangerous with Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley and Mohamed Sanu as receiving threats who could score from anywhere on the field. Considering the secondary’s problems of late, the Steelers had major concerns about the Falcons dominating with their best personnel group. But they limited the Falcons receivers and only allowed one big play in Sanu’s touchdown. Taking away the bread and butter of another team is a great way to win. Advantage: Steelers
• Takk McKinley and Vic Beasley vs. Alejandro Villanueva and Marcus Gilbert: The Falcons’ interior defense was decimated from injury. So their best chance of success was through their edge rushers in McKinley, who has five sacks on the season, and Beasley who has been a good contributor for a few seasons now. But neither player even touched Roethlisberger during the game. That allowed Roethlisberger to continue looking downfield in the second half and keep taking the shots that put the game away. Advantage: Steelers.
• Butler’s blitzes vs. Matt Ryan’s recognition: To help the secondary, the Steelers’ defense needed to get Ryan off his launch point and make his job more difficult. That meant attacking with different blitzes to confuse Ryan and keep his attention at the line of scrimmage. With six sacks and 11 quarterback hits on a day the defense only allowed 17 points, that’s a major win. Advantage: Steelers.
Had a big play or a decent game 
Very impressive, multiple big plays
Elite performance
Gave up a big play without redemption 
Total performance was a disappointment
Horrible, inexcusable
QUARTERBACK: B+
Roethlisberger got it together in the second half, tossing two touchdowns to Brown and throwing two incomplete passes after a roller-coaster first half.
Ben Roethlisberger:
Roethlisberger’s 19 completions on 29 attempts for 250 yards, three touchdowns and one interception gave him a good stats day with a 112.7 passer rating. He started the game with issues completing passes anywhere except the middle of the field. When targeting the left or the right side of the field in the first half, he had three completions on ten attempts for 23 yards. Most of those were from misfires on plays where he saw the open man and missed.
That was gone in the second half, as you saw when he came out gunning with that 15-yard dart to Brown in the middle of the defense. Were it not for his inconsistencies in the first half, Roethlisberger would’ve had a higher grade.
Still, Roethlisberger does seem to be recognizing where he should go with the ball more often than not. Even in his misfires, he’s usually finding the right spots to target, like his touchdown pass to JuJu-Smith Schuster in the first quarter. He read a one-high safety look for Cover 3, and it was the correct read. Though the ball was higher than it should’ve been, it was still good enough for Smith-Schuster to score:
RUNNING BACKS: A+
The Steelers needed a boost from their run game and they got it in the form of Conner’s huge game and great blocking from Roosevelt Nix.
James Conner:
Conner’s 110 yards on 21 carries made him the catalyst for the Steelers’ offense, but his 75 yards on four catches was also key. Having two 28-yard receptions, one on third down, made a big difference. Not only that, but he made players miss in space to create extra yardage. We cited that as a problem in last week’s loss to the Ravens, so that’s a huge turnaround this week. He still needs to be more consistent, but it was a big performance.
Roosevelt Nix:
Nix hit one of the nails in the Falcons’ coffin with his blocked punt, but he added another with his key block on Conner’s second touchdown. He’s still a tough lead blocker and adds an edge to the team.
OFFENSIVE LINE: A+
This group completely neutralized the Falcons’ pass rush and established a dominant presence in the run game. Their best game this season.
Marcus Gilbert:
Setting the right edge for Conner and making sure that Takk McKinley wouldn’t be a factor makes for a good day. McKinley had five sacks in four games before facing the Steelers and commented about how Roethlisberger had never “seen him” before this game. The only time Roethlisberger saw McKinley was when he ran past him on a scramble to convert a third down. Gilbert may be the most unappreciated tackle in the NFL for how consistent he has been.
Alejandro Villanueva:
Statistics won’t show it, but Vic Beasley can be just as dangerous than McKinley, and Villanueva made him a non-factor. Didn’t have any drive-killing penalties and was solid in the run game.
David DeCastro:
Being a lead blocker on power runs and the ace of the offensive line isn’t easy, but DeCastro sure makes it seem that way. When the Steelers’ offensive line is winning smashmouth football like it did against the Falcons, you can bet DeCastro is leading the charge.
WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS: A
They’ve been the most consistently productive group on the team and that continued against the Falcons’ strong cornerback group.
Antonio Brown:
This game was the perfect validation to show Brown’s lack of big numbers this season weren’t because of anything he was doing wrong. Brown consistently got open throughout the game against one of the league’s better cornerback combinations in Desmond Trufant and Ron Alford. It took until the second half for Roethlisberger to get him catchable passes in big situations, and that’s when the Steelers’ offense looked at its best.
Watch how Brown uses a quick stutter step, gives Alford his inside leverage and then slaps away his attempt at a jam. As soon as the jam was gone, Brown had won the release and it was over:
Alford’s no slouch either, being a guy that took a Tom Brady interception for a touchdown in the Super Bowl two years ago. But it takes more than being a very good cornerback to stop Brown.
JuJu Smith-Schuster:
Not a huge day statistically, but he had four catches on four targets to go along with a touchdown he had to go up and get while taking a hit in the end zone. The Steelers still need to develop a consistent target outside the numbers other than Brown.
DEFENSIVE LINE: A
When you hold a team with two good running backs to 3.3 yards per carry, that’s a good day. But factor in all the pressure the Steelers created and you get a very good day.
Cam Heyward:
Heyward was his usual self, bullying interior offensive linemen at the point of the attack and bringing the pass rush. His 1.5 sacks came from completely bulldozing the interior part of the line and he was once again a cornerstone of the defense.
LINEBACKERS: A
The Falcons were banking on being able to single-out the Steelers’ linebackers in coverage and expose them with their receiving threats. That only worked for a little, as the Steelers’ linebackers were often in position to stop the run, tackle quickly on passes, and create pressure on Ryan.
T.J. Watt:
Another three sack game is as ridiculous as it sounds. Watt was getting off the ball and beating Ryan Schraeder all game. His eight tackles led the team and he was active in all phases of the defense.
Last week we mentioned his problems with using pass rush moves, but in this game he won with a variety of methods. Here’s the last sack of the game that forced a fumble and led to a touchdown. Watch how Watt uses his inside hand as an anchor point on Schraeder to establish leverage. Watt’s explosiveness is his best weapon, but finding different ways to use it like this are his path to being an elite edge rusher:
L.J. Fort:
He primarily played third downs, but he was finding the ball a lot and making plays in space. His tackle on Devonta Freeman on third down in the fourth quarter was one of the plays that helped close out the game, and it highlighted his athleticism. The Steelers still aren’t comfortable relying on him to stop the run, but he certainly made Butler’s linebacker-by-committee plan work.
Jon Bostic:
Bostic was good again in helping contain the Falcons’ ground game and helped with covering underneath passing. He played a big part in making sure the defense flowed properly between the Falcons’ route combinations. However, he only got one star because he made what was the defense’s biggest mistake, a 43-yard touchdown to Sanu.
Watch when Sanu goes in motion across the field and how Bostic points to Hilton. Bostic appears to think Hilton is free to pick up Sanu, but he’s already covering a receiver. With Anthony Chickillo rushing, it’s up to Bostic to at least challenge Sanu as he releases. But between his mental mistake, and getting fooled by the run-pass-option, Bostic leaves Sanu open to carve right through the middle of the defense:
Fortunately for the Steelers, Bostic bounced back and otherwise had a solid game.
Bud Dupree:
Dupree did not have a bad game overall, but he didn’t contribute any sacks and had two hands-to-the-face penalties that helped extend Falcons drives. Those mistakes could’ve cost the Steelers more had the rest of the defense not been as productive.
SECONDARY: A
The Falcons were arguably the most talented receiving corps the Steelers have faced this season. The secondary had to test their ability to cover dynamic threats that tested both underneath and overtop coverage, and they passed the test brilliantly.
Joe Haden:
The obvious star of the game, as Chris Bradford highlighted in his postgame article, Haden showed why the Steelers were quick to sign him last year. He shadowed Jones all game and made him a complete non-factor. All five of Jones’ receptions came in the fourth quarter when the Steelers had control of the game and were putting the Falcons away. When you take away a receiver that some call the best in the NFL, you had a great day.
Terrell Edmunds:
This game was an encouraging sign of Edmunds’ development. He played both deep in coverage and underneath, making seven tackles and showing the potential the Steelers drafted him for. Key to how he made many of those tackles was his pursuit angles.
He also had a crucial third down tackle while covering Tevin Coleman, a speedy running back who’s difficult for even cornerbacks to cover. If Edmunds continues his progression, the Steelers may get a huge boost this season.
Mike Hilton:
Hilton continues to be an ultimate utility player that Butler can rely on in all phases of the defense. He’s reliable in coverage, against the run and as a pass rusher. Part of his success as a rusher comes from his ability to disguise whether he’s in coverage or about to blitz. I asked Hilton if his blitzing was a major factor in the team’s plan for the Falcons:
THE ROAD AHEAD
The Steelers’ defensive performance needs to be a kickstart for consistent improvement in coverage. Their victory against one talented receiving corps in the Falcons does not mean they should overlook another in the Bengals’ A.J. Green and Tyler Boyd, and their athletic running backs, Giovani Bernard and Joe Mixon.
The Bengals will have their years of experience as a divisional opponent to rely on to plan their attack of the Steelers’ defense, which may prove more of a challenge than the Falcons.
Offensively, it seemed like Roethlisberger finally clicked after his first touchdown pass to Brown. I counted eight misfires in the first half and none in the second. Whatever it was about the second half, Roethlisberger combined his recognition of the Falcons’ defense with accuracy in his throws, overcoming a problem that’s plagued him early this season.
He’ll need a full game like that, as the Bengals do have the defensive talent to capitalize on mistakes and turn them into game-changing turnovers.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Steelers vs. Falcons, Heinz Field, Oct. 7, 2018 – MATT SUNDAY / DKPS
