ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Steelers defense had promise in 2023. Their front has the potential to be one of the best in football, and there is talent all around the defense. But between injuries and personnel deficiencies, they never reached the heights they promised.
But one issue stands above the rest—their inability to stop the opposing team’s tight ends.
I’ve tried asking around the locker room. The Steelers have used more guys and schematic changes than I can count. They still can’t stop tight ends. When that happens, there’s one logical answer — the answer is personnel-related, and the fix is not on the team. Maybe the fix could be Minkah Fitzpatrick, but the team needs his skills in the box and deep to cover ground with the lack of speed on the backend. Then, injuries at the linebacker and a true lack of a run-down slot cornerback forced them to peck him up into the box and become a SAM linebacker at times.
So, maybe the answer to this is to get a true run-down slot cornerback to free up Fitzpatrick. But he was injured for most of this stretch when they faced tight ends who burned them. From Trey McBride onwards, tight ends torched the Steelers up and down the football field on different routes. I asked Elandon Roberts about the problem, and he did not answer well. From others, it was the canned ‘keep working’ answer.
But these players are not stupid. Sometimes, it’s simple. That guy isn’t there. He’s not in the room. And if the guy is there (Fitzpatrick) they do not have someone to fill an equally as important role in their scheme (run down slot cornerback). So, they have a choice to decide here. Either go get another tight-end eraser at safety or get that run-down nickel cornerback to free up Fitzpatrick.
I’ve long said I think the team needs to overhaul the secondary. They lack speed and the guys who are fast are not great tacklers. it’s a bad combination. When you lack speed, you force the talented and speedy guys, like Fitzpatrick, to overcompensate in other roles. That’s what happened to this team. The answer will only be found in the offseason, likely in free agency.
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