Steelers vs Colts: Defensive Huddle
By Josh Fitzer
Steelers defense makes a statement by containing T.Y. Hilton, and forcing three turnovers against the Andrew Luck-less Indianapolis Colts
Greetings, Steeler Nation!
Mondays are always better after a Steelers win, aren’t they? Especially since our beloved team delivered a 45-10 blow to the Indianapolis Colts. Let’s take a look at how our defense did against the likes of Frank Gore, Andre Johnson, and T.Y. Hilton.
THE GOOD:
-I’m happy that Tomlin stuck to his word and gave Antwon Blake some rest. He’s obviously been playing hurt for awhile which has led to missed tackles and poor coverage. This led to more sightings of Brandon Boykin on defense. Boykin had 22 snaps coming into this game, he finished with 40 snaps. #25 made his presence felt early by intercepting a pass that was tipped by William Gay. I think it’s safe to say that Boykin will be getting more snaps in these remaining games.
-I also think it’s safe to say that Jacoby Jones will be given a pink slip at some point this week. He fumbled the ball on the opening kickoff, giving the Colts the ball at the Steelers 11 yard line. I thought for sure the Colts would score, but they didn’t. LB Jarvis Jones dropped back into coverage and picked off Hasselbeck’s pass. Hats off to you, Mr. Jones. (Not you, Jacoby).
-Pass coverage was a lot better in this game. Andre Johnson and T.Y. Hilton were virtually a non-factor. The Steelers only allowed 220 yards through the air. On some plays, they dropped eight men into coverage, only having three rush the passer. Hasselbeck had this to say after the game.
Re: On if it’s accurate that he wasn’t releasing the ball as quickly as he would have liked:
“Yes, and when they drop an extra guy in to cover you, so the three-man rush is dropping eight into coverage – you know, just some unconventional things and we knew that coming in. We didn’t see a lot of the stuff that we necessarily prepared for but we kind of knew that might be the case also. The stuff that we did prepare for we didn’t execute the way [we wanted to]. I don’t know. I wish I could get some plays back. But I would agree. They had me out of sync with the dropping eight and rushing three.”
THE BAD:
I hate nit picking, so I won’t.
MY THREE STARS:
I have only one star this week, and that’s the whole defense. For rebounding after a bad loss last week, and coming away with 5 sacks, two interceptions, and one forced fumble.
Let’s hope this defense can put together a similar performance against the Bengals on Sunday.
Here we go, Steelers! Here we go!