5 Steelers that have vastly improved their play after a poor start to the season

Patrick Peterson is finally starting to look comfortable this season

A lot of blame was placed on the starting cornerbacks for the Steelers during the first half of the season. Patrick Peterson and Levi Wallace were the starting duo on the outside on defense, and that was terrible to witness. Both consistently got beat every week. No offense of the opponents struggled to pass the ball on the black and gold.

Wallace remains almost unplayable, and neither started the season well. Something has changed for Patrick Peterson since Joey Porter Jr. finally got the nod to start games. It's almost like the Broderick Jones effect that he had on the offensive line. Instead, Porter has been able to balance out a secondary that has struggled with injuries over the past month or so.

Peterson is old now for a starting cornerback in the NFL, and he will not be getting any faster. It seems like Tomlin has finally accepted the fact that rookies need to be infused into the starting lineup to provide speed and skill. Their inexperience could bite you at times, but it also allows for others to move around the lineup and be effective elsewhere.

That is where a veteran cornerback like Peterson has come in handy. It was teased throughout the pre-season process that he would get playing time in a variety of roles on defense. That did not happen until a handful of weeks ago. Peterson has been getting better ever since Tomlin started to move him around and accept more rookies into the starting lineup.