Open letter to Steelers President Arthur J. Rooney II: It's time for change
By Eric Hassel
The Steelers defense needs to get back to playing 'lights out' football
On the defensive side of the ball, things are not much better. The Steelers defense currently ranks thirtieth in total yards allowed, twenty-fourth in passing yards allowed, twenty-eighth in rushing yards allowed, and seventeenth in points allowed. That is frankly our saving grace right now.
Do you see the same pattern that I or probably a lot of Steelers fans see? We are not good on offense and the defense is keeping us in games primarily because we are not giving up a ton of points and we are getting a bunch of turnovers. We are tied for second-best in that category.
When I started watching football, it was the glory days of the 1970s. I'm sure you remember them as fondly as I do. The current iteration of the Steel Curtain is closer to the Steel Screen Door than it is to the Steel Curtain.
This 'bend don't break' style of defense we are playing is akin to playing with matches. Eventually, we are going to get burned. Once that happens, there may be no recovering from it. I think the other issue is the fact that we are wasting the best years of players such as Minkah Fitzpatrick, T.J. Watt, and Cameron Heyward.
I realize you can't necessarily change your scheme five games into the season, but you can change who you trot out on game day. I dare say that we are under-utilizing players such as Joey Porter, Jr. Porter is a player on the rise, as Mike Tomlin would say, but is not being used in the manner in which I believe he should be used.
Please allow me to continue with a review of the coaching.