Baltimore Ravens outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy hit the news cycle this week when the long-time veteran joined The Insiders on NFL Network to talk about getting his revenge on now Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. While this is the story that the media is running with, it's Van Noy's comments toward his former coach that should have everyone's eyebrows raised.
That coach is none other than Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin. Van Noy, a second-round pick in 2014, began his NFL career on the Detroit Lions, where Austin happened to be the defensive coordinator. The versatile edge rusher discussed his game against Rodgers a decade ago, but it was Austin's questionable game plan that stood out.
"I was back in Detroit, when I was playing inside linebacker for whatever reason, the D-coordinator, who is actually the D-coordinator of the Steelers [Teryl Austin], wanted to go Cover-0 all game against Aaron Rodgers," Van Noy said on The Insiders. "And [Rodgers] caught us, and we're like, 'We gotta run it,' scoring a touchdown to Jordy Nelson. He ended up walking by and kind of tapped me on my butt like, 'Nice try.' So, I got to get him back for that. That's been there for 10 years."
Did you catch what Van Noy said there? Teryl Austin was playing Cover-0... all game... against Aaron Rodgers... in the prime of his NFL career. Really? That was his strategy to slow down the MVP quarterback?
This means that Austin's best attempt to slow down the future Hall of Fame quarterback was to have no safety help, leaving players like Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb on an island with defensive backs all game long and with no help over the top. You can't make this stuff up.
Kyle Van Noy just exposed the decade-long incompetence of Pittsburgh Steelers DC Teryl Austin
I don't ever want to come down too hard on a player or coach, but we have more than enough samples that prove Teryl Austin is not fit for the job as the Pittsburgh Steelers' defensive coordinator. And this one game with the Detroit Lions from a decade ago is hardly the only example of pitiful defensive playcalling.
In January, I talked about the despicable game plan from Teryl Austin in the Week 18 season finale for the Steelers. In Cory Trice Jr.'s first-ever NFL start, he left the young cornerback on an island with triple-crown wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase with virtually no help over the top.
Before being hired by the Pittsburgh Steelers as an assistant coach, Austin's last two years as a defensive coordinator of the Lions and the Bengals were accompanied by defenses that ranked between 21st to 32nd in yards and points in 2017 and 2018, per Pro Football Reference. But this is the guy that Mike Tomlin wanted for the job.
Notice how Kyle Van Noy didn't even mention Teryl Austin by name? Perhaps that was intentional. The Baltimore Ravens linebacker just exposed Austin's incompetent game plan from a decade ago, and, unfortunately, not much has changed since he's been the defensive coordinator of the Pittsburgh Steelers.