A week after the Pittsburgh Steelers suffered a humiliating loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, defensive coordinator Teryl Austin tried to explain a schematic change in the defense. But in doing so, he drew the ire of the entire fanbase.
Steelers fans may have noticed two things against the Bengals. One, the team is running virtually no dime sets, even when the opposition is spreading the ball around through the air. The other is that Cole Holcomb was in the game during the Bengals' final, game-winning drive.
Austin explained on Thursday that the team doesn’t run much dime anymore because of Payton Wilson’s coverage abilities. We’ll get back to that in a second, because that isn’t exactly as concrete as Austin played it off.
As for why Holcomb was in the game for that last Cincinnati drive? Austin didn’t think the Bengals were in an obvious passing situation.
Teryl Austin’s comments deepened frustration among Pittsburgh Steelers fans still fuming over AFC North loss
What? The Bengals were down a point with 2:20 remaining at their own 30 when their final drive began. This may be lost on the coaching staff in Pittsburgh, but teams generally play to win the game if they have a chance to do so. And odds are, if you are leading in the fourth quarter of a tight game, you are facing an offense that is in an obvious passing situation.
As for his explanation of the dime packages, Wilson hasn’t exactly been a beacon of elite coverage play among NFL linebackers. He’s allowed 20 of 22 passes in his coverage area to be completed this season. He’s already allowed more yards than he did in his rookie season.
Wilson is a great young player with tons of potential, so he can take his lumps and continue to improve. There’s no doubt he is more physically suited to play in coverage roles than Holcomb.
But that doesn’t excuse the malpractice from Austin in the final moments of the game. It’s statements like these that explain why the highest-paid defense in the NFL is 32nd in first downs allowed, 31st in pass yardage allowed, 26th in rush yards allowed, all while facing more plays than any other team in the league, despite already passing the BYE Week.
It’s not a comforting thing to hear ahead of the Steelers’ biggest test of the season against the Green Bay Packers this Sunday night. Hopefully, Steelers fans don’t have to endure further examples of these fireable offenses from Austin and his defense, but the fanbase shouldn’t hold its breath.