People like to say that a team needs a strong defense to win a championship. I agree, and this is why I am worried about the Steelers. I think their offense is capable of taking them far into the playoffs, but I feel the defense might cause the most problems.
Staring with Jacksonville this week, the Steelers are going to have to stop the run. Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew killed them a few weeks ago. The Steelers' defense may have been ranked number one for much of the season, but I Jacksonville had no trouble moving the ball. Their offense line was bigger and more physical than the Steelers' defensive line, and the Steelers showed poor tackling as a whole. To stop Taylor and Jones-Drew the Steelers must pursue better and gang tackle. The primary mission will be to stop the run.
Then they have David Garrard and the passing game. If the line and linebackers concentrate on the run, it will be up to the secondary to slow the Jaguar receivers. I think they can do this, but it would be easier if there was pressure on Garrard. Lack of pressure on the quarterback is my number one complaint about the Steeler Defense. Garrard has no experience in the NFL playoffs and some players seem to have trouble in big games. We'll see what kind of player Garrard is, but pressure would sure make it more difficult on him. I'm just not confident that the Steelers defense can stop the run and pressure the quarterback. I don't think the 3-4 scheme is the best system to do so.
Finally, I want to see the Steeler defense play with the nasty, aggressive attitude that we haven't seen this year. At times they play well, but I want to see them play the attacking, disruptive style that we all grew up loving. That is Steeler football. However, I don't think Dick LeBeau coaches them to play that style. We'll see if Mike Tomlin gets them fired up and ready to play. I think they can win, but I also think the fans might be shouting "LeBeau must go!" by the end of this game. I hope he proves me wrong.
Keywords: 3-4, Fred Taylor, Jacksonville, Jags, LeBeau, Maurice Jones-Drew, NFL, playoffs, Steeler, Steelers, Tomlin
