Keith Butler finally has a defense that will be a fast group in coverage and can run all around, and that showed Friday night at Heinz Field in the Steelers' 17-7 preseason win over the Chiefs.
Patrick Mahomes completely shredded the Steelers' defense in 2018, but only completed two passes on five attempts for 11 yards in his two drives.
Let's take a look at what the Steelers did right and where they can look to improve in their coverage moving forward:
Good defenses require players to win in a wide variety of ways. It's not enough to be good at just one aspect of your job, you have to be able to line up in different spots on the field and be ready for different challenges wherever your team needs a matchup to be won.
That happened a lot for the Steelers' first team defense against the Chiefs. Their third-down stop came from a simple man-2 under scheme where the defense pressed receivers across the field, rushed four and dropped both safeties back.
Across the board you can see the coverage making life hard for the Chiefs receivers. Steven Nelson and Artie Burns run closely with Tyreek Hill and Sammy Watkins. Mike Hilton trails Mecole Hardman tightly over the middle. Sean Davis jams Travis Kelce from getting open. And Mark Barron runs with Damien Williams' wheel route to keep Mahomes from having an easy target:
The Steelers' defense has to take away the easy options for quarterbacks and force them to throw more challenging passes.
That means making solid tackles when offenses try to scheme for safe passes that could lead to yards after the catch. Cameron Sutton had to do just that when speedster Rashard Davis caught a ball behind the line and was tackled right on the spot:
Everyone in coverage has to play fast and aggressive to maintain their leverage, but it also means switching up from what your normal role may be to accomplish different goals on the field.
If you look back at that first play with Barron in coverage, you can see Davis in press coverage and Terrell Edmunds back in deep halves coverage with Kameron Kelly. That's three safeties on the field, with each having the ability to come up in the box and have success.
Hilton is also showing he can go from being a normal slot cornerback in press coverage to a defensive back in deep zone coverage that brings support, like he did on his biggest play of the night.
Cody Thompson is being covered here by Sutton, who does a good job sticking with him and forcing Kyle Shurmur to put make a high throw. Doing so forced Thompson to leave his feet for a difficult catch, which exposed him to a finishing blow by Hilton:
After the game, Hilton emphasized the importance of players being able to fill those different roles.
"We have guys that can play different positions in case someone goes down," Hilton said to me after the game. "When that happens, we all have to step up and play well where we need to in order to play."
He also said that he and Sutton are building a bit of chemistry as the intermediate defenders in coverage.
"We definitely are building together. Both of us being inside a lot, we like to play with each other. We're finding ways to disguise our coverages together so that both of us can be in position to make plays."
That's chemistry, and it's essential for this defense to get where it needs to be if the Steelers are to be serious Super Bowl contenders.
But not everything went well for the secondary. There were times when Hilton was beat over the middle of the field, like the 27-yard pass to Marcus Kemp.
When I asked Mike Tomlin if he liked how his defense was running with the Chiefs' receivers, he didn't express confidence in their showing.
"I thought both teams started slow offensively," Tomlin said. "You could describe the defense as doing what they needed to do."
That's no ringing endorsement, but also an acknowledgment that they weren't scorched — a truthful assessment that might stem from his disappointment in how they allowed Mecole Hardman's touchdown.
The Chiefs run three streaks on the left side of the field into a cover two zone by the Steelers. This means that because the two deep safeties each cover half the field, they need support from the underneath coverage when multiple deep routes attack. Here, Hilton is in the slot and lets Harding blow right by him for the score:
It's not all there yet, but there definitely are faster and more adept groups in coverage. The Steelers' secondary will get more chances to mesh next Sunday in Tennessee against the Titans.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Steelers vs. Chiefs, Heinz Field, Aug. 18, 2019 -- MATT SUNDAY / DKPSWar Room and Carter’s Classroom need your help! We are seeking sponsors for the 2019-2020 NFL season that would be willing to see their brand grow through advertising with us. All interested parties should contact me at christopher@dkpittsburghsports.com.
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