Mike Tomlin's Steelers didn't do anything to inspire confidence in any aspect of their game in the opening game loss to the Patriots. The offense, in particular, showed no indication that it could be good at even a single facet of football, leaving much to prove in their home opener against the Seahawks on Sunday.
Randy Fichtner talked with Dale Lolley about those mistakes and how they can put their best foot forward. Today's Classroom looks at how they can do that against the Seahawks' defense.
The Steelers were unable to establish the run against the Patriots and will most likely need to avoid being cute with tosses out of the shotgun or misdirection runs with James Conner. Instead, line up in formations that allow you to put a hat on the Seahawks' best player, Bobby Wagner.
He's an All-Pro inside linebacker who does everything asked of him and more. If the Steelers want to move the ball with their backs, either through runs or screens, they need to consistently get David DeCastro or another linemen to him.
The Seahawks held the Bengals running game to 34 yards on 14 carries for an average of 2.4 yards per rush. Wagner had eight tackles, including this one for a loss on a screen he sniffed out and sifted right through the line. Watch how he effortlessly moves and gets to the ball:
If the Steelers plan to win within the box, they have to account for him at all times. But where the Steelers could establish their identity against a weakness in the Seahawks' D is their passing game. For all the communication breakdowns the Steelers had last week, the Seahawks had plenty of their own.
Watch how tight end C.J. Uzomah walks freely up the seam through their Cover 3 defense. They have a man playing the seam, but he jumps into the flat while the player responsible for deep thirds doesn't recognize there's a deep option he has to commit to:
The Seahawks' secondary is long past the days of the "legion of boom." Shaquille Griffin is a good player, but safety Tedric Thompson could be a target Ben Roethlisberger takes the most advantage of on deep passes to JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Washington.
Thompson plays deep safety here on a Cover 2 scheme at the end of the first half. John Ross runs an out and up route right into Thompson's zone while Andy Dalton floats a desperate pass that should get picked off every time. But Thompson overplays the pass and watches it go over his head for an easy touchdown:
The Seahawks' secondary has athleticism, but it did not show itself to be a disciplined bunch last week and will be traveling to the other side of the country to a rocking Heinz Field. This is the perfect recipe for the Steelers' offense to establish its strengths and show why there was so much confidence about the young receiving corps coming into this season .
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