Early in October, there was concern for the Steelers' secondary after it gave up 242 passing yards and two passing touchdowns to Carson Wentz and the Eagles. I wrote then that the group would tighten up, looking at the small detailed components of their game that could be fixed in short time to have them performing at a high level.
A month later, that's come to pass.
The Steelers are giving up 211.3 passing yards per game, ranking fifth in the NFL as they'll fly their 9-0 record to Jacksonville, Fla., this Sunday for a faceoff with the 1-8 Jaguars. Much of that has been because of the secondary's flexibility with both safeties and cornerbacks playing different spots on the field.
But it's been their two starting safeties, Terrell Edmunds and Minkah Fitzpatrick, whose understanding and application of complex and always-moving defensive disguises and schemes, that make it all work.
Fitzpatrick is the first team All-Pro safety who became the hero of the Steelers' 2019 season, the acquisition who brought the defense together. Keith Butler's defense jumped from ranking 10th in passing yards allowed in 2018 to third in 2019, largely because of Fitzpatrick becoming a central pillar with five interceptions, nine passes defensed, a forced fumble and two fumbles recovered.
Edmunds still hasn't become part of the turnover production, as he hasn't intercepted a pass, nor forced/recovered a fumble since his rookie season in 2018. But he has become a vital part of the defense because of his flexibility to fill different roles in coverage, lining up against wide receivers, tight ends and running backs throughout.
That work has contributed to the Steelers allowing 201 total receiving yards by running backs, second-fewest in the NFL, as well as one receiving touchdown from running backs. Similarly, tight ends have only 319 receiving yards and one touchdown.
Edmunds plays a big role in that, but the defense also assigns him to guard their opponents' top receivers. He won't always make a play on the ball, but he will blanket his assignment to create tiny passing windows for quarterbacks to target, often leading to incomplete passes.
Watch how Edmunds does that to the Bengals' Tyler Boyd, as he lines up with him in the slot, runs with him in his hip pocket and never gives Joe Burrow an easy target last week:
Burrow has to hit this target more than 30 yards downfield while getting the ball over Edmunds, who is right on top of Boyd, leading to the incomplete pass.
The numbers for Edmunds add up, too.
According to Pro Football Focus, he has been targeted 35 times and allowed 20 receptions for 236 yards and one touchdown. There are 18 safeties in the NFL who have been targeted 30 times or more, and only the Panthers' Tre Boston has allowed fewer receptions than Edmunds in that group. His 236 yards allowed rank sixth.
Edmunds also has helped to discourage quarterbacks from their primary targets even while not lining up with them in man coverage.
Watch how Edmunds lines up in zone coverage on the right side of the defense, settling on the 30-yard line:
Once the pass play develops, Edmunds moves in his zone to take away a curl route Burrow is staring down, just short of the first-down marker. When that option is taken away, Burrow checks down to Giovani Bernard, who Edmunds pushes out of bounds to finish the play and force fourth down.
That's a lot of coverage responsibilities filled by one guy.
Edmunds' instincts continue to grow each year, and they've gotten to a point that lets Butler line him up all over the field.
Even so, Fitzpatrick's instincts are the best of the group, and maybe in the NFL. He and Edmunds have shown a strong understanding of how to line up in various coverages, disguise looks, while still applying their assignments in zone and man to best counter what offenses are trying to do with various route concepts.
FItzpatrick isn't part of that group of 18 safeties who've been targeted 30 times. That's because he's been targeted only eight times in nine games, allowing only four receptions for 80 yards and no touchdowns. And he has recorded two interceptions.
Pro Football Focus has him allowing a reception for every 89 passing plays where he's in coverage. That's the third-best rate in the NFL.
That's because when Fitzpatrick lurks in an area, quarterbacks tend to stay away, and it helps the rest of the defense.
Watch how his playing in a cover-1 robber zone fools Burrow and forces him to fire a quick pass that gets broken up by Joe Haden:
Before the snap, Fitzpatrick and Edmunds line up looking like two deep safeties who will play deep half zones, showing cover-2. But at the snap of the ball, that coverage switches to cover-1 robber, with Edmunds dropping back to deep cover-1, and Fitzpatrick bumping down to the robber role, where he'll jump any underneath pass over the middle. Burrow's first read his receiver in the slot running a seam route to the middle of the defense.
That would've been the right target against cover-2, but with Fitzpatrick's robber role, Burrow has to switch targets and fire quickly outside the numbers as his pocket collapses, allowing Haden to make a play on the ball for the third down stop
Give Burrow credit for not taking the bait to throw it near Fitzpatrick and throwing a competitive pass outside the numbers, but this is what the Steelers' secondary challenges offenses to do.
It's also why Fitzpatrick plays these zones in the middle of the field, even when he's targeted less than one time per game. It takes away the biggest and easiest part of the field for quarterbacks to target, forcing them to win by throwing tighter passes to the sideline, checking down underneath, or hoping that Fitzpatrick isn't in the area when they're throwing.
Here's where that works in the Steelers' favor again, this time leading to a T.J. Watt sack that pushes the Bengals out of field goal range at the end of the first half. Watch how, again, the Steelers' safeties show a deep cover-2 look with Edmunds' and Fitzpatrick's initial alignment:
At the snap of the play, Edmunds drops back, and Fitzpatrick comes underneath to play robber, taking away Burrow's initial read to target A.J. Green. But this time, Burrow can't even get to his second progression because Watt has beaten his man on an inside-twist that brings down Burrow.
That's a lot of movement and planning quarterbacks have to do just to avoid one guy.
Every defensive alignment comes with certain reads and natural counters to it that offenses build into their schemes. Good quarterbacks can see them, and great quarterbacks can adjust their offenses at will to find those openings. That's what Patrick Mahomes does on a regular basis.
But when those initial reads disappear because the defense keeps switching out of them, it becomes a lot harder to be predictive with where a defense's weak spot might be on a given play.
And when the Steelers' defense is using all that movement, along with aggressively and tactically taking away an opponent's primary targets, it gives quarterbacks headaches trying to keep up with all the different variables and stratagems to keep a drive alive while also worrying about Watt, Bud Dupree, Cam Heyward and Stephon Tuitt bringing the best pass rush unit in the NFL.