View topic - New Article: The Great Facade Known as Dick LeBeau, Part Tro

[StillMill Profile]

http://www.stillers.com/articles/2634.aspx has been posted by Still Mill at Stillers.com.

[jdpdts Profile]

Dude, you so called it! The defense completely gave up 10 points. I never would have imagined the offense would have given up 21. Dang! If that moron LeBeau would have been able to keep the Pack to 1, the Steelers would have won our seventh ring. Oh well, win some--lose some. Two quick questions if you could:

1. Do you think you guys will repeat next year?

2. Were you in favor of your team releasing Favre since you probably knew how great Rodgers would be for you?

[stillcello Profile]

Here's a quick breakdown comparing how the Steelers fared against the 'better' teams copmared to other Top 10 Defenses this year.

Average points scored
NE........NO........GB........Miami
32.4.....24.........24.3.....17.1

Points Allowed by Top 10 defenses (some are averaged)
................NE........NO........GB........Miami
Steelers......33........20.........24........22
Packers.......31................................23
Ravens........20........24.....................10
Jets............33.................................20
Chicago.......36.....................21
SD..............23
Cleveland.....14.........17.....................10
Miam...........39......................20

vs. NE, the Stillers gave up close to NE's average scored and in the middle of the 8 'top' defenses

vs. NO, the Stillers gave up 4 less then NO's average scored and in the middle of the 8 'top' defenses

vs. GB, the Stillers gave up close to GB's average scored and 3-4 points more then the other 2 'top' defenses

vs. Miami, the Stillers gave up 5 points worse then Miami's average scored and towards the low end of the other 3 'top' defenses


***

Perhaps one conclusion you can reach from all this is that vs. good QBs/good offensive teams, the Steelers are close to average or slightly above, and vs. mediocre to bad teams we are better than almost anyone. The result of these 'classifications' is that we gave up fewer points than another other team this year.

Passing yards allowed is not compelling in my opinion because we gave up so few rushing yards and therefore opposing teams throw more against the Stillers (4th most in the league actually with 37 attempts per game). Perhaps a better metric related to passing yardage is passing yards allowed per attempt, which the Stillers gave up 6.3 passing yard per attempt, which was the BEST IN THE NFL.

These are just stats... interpret them however you wish

[StillMill Profile]

Perhaps one conclusion you can reach from all this is that vs. good QBs/good offensive teams, the Steelers are close to average or slightly above, and vs. mediocre to bad teams we are better than almost anyone. The result of these 'classifications' is that we gave up fewer points than another other team this year.

Thank you for reinforcing, and proving, my point. Against top offenses, this defense sucked elphant gonad, no matter how someone will try to quibble and rationalize. Against the weak and inept, they were dominant.

This is precisely WHY rankings like "The #1 defense in the NFL" aren't worth the paper they're printed on, as this ranking was compiled by way of dominating the Jimmy Claussen's and Josh Johnsons of the NFL. This defense was a PAPER TIGER, and it showed on Sunday during the assraping by GB.

[stillcello Profile]

Thank you for reinforcing, and proving, my point. Against top offenses, this defense sucked elphant gonad, no matter how someone will try to quibble and rationalize. Against the weak and inept, they were dominant.

This is precisely WHY rankings like "The #1 defense in the NFL" aren't worth the paper they're printed on, as this ranking was compiled by way of dominating the Jimmy Claussen's and Josh Johnsons of the NFL. This defense was a PAPER TIGER, and it showed on Sunday during the assraping by GB.

Well, you say 'sucked gonad', I said 'average to slightly above average', which *feels* like a bit of a difference : )

Also, the rankings are compiled by way of dominating the Jimmy Claussen's and John Johnsons of the NFL...FOR ALL TEAMS... not just the Steelers. Those rankings are a measurement of how good or bad the Steelers are compared to other NFL teams, not compared to some standard of excellence that NO TEAM reached this year and probably has not been reached since...oh I don't know, the 2000 Ravens and maybe the 1985 bears before that...

[SteelPower Profile]

In this new pass happy era of football it is better to be better defending the pass than the run. Dick will keep Hampton and Farrior in because stopping the run is key to all victories in his mind. It use to be but it just shows how time has past him by. With the rules changed to favor the pass the league has changed. A running team will eat lots of clock but if their pass defense is poor they will get scored on quickly and often to where ther is no way for them to come out on top, short of turnover differential. The Stiller could not be run on this year but that did not get us a victory against any team that had a good passing offense. If teams could not pass on us and could only run they would not score enough to keep up with our offense in spite of BA.

[stillcello Profile]

In this new pass happy era of football it is better to be better defending the pass than the run. Dick will keep Hampton and Farrior in because stopping the run is key to all victories in his mind. It use to be but it just shows how time has past him by. With the rules changed to favor the pass the league has changed. A running team will eat lots of clock but if their pass defense is poor they will get scored on quickly and often to where ther is no way for them to come out on top, short of turnover differential. The Stiller could not be run on this year but that did not get us a victory against any team that had a good passing offense. If teams could not pass on us and could only run they would not score enough to keep up with our offense in spite of BA.

Interesting theory, however that would be a difficult sell to the Stiller FO to switch philosophies when the results have been that we give up fewer points than most if not all other NFL teams and we also have reached 3 super bowls in 6 years. It's easy to make a significant philosophy shift when you suck and have nowhere to go but up. There is much more risk to take a team that has had ***more relative success then ANY OTHER team in the past 6 years*** and make major changes.

Seems to me that the teams that have won super bowls in the past 10 years with average to crappy run defenses all had very high powered offenses with excellent offensive lines (Ahem : )... they also had QBs that could throw a very accurate long ball on a consistent basis (Ahem.... : ).... (Green Bay, New Orleans, Indy come to mind)...

I'm not sure that's they way we want to go in the 2nd half of the Ben Ben era. I think we can all agree that Brees, Manning, and Rodgers are(or were....) more pure, consistent throwers of the football compared to Ben, from middle to long range anyway... perhaps I'm wrong in that assertion.

I think if we continue to develop young talent and make a bit more of a priority towards d-backs, that might be enough to really create a more balanced defense that we all would like to see. You can draw all kinds of 'keys' to this puzzle, but when Woodley was playing well it really opening things up for Harrison and also kept pressure off our DBs.... it's a huge deal that we improve at that position in my opinion. Blitzes can only take you so far as good offenses will prepare and counteract them enough over time. I think you can draw a straight line of correlation between defensive pressure brought on by our base pass rush and the overall performance of our pass defense and defense as a whole.

[IronCity__Man Profile]

actually Green Bay offense did bad against most good defenses this year - Jets, Bears (3 times; offense only scored 14 in the championship game), Redskins - if you can call them good, and Atlanta in regular season when their D was playing good.

[stillcello Profile]

actually Green Bay offense did bad against most good defenses this year - Jets, Bears (3 times; offense only scored 14 in the championship game), Redskins - if you can call them good, and Atlanta in regular season when their D was playing good.

Yes, perhaps you could say those teams (or maybe the Jets anyway) are better against the pass than the steelers are. GB was rolling vs. Chicago but then Peppers nailed Rodgers and that when GB tailed off. The stillers never got that big hit on Rodgers (which I had said would be a huge key to winning the SB) and there is some blame for both players and coaches for that to be sure.

But point taken in that if you dominant vs. the run and just OK vs. the pass like the steeler are, then if you play a pass happy team like the Pats or GB are can be in trouble. So I think they should try and strive for some balance as they move forward. They need better personnel at FS, CB2, DB2 and OLB, but we all know that : )

I hope Worlds showed them enough to let Woodley go... NO FRANCHISE TAG PLEASE!!

[Tonydesal Profile]

I believe that our secondary is suspect, at best. So if the front 7 are unable to get pressure on a QB, we're toast. I don't have all the stats to back this up, I just know that for the last 2-3 seasons, I've been watching games pissed off. I mean, we were in the freaking SB and I was watching the game madder than hell.

One "stat" that only I have is that I was screaming at the TV a lot more when we were on defense than offense, and that is a big change from the norm.



It used to be when the Bubby Bristers / Kordel Stewarts / Neil O'donnells had the ball, I was worried, but never when the D was on the field.

My only concerns with the Offense now is that Ben waits till 1 second to snap the ball way too often and then holds it forever. But when the D is on the feild, I'm holding my breath on every snap.

So, yes, Dick you had a great run, but I believe it time to let it go.

[PGHeaven Profile]

There are stats, damned stats, and there are................

Stats dont show what defenses do when it is crunch time. In crunch time Troy delivered us several times. In the super bowl Troy gave away a TD and then did not come up with a play when we needed it

I draw your attention to the 2009 SB. Second half we get ravaged by Curt Warner in the exact same way we got ravaged by Aaron Rodgers in SB XLV. I MEAN FUCKING EXACT!!!! ACRES OPEN ACROSS THEB FN MIDDLE _ NO PRESS _ NO CHUCKS NO ADSJUSTMENTS BY LEBEAU!!!!

Then Big Ben puts on cape and pulls the defenses scrawny ass out of the fire. THIS TIME? Same damned scenario except Ben lost his cape

I have been thinking about this. FUCK THIS!! I AM TIRED OF THE FUCKING RATIONALE!!! I HAVE DEVELOPED LEBEAU AVERSION SYNDROME!! I KNOW NOW MY MALADY HAS A LONG MEDICAL HISTORY. IT IS FROM WATCHING TOO MANY FUCKING PISS AWAYS BY LEBEAU!! FUCK THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!! STOP THE EXCUSE MAKING NOW!!!!!!!!!!

[stillcello Profile]

There are stats, damned stats, and there are................

Stats dont show what defenses do when it is crunch time. In crunch time Troy delivered us several times. In the super bowl Troy gave away a TD and then did not come up with a play when we needed it

I draw your attention to the 2009 SB. Second half we get ravaged by Curt Warner in the exact same way we got ravaged by Aaron Rodgers in SB XLV. I MEAN FUCKING EXACT!!!! ACRES OPEN ACROSS THEB FN MIDDLE _ NO PRESS _ NO CHUCKS NO ADSJUSTMENTS BY LEBEAU!!!!

Then Big Ben puts on cape and pulls the defenses scrawny ass out of the fire. THIS TIME? Same damned scenario except Ben lost his cape

I have been thinking about this. FUCK THIS!! I AM TIRED OF THE FUCKING RATIONALE!!! I HAVE DEVELOPED LEBEAU AVERSION SYNDROME!! I KNOW NOW MY MALADY HAS A LONG MEDICAL HISTORY. IT IS FROM WATCHING TOO MANY FUCKING PISS AWAYS BY LEBEAU!! FUCK THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!! STOP THE EXCUSE MAKING NOW!!!!!!!!!!

I can understand your frustration as we have seen this type of defensive philosphy for a while now, which is to say designed to not give up big plays...but can allow teams back in games as well. I'm pretty sure the stillers are ranked high in not giving up big plays. Again, who did Kurt Warner *not* ravage on the way to the Super Bowl? I recall *not many*.....And who did Aaron Rodgers not play well against? The answer is teams that were able to apply pressure and knock him around... we clearly were unable to do that on Sunday (blame the players and yes the coaches for that one, IMO).

I’m tired of the sure-fire certainty that LeBeau is the primary cause of all the Stillers problems when I think there are other factors not acknowledged or discussed. I’m tired of no analysis relative to other teams’ performance in similar situations. How did other teams do against the same team/player/situation? Sorry, we all have our disagreements and frustrations, and we’ll probably continue to have them regardless of what font size you use : )

[rifraff Profile]

The times they are a changin! Its a pass happy league with rule changes to support it. It use to be stoppin the run was #1, now its the pass. Like its the economy, stupid. Its the pass defense, stupid! We need some more DBs who can actually defend passes first and foremost. Most SB winners past decade havent run much.

[PGHeaven Profile]

"""regardless of what font size you use : )"""

No, I was actually screaming at the top of my Lungs as I typed that

[Ed Burns Profile]

There are stats, damned stats, and there are................

Stats dont show what defenses do when it is crunch time. In crunch time Troy delivered us several times. In the super bowl Troy gave away a TD and then did not come up with a play when we needed it

I draw your attention to the 2009 SB. Second half we get ravaged by Curt Warner in the exact same way we got ravaged by Aaron Rodgers in SB XLV. I MEAN FUCKING EXACT!!!! ACRES OPEN ACROSS THEB FN MIDDLE _ NO PRESS _ NO CHUCKS NO ADSJUSTMENTS BY LEBEAU!!!!

Then Big Ben puts on cape and pulls the defenses scrawny ass out of the fire. THIS TIME? Same damned scenario except Ben lost his cape

I have been thinking about this. FUCK THIS!! I AM TIRED OF THE FUCKING RATIONALE!!! I HAVE DEVELOPED LEBEAU AVERSION SYNDROME!! I KNOW NOW MY MALADY HAS A LONG MEDICAL HISTORY. IT IS FROM WATCHING TOO MANY FUCKING PISS AWAYS BY LEBEAU!! FUCK THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!! STOP THE EXCUSE MAKING NOW!!!!!!!!!!

Let it all out. If the way we've been pissing games away isn't evident to the Defensive Coaching Staff now, then they need to be replaced.