What did Keith Butler really say about the Steelers defensive plans for 2017?
If you ever wanted to learn how to say something without saying anything, you should study the NFL during the offseason. Everyone from front office staff to coaches and players blows smoke at what their plans will be for the upcoming season.
After all, they’re not going to give up their gameplan. Just ask for a copy of their playbook and see what the response is!
Therefore the entire “football in shorts” series of rookie minicamp, OTAs, and the standard minicamp introduce some ideas to the general public without going into full detail of what any particular team is going to do going forward. And that’s precisely what Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler shared a couple of days ago with Jeremy Fowler of ESPN:
Steelers DC Keith Butler clear on what he wants: Four-man rush and flexibility in coverage (man, matchup zone, traditional zone)
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) June 14, 2017
The commentary which followed was quite humorous if I must say so myself. The quote is meant to intricately define the Steelers defensive plans for the upcoming season. What Butler really says is “we’re not going to tell you”.
I know it’s only 140 characters, but let’s analyze this a little more closely. A “four-man rush” which means nothing. Every team is using a four-man rush most of the time. A 4-3 defense is using a base package consisting of four defensive linemen on nearly every play to attack the quarterback. Yes, there are zone blitz schemes which will drop a defensive lineman into coverage and send a linebacker to rush the passer; or in the case of the Steelers, their base 3-4 always sends one of the linebackers to rush.
However, the Steelers aren’t always using their base 3-4 defense. In fact, they have only set up in that package about 1/3 of the time in recent years, as the NFL has transitioned to a pass-happy league with multiple receiver sets. Gone are the days of having a gap-plugging nose tackle like Casey Hampton clog running lanes. That still happens, but not as often. Pittsburgh will often deploy only two defensive linemen while utilizing extra defensive backs in a nickel or dime package.
A “four-man” rush from Butler’s words means improving getting to the quarterback without having to blitz (i.e. sending extra linebackers or defensive backs to sack the QB). As for “man, matchup zone, traditional zone” I’d hope that maybe means pressing more at the line of scrimmage. Otherwise, the inclusion of “man” coverage isn’t necessarily a new concept in Pittsburgh; just a seldom used one.
The Steelers were, and still are, being berated over playing zone coverage against Tom Brady in the AFC Championship, a game in which Pittsburgh was shredded by the future Hall of Fame quarterback. “The Steelers need to play man!” is what fans are saying as if the Steelers didn’t know a shake-up on defense is what they needed. For the fourth straight year, the team used two of their top three draft picks on that side of the ball.
We get it. They got old and had to replace great players. However, that doesn’t happen overnight.
But is such a shake-up needed so badly to beat one team? Or one guy? (In this case, Tom Brady.)
I don’t believe so. In fact, Brady will go down as one of the greatest, if not the greatest quarterback of all time. The Steelers even attempted to play press coverage a handful of times in that conference championship game and were burned by the Patriots QB. Everyone thinks that Pittsburgh needs a philosophical change to win another Super Bowl, but you don’t get to the doorstep of the big game by overhauling everything.
That’s what Butler is essentially getting to in his interview. This year’s Steelers are built to do a little bit of everything. They’ve added more cornerbacks (Cameron Sutton, Brian Allen, and Coty Sensabaugh) get Senquez Golson back, and will bring in a seasoned defensive lineman to help rotate with their workhorses Cameron Heyward and Stephon Tuitt, plus second-year pro Javon Hargrave. Add in first-round pick T.J. Watt, and there’s your “four-man” rush concept, along with the ability to do the other things mentioned; that “flexibility in coverage” mentioned in the tweet.
But of course, we didn’t need Keith Butler to stop and tell us that. It’s a statement made for show to appease fans who are still upset from January’s loss, and a statement made to put their opponents on alert that this year’s defense is going to be different than in years passed.
