Countdown to Pittsburgh: Steelers-Titans -- Blowout win, but coverage continues to be an issue

Since I'm tired of watching AFC East film, I figured it was a good time to start looking ahead to the Dec. 17 AFC showdown between the Steelers and Patriots. (If you want to get a sense of just what New England is up against this week, check out Chris' breakdown of the Dolphins here.) We'll be reviewing each of the Steelers' five games leading up to the Patriots, starting with Pittsburgh's 20-17 victory over the Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. Here is the Week 11, 40-17 win over the Titans on Thursday night football. Then we'll be putting together a complete scouting report the week of the game. Remember, these are judgments made ONLY IN THIS GAME and not on anyone's career, or potential careers.


This is going to sound strange coming from what turned out to be a blowout victory by the Steelers, but there were growing issues in the Pittsburgh secondary against the Titans that, if they aren't cleaned up, could be fatal flaws against the Patriots.

Opening play of third quarter

Like in the Colts game, where the Steelers allowed two 60-yard touchdown passes, Pittsburgh gets the second half off to a poor start when Coty Sensabaugh allowed Rishard Matthews to race right by him for a 75-yard score. Interesting that Matthews didn't have any safety help in the middle of the field. It appeared the Steelers were playing a Cover 2 concept on the near side, and Cover 3 with Sensabaugh.



Third quarter, 8:36 remaining

This wasn't a big play — a 9-yard pass to DeMarco Murray — but it features a coverage that will likely set off alarm bells with Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. Titans start with trips to the left, but add Murray to the mix when he goes in motion. Despite having four receivers on one side of the field, the Steelers' only adjustment was to move LB Ryan Shazier out a little bit more. That left the Steelers with four coverage players over four eligible receivers. That's a huge win for the offense, and I would expect the Patriots to run some similar concepts to this (quick bubble screen to a James White, Dion Lewis or Danny Amendola) to pick up cheap and easy yardage. The Steelers are going to have to counter better than this against the Patriots.


Third quarter, 7:36 remaining

On this play, the Steelers play zone coverage (appeared to be Cover 3 with some pattern read) against the Titans' 13 personnel package (one back, three tight ends) in the red zone. It's a pretty simple play where the Titans run dual posts to put the free safety in a bind. Robert Golden turned his hips when he read Marcus Mariota's eyes, and that left Delanie Walker easily inside of LCB Artie Burns. Should have been an easy touchdown if Walker didn't drop it. Burns was not happy with Golden after this play.


Here are the positional ratings against the Titans:

Quarterback (4 out of 5)

Started out hot, but then the offense hit a lull when some penalties halted drives. … Roethlisberger caught fire in the second half when the Steelers went to the no-huddle offense. … Had a chance to get TE Jesse James in the end zone on the second drive and, in the end, didn’t give him a chance in a long-distance situation. He was probably protecting against a pick, but I’ve seen Roethlisberger fit it into smaller spots before. Good pump fake to make the opening …. Poor decision to throw the seam pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster with 11:47 left in the third quarter without looking off the safety. Roethlisberger stared down the receiver and was lucky he wasn’t picked off. … Didn’t lead Antonio Brown later in that drive on what should have been a touchdown. … Ridiculously good throw back-shoulder to Brown early in the fourth quarter. You can’t defend that route man-to-man. … Faced a lot of pressure but stood in and made several off-script plays. … This was largely Good Ben. ... You take this to the bank: if Roethlisberger thinks he has single-high safety with press man on the outside, he's throwing the fade down the right sideline.

Running backs (3 out of 5)

Poor run blocking and lack of touches for the second-straight game kept Le’Veon Bell from being Le’Veon Bell. … Showed a few glimpses, especially on a run that was at first ruled a touchdown and then overturned. … Struggled some in pass protection with a QB hit and half-sack allowed.

Receivers (4 out of 5)

Outside of a fumble where he was loose with the ball but a teammate recovered, Brown was terrific in this game with 10 catches for 144 yards and three touchdowns, including one score of 41 yards where Roethlisberger threw up a prayer and Brown answered. Brown showed his full repertoire in this game. ... Smith-Schuster picked a pass off the turf, and had a big third-down catch. ... Martavis Bryant continues to be pedestrian with a drop and offensive pass interference.

Offensive line (4 out of 5)



Much better performance by this group against an active front. You wonder how much of it had to do with the fact that the Steelers were blocking their own scheme (Dick LeBeau is the Titans' offensive coordinator). ... Alejandro Villaneuva bounced back from a rough outing vs. the Colts. ... Steelers continue to give up some interior pressure.

DEFENSE



Defensive line (4.5 out of 5)

Very good combined pressure and stuff percentages. ... Before the Pats-Steelers game, I think I'm going to run out of adjectives to describe how awesome Cam Heyward and Stephon Tuitt are. This is a good Titans offensive line and they again made the backfield their personal playground. They combined for 9.5 pressures.

Linebackers (4 out of 5)

ILB Vince Williams is a terrific talent who is at his best defending the run, but in this game, he showed off his ability to rush the passer in some zone exchanges. ... T.J. Watt was better in this game and demonstrated some good awareness dropping into coverage. Also had a field-goal block. ... Bud Dupree was invisible in this game against Titans RT Jack Conklin.

Secondary (2.5 out of 5)

Produced four interceptions, but outside of Burns deflecting a pass to Golden, they were all either unforced errors by a mistake-prone Mariota, or mistakes generated by the Steelers' pass rush. ... Golden has a really difficult time being the middle-of-the-field safety. Seems to lack natural instincts at the position. ... SS Sean Davis continued to miss a few tackles, but I still really like him. Attacks the ball well. ... Sensabaugh allowed two touchdowns. ... If slot corner Mike Hilton would stop peeking into the backfield, he'd be a terrific player. Loved this play by him:


THREE UP

ILB Vince Williams: Had him for eight impactful plays and no negatives. Great against the run but will also bring some rush.

DE Cam Heyward: An amazing 10 impactful plays, and one encroachment penalty. If anybody has any ideas on how to block him, I'm all ears.

QB Ben Roethlisberger: Gets a little too daring with some seam routes and he's never seen a press coverage he doesn't want to throw a fade/back-shoulder combination against, but he was really good in this game against some pressure.

Honorable mention: WR Antonio Bryant, LT Alejandro Villanueva, DE Stephon Tuitt

THREE DOWN

FS Robert Golden: Not sure if Mike Mitchell was hurt in this one, but Golden is a big problem in the middle of the field if has to play there.

CB Coty Sensabaugh: Second-straight weak game at left corner. If you're looking for a touchdown, look for Sensabaugh. Struggles in the deep part of the field. Comes up in coverage well (interception on a floater).

WR Martavius Bryant: No wonder Smith-Schuster has overtaken him. Bryant just doesn't have the natural feel for the game that Brown does.

Dishonorable mention: OLB Bud Dupree.