View Profile
View Forum Posts
Private Message
View Blog Entries
Visit Homepage
View Articles
Pittsburgh Steelers at Denver Broncos (Sunday, 3 p.m. ET)
Going into the playoffs, the Steelers looked like one of the strongest sixth seeds in history. Were it not for some injuries to Ben Roethlisberger and some shaky decisions by Bill Cowher regarding Roethlisberger's replacement, the Steelers would have won the AFC North over the Bengals and been the third seed instead of a wild card.
Now, the Steelers have a chance at history. If they beat the Broncos, clearly the second-best team in the AFC this season behind the Colts, they will be the first sixth seed in NFL history to make the Super Bowl. Even though they are underdogs, don't discount the chances of the Steelers.
Both conference championships are toss-ups for many reasons. All four teams are battle tested in the playoffs for the past few years. The conference final quartet features men who have all coached in Super Bowls -- Mike Holmgren, Mike Shanahan, Cowher and John Fox.
For Cowher to reach his second Super Bowl, his team must pull off another big road win. The Steelers have had to beat top-seeded Indianapolis and third-seeded Cincinnati on the road. Winning three consecutive road games is a feat. Winning them in the playoffs, under this type of stress, would be incredible.
The Steelers have a chance for two reasons: Dick LeBeau and Roethlisberger. LeBeau's creative blitzes and unique alignments out of the 3-4 defense will be the biggest challenge for the Broncos. And speaking of defense, Shanahan's continual tweaks have played a big role in the Broncos' being one step away from another Super Bowl appearance.
After back-to-back blowout losses in the playoffs to the Colts, Shanahan didn't try for an extreme makeover, but he made some significant changes. For personnel, he made adjustments along the defensive line and in the secondary. He imported four members of the Cleveland Browns' defensive line to add depth and youth to a unit that had been filled by aging veterans and street free agents. He hit a home run with that one.
The other change was schematic. Jake Plummer, known for being erratic and turnover prone, managed to keep his job because he was coming off a pair of 10-win seasons. As a way to get more production from Plummer and more wins for the team, Shanahan found it was better to take the pressure off his quarterback by limiting him whenever possible to 26 or fewer passes. Last year, Plummer averaged 32.5 passes a game and had 20 interceptions. Plummer is aggressive and will always try to make plays. However, he was 8-0 this year when he threw 26 or fewer passes. In the two previous seasons, he was 7-1 when he threw 26 or fewer passes, a winning formula that isn't unlike what the Steelers do with Roethlisberger.
It's not that Shanahan doesn't trust Plummer. He does. But Plummer's strength is throwing on the run and making the impromptu plays. He's not as good standing in the pocket and just throwing. The Chargers and some 3-4 teams exposed those problems over the past two years. Chargers defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, for example, would measure his blitzes out of the 3-4, keeping pressure on Plummer's outside and keeping him in the pocket.
In the pocket, Plummer is completing only about 50 percent of his throws. Though he's listed as 6-foot-2, Plummer loses down-field vision. By limiting his throws, Shanahan has improved him as a pocket passer, and he's much more accurate throwing from three- and five-step drops.
Despite his improvements, Plummer's limitations are still noticeable, according to Stats Inc. Throwing into the middle of the field, he's completed 64 percent of his passes, but he's also been sacked 14 times. That's 14 of his 22 sacks all season.
LeBeau will be able to stay in his conventional 3-4 scheme the entire game against the Broncos, which will play to Denver's strength. Last week against the Colts, he had to decide between a nickel defense that had as few as two defensive linemen and had to find ways to keep nose tackle Casey Hampton on the field, which wasn't easy.
The Broncos aren't as deep at wide receiver as the Colts. They have Rod Smith and Ashley Lelie, a deep threat, and that's about it. Smith caught 85 passes for 1,105 yards. Lelie caught 42 and averages 18.3 a catch. LeBeau can run blitzes out of the 3-4 scheme all day long.
The key for Shanahan is running the ball. The Steelers allow only 85.5 rushing yards a game, so this will be the supreme test of scheme and will determine the winner.
Perhaps the wildest battle will be what defensive coordinator Larry Coyer does to Roethlisberger. Coyer, armed with big and quick linebackers, loves to blitz. Against the blitz, Roethlisberger is pretty good, particularly for a second-year quarterback. He's completed 58 of 96 passes against blitzes for 760 yards and four touchdowns.
Coyer will blitz between 40 and 50 percent of the time on most downs, and he's a riverboat gambler in those situations. He'll sometimes drop one or two defensive tackles into fire zone blitzes. He'll also call more all-out blitzes than just about any team in football.
Roethlisberger has to be sharp throwing to his hot reads or audibling to runs or he's in trouble. Where Roethlisberger has grown the most in the past year is his calmness during the playoffs. He's patient. He's willing to throw to a check-down receiver behind the first down marker if the rush is too much, as opposed to gambling downfield.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Glenn
Bookmarks