Saturday, October 13, 2012

The 2012 defense? Shades of Keith Gary, Delton Hall, etc.

Mean Joe Greene wouldn't put up with this nonsense.
If there's anything that disturbs Joey Porter's Pit Bulls about this edition of the Steelers, it's the defense. 

What's more distressing, dismaying, digusting? 
The defensive line getting pushed around?
The lackluster play of the linebackers?
The secondary's inability to hold onto interceptions?

Nothing like Mean Joe and Jack Splat
All of the above evoke memories of the mid-1980s edition featuring the likes of  Keith Gary and Darryl Sims at defensive end (Ziggy Hood and Cameron Heyward); Delton Hall at cornerback (Keenan Lewis), and Eric Williams at safety (Ryan Mundy).  That mid-1980s defense got labeled "soft" at one point, and that's not a label any defense wants to have.

Jack Lambert can't be happy.
On Thursday night in Tennessee the defensive line got pushed around on running plays.  It happened in the Jets game, too, and it is a pattern.  Getting pushed back three and four yards -- across the entire line -- is even more disturbing than lack of a consistent pass rush. 

Ziggy Hood and Cameron Heyward have been nearly invisible, although (like Keith Gary and Darryl Sims), they were first-round draft choices.  We need more from them.

Joe Starkey from 93.7 The Fan wrote on Friday:

""Zero" Hood -- or is it "Zip-py" Hood -- had as many tackles as you, me and Sally Wiggin last night.
"That's right, Hood played the majority of the game and not only recorded ZERO tackles but had ZERO assists. That's hard to do. Don't you have to at least fall on top of a pile? Al Woods had an assist, for goodness sake. Chris Rainey had an assist on a special teams tackle. The only notable thing Hood did all night was stage ridiculous flop, trying for a call, after Larry Foote forced a fumble. I wonder if Kevin Colbert and Co. would like to have that first-round pick back."
 
Dale Lolley of the Observer-Reporter, wrote:
 
"The Steelers actually found a way to make Chris Johnson look like something other than a Milli Vanilli castoff.
 
"Johnson averaged 4.8 yards per carry against this once-vaunted defense, with a long run of 13 yards.  That tells you exactly how effective Johnson was.  He was consistently banging out five or so yards every carry."
 
Yeah.  Exactly.  Keith Gary and Darryl Sims might have done about as well.  That's the point.

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