Steelers strategy dictates fewer blitzes
Thursday, December 01, 2011
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Lake Fong/Post-Gazette
They run the same scheme. They have the same coach. They again rank highly among NFL defenses.
But no one calls them Blitzburgh anymore, not even close. That was a term used to describe the mid-1990s defenses that included an architect named Dick LeBeau, defenses that rang up a team-record 55 sacks in '94 and 51 in '96.
When it comes to sacks, Zipsburgh might be a more appropriate way to describe them this season.
LeBeau's current defense -- ranked No. 2 in the NFL -- has only 24 sacks, just one in the past two games. That puts them on a pace for 35 for the full season, which would be their fewest since they had 35 in 2003, when they had a 6-10 record. They haven't had fewer sacks since 1990, when they managed 34.
Where has the sack gone in the Steelers' repertoire and could that be a reason the defense also has produced such few turnovers?
Help is on the way. Linebacker LaMarr Woodley went through his first full practice Wednesday for the first time since his hamstring was severely injured late in the game Oct. 30 against New England. At the time, he was leading the AFC with nine sacks, on pace to break the team record. He's still tied for second, just 1.5 behind rookie Von Miller of Denver even though he missed the past three games.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11335/1193737-66-0.stm?cmpid=steelers.xml#ixzz1fH6Yrk00
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