Steelers still banged up in the backfield

Posted by Mike Florio

The Steelers could need running back Jonathan Dwyer to carry the load again on Sunday, against the Redskins.

Running backs Rashard Mendenhall and Isaac Redman missed practice Wednesday. Mendenhall has an Achilles tendon injury; Redman is nursing an ankle problem.

Dwyer, who didn’t practice Wednesday for reasons unrelated to injury, rushed for 122 yards in a win over the Bengals.

Also missing practice for the Steelers on Wednesday were tackle Marcus Gilbert (ankle), safety Troy Polamalu (calf), and linebacker Jason Worilds (illness).

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/24/steelers-still-banged-up-in-the-backfield/

I think Dwyer's production is merely the result of defenses and defensive coordinators not knowing what to expect. It seems once these guys get a few starts under there belt the production becomes average. It'd be nice to see the Bus Dwyer put together two straight 100 yard performance's.

bayz101 wrote:

I think Dwyer's production is merely the result of defenses and defensive coordinators not knowing what to expect. It seems once these guys get a few starts under there belt the production becomes average. It'd be nice to see the Bus Dwyer put together two straight 100 yard performance's.

I read a good analysis somewhere, but I can't remember where. Even with Wallace's drops, he still commanded attention, which opened up the middle for Brown. The Bengals dropped their linebackers back to help defend against Brown. This opened things up for Dwyer. These are the subtle things that we don't always pay attention to. All we see is Dwyer gaining large chucks of yards, but we have to look at why. If defenses commit to shutting down Wallace and Brown, that opens up room for the running game. Bring up the linebackers to stop the run, then Brown will eat them alive across the middle. Bring in safety help to account for Brown, and Wallace will torch them. This is what having both Wallace and Brown bring to the offense ... they're important even if they're not catching passes.

I watched Wallace exclusively on two different drives, one scoring drive, and he was in man coverage. The CB on him stayed out in front of him, and when Wallace got open, it was because his CB got too far off. I understand the LB zone coverage though.

bayz101 wrote:

I watched Wallace exclusively on two different drives, one scoring drive, and he was in man coverage. The CB on him stayed out in front of him, and when Wallace got open, it was because his CB got too far off. I understand the LB zone coverage though.

I'd have to see film. Watching on TV, you can't always see the coverage. I have a hard time believing that Wallace got that much one-on-one coverage and Ben didn't take a few shots deep. Remember the Colts game last year? When Ben sees no help deep, he starts drooling.

I seen it several times on two separate drives. Occasionally a safety would stick around in several receiver sets, but a lot of the time it was just a corner, and the corner won. The few times the corner lost the battle Wallace dropped it, and we eventually had to get Wallace involved by throwing underneath and hitting him in screens.