Last week, we broke down three new looks from defensive coordinator Patrick Graham. His over front tweak, putting inside linebackers on the edges, and dropping nine into coverage. In Friday’s preseason follow-up against the New York Jets, Graham added to that with additional wrinkles. So much for the preseason being vanilla.
Below, lets talk about three more changes Graham showed to Pittsburgh’s scheme.
One Defensive Linemen Personnel
On two third down passing situations, 3rd and 6 and 3rd and 9, the Steelers came out with Keeanu Benton as the team’s lone defensive lineman. A 1-5-5 grouping with three outside linebackers, two inside linebackers, and a nickel grouping of five defensive backs.
On its first usage, the Steelers ran an effective stunt with Nick Herbig looping to from the strong side B gap to the away side C gap/contain. Herbig got pressure but WR Garrett Wilson ran a good route to beat CB Asante Samuel Jr. and Geno Smith found him for the conversion.
On the second, Herbig rushed over right guard and used an excellent cross chop to win his 1v1 and hit rookie quarterback Cade Klubnik for an incompletion.
Pittsburgh’s toyed with these looks before and they date back as far as Dick LeBeau’s “Amoeba” defenses. This isn’t a Fire Zone though, and it’s clear Graham will mix and match ways to get three outside linebackers on the field.
3-3-5 Formation
For one snap Friday, the Steelers deployed a true 3-3-5. Three down linemen, three linebackers, and five defensive backs with Payton Wilson coming off the field. This came on 3rd and 10.
The Jets converted here for a 10 yard gain to keep their opening drive alive.
Cover Zero
Finally, Graham turned up the heat throughout the contest. He frequently blitzed, especially in the first half. Things quieted down in the second half but Pittsburgh’s last defensive snap was an all-out attack. Late in the game and looking for a stop to knock the Jets out of field goal range, Graham sent the house. A true Cover 0 blitz with no support for the defensive backs. Linebacker Elandon Roberts was on a “green dog” blitz and rushed once the back stayed in to protect.
That cost Pittsburgh here. The rush didn’t get home and QB Brady Cook identified the one-on-one matchups. He hit WR Quentin Skinner for a 31 yard touchdown, beating Steelers CB D’Shawn Jamison.
Through 16 weeks last year, Pittsburgh ran Cover 0 just four percent of the time. No one in the league runs it frequently but Graham is showing more aggression than the Steelers did a year ago. And it’s not even the regular season.