Breaking Down Mike Mitchell's Struggles in the Steelers' Secondary

Of all the moves that the Pittsburgh Steelers made in the offseason, the addition of safety Mike Mitchell might be the one that most pundits pointed to as an upgrade that could reap benefits right out of the gate.

Out was the aging Ryan Clark at free safety and in was the new and improved Mitchell. Not only is Mitchell bigger, faster and stronger than Clark, but also being seven years younger was another big plus.

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Mitchell found his way to the Steelers by way of the Carolina Panthers. After coming into the league under a shroud of mystery, he spent his first four seasons as a backup with the Oakland Raiders. 

After making his way to the Panthers, Mitchell had the opportunity to step in and start in 2013 and put together a solid season. He parlayed that into a five-year, $25 million contract in Pittsburgh. 

Unfortunately, two games into the season and Mitchell is making many miss Clark. For all his faults, one thing Clark could be counted on for is gap integrity and solid assignment football. Mitchell has struggled a great deal to be that deep safety this defense needs. Here's what EPSN's Scott Brown had to say.

"

Steelers have to be concerned about Mike Mitchell.

— Scott Brown (@ScottBrown_ESPN) September 12, 2014 "

These problems were on full display against the Baltimore Ravens. Credit goes to Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writer Mark Kaboly who did a nice job bringing some of this to light. 

As Kaboly pointed out, there were two plays that highlighted a fatal flaw with Mitchell's role as a free safety.

NFL Rewind

On the first play, the Ravens are running a fairly simple off-tackle run play with running back Justin Forsett as the back. You can see pre-snap that Mitchell is more than 15 yards off the line of scrimmage. 

This is done because the Steelers are in their 3-4 base defense, and with the cornerbacks up, there has to be help over the top. However, the Ravens are playing with a lead late in the game, so they are looking to run and salt this one away.

NFL Rewind

At the snap, Forsett goes off right tackle and there is a seam. The Steelers' defensive front didn't do its job, and so it is on Mitchell. The problem is Mitchell takes a bad angle, and it doesn’t take much for Forsett to cut to the outside and after Mitchell makes an early lunge is left stuck in no man’s land. 

NFL Rewind

Moving ahead to a near-identical play with the same result. This time it is Bernard Pierce, but little else changes. Again, we see Mitchell 16 yards off the ball as a single-high deep free safety. And we see again the Ravens opting for a simple off tackle to the right.

NFL Rewind

This time, as Mitchell tries to get up to meet Pierce in the hole, Pierce makes a slight cut inside, and Mitchell is done. He has overrun the play, and with one move is caught on his heels. Mitchell can’t lay a hand on Pierce and he’s in the clear. 

Is some of this the scheme? Absolutely. Mitchell is a poor fit at free safety on this defense and ultimately could find a better fit in safety Troy Polamalu’s role at strong safety. Nevertheless, when you are the last man standing for a defense, you have to be smart in your decisions, sound in your angles and be less worried about the highlight and more about making the play.

If Mitchell and the coaches can’t find some answers as to how to utilize him best, it brings into question his signing in the first place. The season is still new, so we can look at this again in, say, six weeks as the Steelers approach the halfway point of the season. If problems persist, Pittsburgh is going to have some decisions to make.