Atrocious Pass Defense Is Steelers' Biggest Worry

The Pittsburgh Steelers defense was supposed to be better in Week 13.

They got back safety Troy Polamalu and cornerback Ike Taylor from their respective injuries. They were coming off of the bye week. They were facing the then-4-7 New Orleans Saints as the 7-4 home team, preparing for a potential trip to the playoffs as either the AFC North champion or as a wild-card entrant.

Instead, the Steelers lost, 35-32, in a game that was not nearly as close as the final score seems to indicate.

The problem? The defense, most particularly the secondary. Saints quarterback Drew Brees threw for 257 yards but most notably threw five touchdown passes, each to a different receiver. That the Steelers held tight end Jimmy Graham to zero targets doesn't matter—not when nearly each member of the secondary holds blame for Brees' big day.

Particularly troublesome for the Steelers was receiver Kenny Stills, who caught five of six passes thrown his way, for 162 yards and a touchdown, which went for 69 yards. No other Saints receiver had more than 17 yards in the game, a small victory in itself, but it doesn't matter when so many touchdowns were allowed.

The two biggest culprits were Taylor and fellow cornerback William Gay. According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Taylor was targeted four times, allowing all four receptions, for 103 yards, 43 yards after the catch and two touchdowns. Gay gave up five catches on seven targets, for 96 yards, seven yards after the catch and one touchdown.

They both struggled the most with Stills. Of the 96 yards Gay gave up, 75 belonged to Stills, while 87 of Taylor's 103 yards were Stills', including the 69-yard score.

Fellow cornerback Antwon Blake also gave up a touchdown and allowed both passes thrown his way to be caught. Linebacker Sean Spence also struggled in coverage, giving up two receptions and a score as well.

This wasn't a one-time anomaly either. The Steelers in coverage this year have been mostly dreadful. While the defense ranks an OK 16th in passing yards per game allowed, at 242.3, it also ranks tied at 27th for passing touchdowns allowed, at 24. That's the number that matters—this is not a bend-but-don't-break passing defense, it's one giving up touchdowns on an alarming number of big plays.

Stat	Value	Rank
Opp. Pass YPG	242.3	16th
Opp. Pass TDs	24	T-27th
Opp. Pass Plays, 20+ Yds.	43	22nd
Opp. Pass Plays, 40+ Yds.	12	T-27th
Sacks	21	26th
INTs	8	T-24th

How many big plays? The Steelers defense ranks 22nd in passing plays allowed that have gone 20 or more yards, with 43, according to NFL.com. Even worse, the defense ranks tied for 27th in passing plays of 40 or more yards, with 11. 

This might not be something the Steelers can fix with four regular-season games remaining. It has been a longstanding problem all season, persisting whether Polamalu and Taylor are healthy or not. It has come up even against not-so-prolific passing offenses. 

And even with teams throwing with such success against the Steelers, it hasn't helped the team make big defensive plays like sacks or interceptions. The Steelers are tied at 24th in interceptions, with just eight, and are 26th in sacks, with 21. There is little aggression to be found on defense this year. 

In fact, the only thing that has been capable and should remain capable of bailing out the Steelers secondary is the offense. For all the touchdowns the Steelers are giving up on defense, they are doing an even better job of scoring them on offense. 

Currently, the Steelers are scoring an average of 26.7 points per game while giving up an average of 24.8 points to their opponents. That's the only saving grace in this situation.

The Steelers' remaining opponents—the Cincinnati Bengals twice (the first of which is on Sunday), a road game against the Atlanta Falcons and a home game against the Kansas City Chiefs—all average fewer points than the Steelers' defensive average. Also, outside of Atlanta, they rank outside of the top 10 in passing yards per game.

On paper, that means it's a favorable end of the schedule for the Steelers. However, that would also be misleading. These teams have earned their points and passing yardage averages against defenses that aren't Pittsburgh's. 

And should the Steelers earn enough wins to make it to the postseason, that secondary will be a huge liability against teams with prolific quarterbacks. The Steelers could be facing the likes of Peyton Manning, Andrew Luck, Tom Brady or Philip Rivers in the postseason; with a secondary as they have now, it doesn't look pretty.

Team	Pass Yds/G	Rank	PPG	Rank
@ CIN	219.0	24th	21.7	18th
@ ATL	277.0	6th	24.3	12th
vs. KC	183.0	31st	23.1	15th
vs. CIN	219.0	24th	21.7	18th

What it means is that the Steelers offense will have to continue to bail out the defense in order to rack up enough wins to make it to playoffs. Then, should they achieve it, the offense will again have to do heavy lifting against the AFC's heaviest hitters.

That's a lot for Ben Roethlisberger's side of the ball to handle, but that's what it has come down to. The secondary is frankly terrible, especially where big plays and touchdowns are concerned. And there's no indication that there is a quick fix available to the team at this late point in the season.

The Steelers' best bet is to mask the secondary's deficiencies as much as possible. They must keep their foot on the gas pedal on offense, while also running the ball enough to keep opposing offenses off the field. Something must go right, consistently, with the pass rush to keep pressure off of the pass coverage.

Because fixing this problem, permanently, is something that may just have to wait until 2015.

All stats via ESPN unless otherwise noted.