5 Adjustments Pittsburgh Steelers Must Make in Week 2 Matchup with 49ers

The Pittsburgh Steelers fell to the New England Patriots in the NFL's season opener last Thursday, 28-21. Despite the close final score, the Patriots spent the entirety of the contest abusing Pittsburgh's new-look defense, and even the Steelers' vaunted offense couldn't do enough to help the team pull out the road win.

This week, the Steelers host the San Francisco 49ers and their own new-look defense. And if the Steelers are going to win their home opener, they will need to make a few adjustments before the Niners come to town. Here are five of the biggest changes the Steelers need to make in Week 2.

Adjustments in the Secondary

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The Steelers cannot just completely abandon the Cover 2 coverage scheme they spent all offseason installing, but the early returns on its effectiveness are not good. Any coverage decisions that lead to the likes of Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski being repeatedly wide open are not worth repeating.

Though the San Francisco 49ers offense is markedly different than the Patriots', the Niners still have threats in the passing game who can exploit the Steelers secondary, including familiar deep-threat receiver Torrey Smith and tight end Vernon Davis. Leaving these two in man coverage—or worse, uncovered in a zone, thanks to miscommunication between Pittsburgh's cornerbacks, safeties and coverage linebackers—will result in the same thing that happened against New England last week.

The Steelers must tighten up the coverage in any way they can, at the very least to avoid leaving anyone on the Niners offense wide open on a regular basis. If the Steelers do not have the defensive talent to run the scheme they prefer, then they must alter that scheme to enhance the strengths of players such as cornerbacks Cortez Allen and Antwon Blake, safeties Mike Mitchell and Will Allen and linebacker Lawrence Timmons. 

What the Steelers did last week only served to enhance these players' weaknesses, to the tune of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady completing 25 of his 32 pass attempts for 288 yards and four scores. Niners quarterback Colin Kaepernick is no Brady, but if the Steelers approach their coverage this week as they did in Week 1, they can make him look like a multiple-time Super Bowl champion.

Darrius Heyward-Bey's Field Awareness

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In Week 1, rookie Steelers receiver Sammie Coates was inactive. Instead, the offense chose to rely more heavily on veteran Darrius Heyward-Bey to fill the shoes of the suspended Martavis Bryant, who has three more games on the shelf before he can return. It makes sense—Heyward-Bey has NFL experience; Coates does not. And for all of Heyward-Bey's faults, he has proved himself to be a speedy deep threat in his heyday.

But last year, Heyward-Bey's first with the Steelers, he caught only three passes for 33 yards, spending most of his time on special teams. It's possible he has some rust.

Because in Week 1 against the Patriots, Heyward-Bey made a costly mistake—late in the second quarter, he was wide open for an easy touchdown in the end zone. The problem? He had planted himself firmly on the chalk line, making him technically out of bounds. He wasn't aware of where he was on the field.

If Heyward-Bey is going to be the Bryant replacement through Week 4, then he needs to be a reliable option for Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Yes, he caught four passes for 58 yards last Thursday. But it was the touchdown catch that he didn't get—because of his own lack of awareness—that mattered the most.

Heyward-Bey better spend more time after practice with Roethlisberger, Michael Vick or the Jugs machine to catch passes with full awareness of where he is on the field, where the pass will go and whether or not he's in bounds to make the play or score the touchdown. The Steelers cannot afford for Heyward-Bey to cost the team six points on a weekly basis in Bryant's absence.

Create Pressure

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The Steelers didn't do a poor job of creating pressure for Patriots quarterback Tom Brady last week, sacking him twice, hurrying him seven times and hitting him another two times, according to Pro Football Focus.

But the need to pressure Niners quarterback Colin Kaepernick isn't just a tool to end drives on a physical note. It's also a way to help out the Steelers' struggling secondary. If Pittsburgh cannot successfully defend the pass in the traditional way—coverage—then at least it could rattle Kaepernick and keep him on his heels.

Pressured passing doesn't always have to lead to sacks to be effective. Simply hurrying a quarterback disrupts his rhythm and can lead to mistakes and bad passes. If the Steelers want to minimize the negative impact of their weak secondary, then linebackers James Harrison, Arthur Moats, Jarvis Jones and Bud Dupree as well as defensive ends Stephon Tuitt and Cameron Heyward need to be unleashed in the pass rush.

Keep Feeding DeAngelo Williams

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The Steelers offense made one wise decision against the Patriots: It didn't take the foot off the gas when it came to the run game in general and running back DeAngelo Williams in particular.

Even though the Steelers found themselves down 14-3 and then 21-3, they never backed away from handing the ball off to Williams. Ultimately, the veteran rushed 21 times for 127 yards, and though he didn't score a touchdown, his six yards per carry helped the team reliably move the chains and ultimately lose by just one touchdown.

Because Williams performed so consistently well against a Patriots defense that last year was stingy against the run, the Steelers should again lean on him in Week 2 against the 49ers. Yes, the Niners only allowed 71 rushing yards on the Minnesota Vikings' 17 run attempts in Week 1, but comparing the Vikings' game plan—which was hard to decipher given the close score for most of the way and the presence of Adrian Peterson in the backfield—to the Steelers' is like comparing apples to oranges.

Williams, in relief of the suspended Le'Veon Bell, has proved he can grind down defenses and impose his will, allowing the Steelers to avoid being a one-dimensional passing team. The Steelers should not turn away from this strategy against San Francisco, because it has worked already.

Give Josh Scobee a Chance

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In the Steelers' 2015 debut against the Patriots, newly minted Pittsburgh kicker Josh Scobee missed both of his first two field-goal attempts, leaving the Steelers without points after two otherwise promising drives. That led the Steelers to turn away from Scobee until just before halftime.

But he did manage to convert his final two of four field-goal attempts, a redemption of sorts. Though the Steelers did convert both of their fourth-down attempts against New England—responses, in a sense, of Scobee's struggles—they should not go into Sunday's game assuming Scobee will fail them again.

It's best to wipe the slate clean and start over. Short memories are an asset in the NFL, and that also goes for a team's faith in its kicker. If it's 4th-and-3 from the Niners' 9-yard line, the Steelers should give Scobee a chance to earn the team three points before they decide whether a fourth-down try is worth their time later in the game.

At the very least, Scobee deserves one more shot to prove he belongs in Pittsburgh. If he falters again, then the Steelers can think about bringing in their fourth kicker in just over 30 days.