We need to bring the heat early and often

[52decleetzu]

With Walker more than likely on one side playing corner,rather than do the "lets drop everyone and have extra coverage" in the secondary we need to just send everyone so Jen doesnt have time to find those receivers.We have a better chance of stopping them if we bring the house then we do if we sit back,you saw what Jen did when he had all day to sit in the pocket and have a cocktail back there with no fear of a pash rush.If we get burned we get burned,but in the past Jen has struggled big time with pressure in his face,and like to give the ball to the other team when any pressure comes.

Are they gonna connect on a 30 yarder at some point? Probably.But we are also likely to get to him and cause a bad throw or a fumble and as we know its all about the turnovers this defense can create.Nothing good can come out of lettting that little girl sit back there whether we have 6 men deep or 8 men playing coverage in the secondary.....nothing at all.Most of it not all of our INT's dont come from dropping 8 and the QB just making a mistake,they come from getting in the QB's face and forcing throws.Matter of fact when the QB has time to sit back there it usually goes 5-10 yd pass,missed tackle and 30 yards later downfield we finally get the guy down.See Kerry Collins last week.

The difference this week though is the Stealers Oline is nowhere CLOSE to the Titans,and they can be beat and confused if we bring the heat.Dont tell me how they have "come together",after beating up on the 25th ranked defesne who refused to send more than 4 guys at the QB the entire game....because that is hogwash.What happened when the Stealers played the Titans this past year.....just 2 games ago?They got killed because Tenn was getting pressure on Jen,he threw 2 picks,got sacked 5 times and fumbled 4 times losing 2 of them...thats what happened.So dont give that garbage about how great their Oline is all of the sudden or how they are "coming together",as Denny green would say..."They are who we THOUGHT they were!!" and they arent that good.They can be exposed if the pressure is out on them,but SD didnt seem to get that memo or watch any game tape apparently.

So botttom line is we need to bring it,and bring it early and often and see what mistakes we can force Jen into......because that is our best chance to stop them.

[ravensnhokies]

You know, I kinda disagree.

Steelers typically try to establish the run early. If we send the house early, I am fearful that Ben is going to break away from a sack and then complete a deep pass or 2 against 1-1 coverage. Ben is the absolute best QB in the league at shrugging off sacks and making big plays when the original play breaks down. To be honest, he is an average pocket passer, b/c he waits way too long for the play to develop. Thats why he gets sacked a whole lot, and most of the times, it is against 4-5 man rushes. If you can get some coverage sacks on Ben with rushing only 5, you can throw his confidence. Hopefully during this period of the game, your offensive can score some points on the Steelers, and get up on them. Ben and the offensive with then have to go to the 5 wide set, b/c they are behind in the game. That is when you bring the heat and blitz them. The Eagles utilized this strategy and it was successful.

Of course, it is paramount that we stop their running game.

[Jeremiah W]

i say keep in the cover 2 and make them march like we did to the Titans. They are not as dangerous on the ground, and are just as likley to cough it up on a long drive as break a tackle. It is when Ben beats the blits by shaking off the sack they make most of the big plays. If he has to stay in the pocket and read the D, he tends to hold the ball too long or make poor reads.

They are no where near as good a blocking team as the Titans were, and the 4 man pressure should look a lot better this week as long as Suggs is healthy enough to be close to normal. We can bring an occasional blitz and stack the box without blitzing to confuse them, but I doubt we rush more than 5 until we are way up.

[52decleetzu]

So when does Ben commit turnovers,when he has pressure in his face or when he sits back there all day?The answer is pretty simple,and if we dont get turnovers from the Pitt offense or just let them "march down the field" with 10-12 play drives we are gonna get killed.

Both of your mentalities is whats gonna get us beat,and have our defense on the fiied FOREVER.Yeah just let him move the ball down the field in 10-15 yard chunks so our defense is dead tired by the 3rd quarter just like in the Titans game......that should work.

It makes ZERO sense to sit back and give Jen time to scan the field,find a receiver that will eventually beat Walker after 4 seconds back there on those crossing routes for 20 yds all day.It makes all the sense to bring the house and to make things happen one way or the other,so we can keep an already tired and worn down Ravens D on the sidelines and not out there for long drives.

[Jeremiah W]

So when does Ben commit turnovers,when he has pressure in his face or when he sits back there all day?The answer is pretty simple,and if we dont get turnovers from the Pitt offense or just let them "march down the field" with 10-12 play drives we are gonna get killed.

Both of your mentalities is whats gonna get us beat,and have our defense on the fiied FOREVER.Yeah just let him move the ball down the field in 10-15 yard chunks so our defense is dead tired by the 3rd quarter just like in the Titans game......that should work.

It makes ZERO sense to sit back and give Jen time to scan the field,find a receiver that will eventually beat Walker after 4 seconds back there on those crossing routes for 20 yds all day.It makes all the sense to bring the house and to make things happen one way or the other,so we can keep an already tired and worn down Ravens D on the sidelines and not out there for long drives.

I feel you, but have seen Ben beat the blitz a lot more often than I have seen him beat coverage. You can not give him all day, but if yur 4 man rush is getting pressure, he makes a lot of bad reads and takes sacks. if you blitz you have to get there, but if you contain and cover, there are a lot more opportunities to create a mistake on the other side. They do not have tackle breakers, or really shifty guys in space. They can get open deep, but are not the kind of guys who will kill us with YAC if there are guys converging on the ball and not the QB who escapes.

The kind of blitzes we should see early will be the overload kind where they may send a Db, but drop the lbs. If we get up by 2 scores, we could see every blitz in the book, but it seems to risky to send the house unless we are up or down 2.