Abysmal. Offensive. Laughable.
You can pick and choose which adjective you’d like to describe the Pittsburgh Steelers‘ defensive play last season. Ultimately, changes needed to be made; so they were, and swiftly. The Steelers “mutually parted ways” with long-time defensive coordinator and Hall of Fame inductee Dick LeBeau, but we’re all aware he was told he no longer had a place in the organization.
The more important change made to the Steelers’ defensive unit was not the firing of LeBeau, though. It did not even happen after the season had ended. No, the most important change made to the Steelers’ defensive unit was the benching of Cortez Allen after his consistent subpar play. The secondary was a point of weakness all season long and losing Allen to what he described was a lack of fundamentals and poor technique crippled an already depleted Steelers secondary.
Brice McCain and Antwon Blake filled in admirably, but the onus was on Allen to step his game up and take a young secondary group to another level, making the decision by the front office to let Keenan Lewis leave to the New Orleans Saints a non-factor. Steelers fans had to endure Allen being benched in Week 7 and Lewis go on to have an excellent season with the Saints. Salt, meet wound.
Perhaps the most disheartening and frustrating thing about Allen is that his play prior to this past season was encouraging. So encouraging, in fact, that the front office had placed all of their eggs in his basket, so to speak, with a four-year, $24 million contract prior to the start of the season. His play to that point warranted the gesture of good faith by the front office. Allen was arguably the best defensive back on the team in the limited amount of snaps he received in the 2012 season and had very good, if not borderline excellent moments in the 2013 season. The contract was hotly debated after the details were released, especially after Lewis was allowed to walk away, but Allen did deserve the deal he received. He is a very talented and young cornerback with exceptionally high upside, but you wouldn’t have seen this should you only turn on his 2014 tape.
There has been much chatter surrounding the Steelers this season, specifically on the defensive side of the ball. There is no more key component to the success of the defense, especially on the back end, other than the play of Allen. The secondary remains a weak and vulnerable part of this team – perhaps the only part of this team that is indeed vulnerable.
Beyond his contract forcing him into a starting position, the true reason of if there is going to be tangible improvement (or not) on the back end is the lack of talent and depth behind Allen. This is a team that recognized this and prioritized it in the draft, selecting two cornerbacks with two of their first four selections after neglecting the position for far too long. William Gay, McCain and Blake filled in admirably given the circumstances, but they were supposed to provide veteran depth and quality play in nickle and dime packages. Instead, they saw considerable playing time. This was a symptom of Allen’s poor play and exposed the lack of depth and talent at the position.
If there is to be any real improvement at the position and the defense as a whole strives to be something more than simply good enough not to cost the offense games, there needs to be considerable progress from the secondary. This begins and ends with Allen. His contract, as well as the talent, depth and expectations dictate this. If he once again fails to meet those expectations and continues his below-the-standard play, it could be a long year for the Steelers’ defense once again.
Let’s all hope he’s up for it.