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Harsh criticism from the former New England Patriot
Mike Tomlin’s Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense had been no stranger to criticism, especially on the back of a four-game losing streak to end the regular season, capped with a Wild Card playoff loss. Though the offense wasn’t without blame in those losses, it was the league’s highest-paid defense that allowed 400+ yards in three of five games that should be under plenty of scrutiny.
Otherworldly edge rusher T.J. Watt failed to register a stat over his final two games. Donte Jackson allowed a perfect passer rating (158.3) in two of his final four games, giving up a touchdown as the nearest defender in coverage in four of those five losses to close out the year per NFL Next Gen Stats. Joey Porter Jr. led all defensive players with 12 accepted penalties this year with the third-most penalty yards (137) attributed. Communication issues reigned throughout. How could this unit not be under some criticism closing out the season?
The criticism hasn’t exclusively come from fans, either. This week, it was former New England Patriots WR Julian Edelman and his former NFL coach Matt Patricia on Edelman’s podcast, Games with Names. During their conversation, Edelman and Patricia slammed the Steelers for their lack of defensive adjustments over the years.
Matt Patricia: Steelers was always like the Ravens. Yeah, like those were tough, physical — these games were like this was old school football.
Julian Edelman: They did what they did, though. You knew exactly what they were doing every time and they still do what they do. They still do the same g*dd*mn sh*t that [they did] when I was playing Tomlin’s defense.
Patricia: Steeler football.
Edelman: I’m like, “What the? We still have linebackers covering the three slot?!”
Patricia: Yeah.
Edelman: Every time we play Steelers, I have at least nine catches. You’d think that they would change it.
Patricia: Right!
Edelman: No, but they do what they do
Showrunner 1: They got six Super Bowls.
Showrunner 2: Coach, like how do you get away with it for that long, like just doing what you do and being steadfast?
Patricia: They believe in the philosophy, how they play the game.
Edelman: And they coach it up well. Yeah, they’re f*ckin… they’re well-coached.
Patricia: They don’t make a lot of mistakes. … They don’t lose a lot of games. … And then we beat them in the playoffs.
Edelman has averaged 8.2 catches for 89.6 receiving yards per game against the Steelers (regular and dating back to 2015… a nice run of success.
Though Edelman and Patricia both acknowledged that the Steelers are “well coached,” it still feels like a back-handed compliment in the grand scheme of things. The idea of the Steelers just “doing what they do” and sticking with the team’s defensive philosophy even when it hasn’t panned out does echo the frustrations of plenty of fans — frustrations that, despite a lack of success with the team’s approach under Mike Tomlin, it’s still been much of the same year-over-year.