WHO GETS CREDIT FOR ATLANTA GAME - DEFENSE?

Should the defense get credit for the Atlanta game?



Defensive Line

The defensive line played extremely well in this game. Even missing their anchor, Casey Hampton for part of the game they held Atlanta to 58 yards rushing on 25 carries. Is Chris Hoke one of the most valuable guys on this team, or what? But, that is the great thing about the Steelers and one of the things that won them their last Super Bowl. Someone went down, another guy stepped in and there was little to no drop off in performance. The linemen also put some pressure on Ryan. Overall, they did the main thing they are supposed to do in Dick Lebow's defense, stop the run.



Linebackers

These guys were trying to get to the quarterback the whole game. I have a Madden game on Wii and of course I love to play the Steelers against all takers. I'm no defensive genius, but I know what to do with the Steelers, because in this game they don't lose any steam throughout the game. All I do is blitz every play, cornerback blitz, Townshend blitz, Polamalu blitz, zone blitz and so forth. That's what it looked like they were doing for a large part of the game. They brought the heat with the linebackers. Ryan's shoulder had to be sore after that game because Harrison was tomahawking him every chance he got to knock the ball loose. Both he and Woodley each had a sack. It looks like Timmons may finally be getting the hang of the defense too. He was all over the place making tackles and blowing up plays in the backfield with 9 solo tackles 3 of them for losses. These guys also played outstanding.



Defensive Backs

The defensive backs also played well. Another component of the Dick Lebeau defense is to not give up any big plays. They pretty much picked on Bryant McFadden the whole afternoon. Roddy White just kept catching those 10 to 20 yard passes and ended up with 111 yards. Tony Gonzalez also made a few grabs, but once they caught the ball there were no mistackles or they went out of bounds. No big plays given up. Hopefully McFadden will tighten up his coverage a little and not allow another receiver to get 100 yards, but the plan worked well enough on Sunday with no TDs for the Falcons.