While the Pittsburgh Steelers secured a victory against the New Orleans Saints, franchise legends James Harrison and Joe Haden weren't celebrating the defensive performance. On the latest episode of the “Deebo and Joe
" podcast, the former Pro Bowlers issued a stark warning to their former defense. They agree that Pittsburgh’s secondary issues on third down could severely hamper any postseason ambitions.Despite completely suffocating the opponent's ground attack, holding them to a microscopic 18 rushing yards, Pittsburgh’s pass defense continued to bleed crucial plays on "money downs."
"18 yards rushing, ain’t no way this game should have been as close as it was," Harrison said. "Because you stopping the rush like that, that means I can concentrate
on the pass. You telling me we stopping the rush at 18 and we still can't concentrate on the pass and get it slowed down and kill this high passer completion?"
Opponents converted half of their third downs, frequently capitalizing on soft coverage and poor eye discipline in the secondary. Haden, a veteran cornerback, broke down the technical breakdown happening on short-yardage situations, specifically criticizing defensive backs for peeking into the backfield rather than locking onto their assignment.
"If you look at the quarterback before you break, my coach said you're going to watch him throw a completion," Haden explained. "Watch him break on your man. Boom. Break. Eyes on your target. Then when you come and look back at the quarterback, next thing you know, the ball is hitting you in the face."
Haden urged the secondary to anticipate stick routes, slants, and hitches when opponents face third-and-short, rather than giving cushion.
"All them third-and-shorts, all them money downs, if they're running these stick routes three, four times in a row, one of couple of them are jumped," Haden added. "They're playing with us."
If Pittsburgh hopes to make a deep playoff run, Harrison and Haden agree that technical refinements and aggressive play on third down must happen immediately.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Wire: James Harrison torches Steelers secondary for third-down coverage
