Continuity Makes for Familiarity in the Secondary

In a season with no preseason games and limited practice time, having some continuity and familiarity on the field is as important as ever. Fortunately for the Steelers, they have it, particularly in the secondary.

The Steelers return all six of their defensive backs—Steven Nelson, Joe Haden, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Terrell Edmunds, Mike Hilton, and Cam Sutton—on the depth chart from last season. All four of their starters played at least 1,000 snaps in 2019.

The Steelers defensive backs finished third in the NFL last season in yards allowed and second in interceptions. Fitzpatrick and Haden both picked off five passes, one off the league lead. Fitzpatrick, who came to Pittsburgh in a trade with the Miami Dolphins before Week 3, ranked eighth among safeties with at least 500 snaps in giving up 15 completions while in coverage. Haden, meanwhile, was in the top-10 among cornerbacks in opposing quarterback rating when targeted.

Having that familiarity and comfort level among a group of players is vitally important to the Steelers’ success. They know where each of them is going to be on a play. They have confidence in each other to cover their man and allow their pass rush to get to the quarterback. For Haden, now in his fourth year in Pittsburgh, playing the same system they’re all used to is going to help out the entire defense.

“The thing about the Steelers is we run the same defenses. So as long as you get the checks, you get the shifts and everything down, we have vets there now so everybody is able to do different things. Everybody is going to be on the same page,” he said during training camp.

“So I think we can play a little more zero coverage, more blitzes where we know our pass rush is going to get there. We believe in our secondary being able to cover. We always say, pass rush and coverage work together. And I think we’ve got a great rush team with some really, really good people in the backfield who can cover.”