Chiefs Film Room: What happened to Bob Sutton?
By Tarek Mavani
Rather than attempt to manufacture pressure against the Steelers, Sutton went the literal opposite direction – rush only three or four and drop the rest into coverage. Sure that theory sounds all fine and dandy, but haven’t we learned by now that the top QBs love facing that strategy? Evidently, somebody failed to brief Bob:
That’s the pocket Roethlisberger had on the 2-point conversion after the first touchdown. Odds of getting pressure here are pretty minuscule, while the odds of a receiver shaking the coverage are sky-high. The scheme didn’t work as the Steelers cashed in, so surely Sutton changed things up the next red-zone trip:
Guess not.
Antonio Brown is literally guaranteed to get open when you give him that much time. If the Eagles dismantling of the Steelers taught us anything, it was that you limit Brown by not giving Ben enough time to find him (I use the word “limit” loosely). Evidently, Sutton somehow thought that notion was preposterous.
The next screenshot is of the Roethlisberger’s third red-zone score in the first half – and you already know what’s coming:
C’mon, Bob! You’ve been picked apart twice already on three-man rushes in the red zone and decide to roll it out again? What was the thinking here – third time’s the charm? It’s Sutton’s fourth year as Chiefs defensive coordinator, and we’re still waiting for evidence he’s willing to make adjustments on the fly. I should really stop waiting, shouldn’t I…
It’s not like Sutton rushed three on every single snap (although you’d be forgiven for thinking so). On some occasions, he allowed his OLBs to get after Roethlisberger. But as we all know, without Houston this group isn’t capable of repeatedly winning one-on-ones.
Here we have Ford and Hali coming off the edges. The RB doesn’t even stay in to block, so there is no help for either of the Steeler tackles. Yet both guys get harmlessly driven around the QB, not even causing him to flinch.