Gap Integrity Key for Steelers' Youthful Defensive Line

Gap integrity key for Steelers' youthful defensive line
By Mark Kaboly
http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/...#axzz3CSal2mjG

Staying in your gap doesn't sound that complicated, does it?
In its most simplistic form, it's just another way of saying you better be where you are supposed to be, when you are supposed to be.
Now, that's the tricky part, especially for an inexperienced and eager defensive line like the Steelers going against the outside zone, one-cut running game of the Browns.
Cleveland comes to Heinz Field on Sunday for the season opener with a revamped running game that will look to exploit the one Steelers unit that has a lot more questions than answers — the defensive line.
“We are going to find out where we are real fast, let me tell you,” nose tackle Steve McLendon said.
That goes for Ben Tate and the Browns on Sunday — along with the rest of the month — as the Steelers open the season against some of the better running attacks in the league.
After the Browns, the Steelers are at Baltimore and Carolina before returning home to face Tampa Bay. All four teams prefer the run over the pass.
“The way we look at it, it always starts with us up front,” McLendon said.
Or, in the case last year, it ends up front.
The line had been a strength for years and was the backbone of a defense that was among the top three against the run in eight of nine years since Dick LeBeau took over the defense in 2004. Last year, it all imploded, and the Steelers fell to 21st against the run and gave up more than 100 yards per game on the ground for the first time since 2003.
A lot of that was because the defensive line just didn't play well. It led to the Steelers jettisoning former first-rounder Ziggy Hood and not asking veteran Brett Keisel back in hopes that would fix things, including the splash run plays that haunted the team a year ago.
The Steelers allowed 10 runs of 15 yards or longer (they allowed only two in 2010), including five of 48 yards or longer that directly affected the result of the outcomes of games against the Raiders, Dolphins and Vikings.
When the Steelers allowed a long run, they went 3-5. When they didn't, they went 5-3.
Nine of the 10 long plays came on first-and-10 when the base defense is usually on the field. Since Mike Tomlin became coach, 44 of the 80 long runs came on first-and-10.
“Big plays can lose games, that's been proven,” defensive end Cam Thomas said.
A lot of the big plays can be attributed to the defensive line getting out of their gaps and creating running lanes. Another part is the secondary not making tackles.
“There is a lot we have to prove in stopping these big plays,” defensive end Cameron Heyward said. “We can't allow our defense to get gutted like that.”
The Steelers hope they have the fix with an influx of youth and speed. They hope that will trump their inexperience.
Just two years ago, the Steelers' opening day defensive line of Casey Hampton, Keisel and Hood had a combined 255 career starts. On Sunday, the unit will have a collective 20 starts at their respective positions with a pair of rookie backups among the six-man group in Stephon Tuitt and Daniel McCullers.
“When you play in the 3-4 defense for the first time, it's a bit of a shell shock the way you play it,” Heyward said. “It's about getting over that hump and seeing what movements you are going to make. It's going to take time.”
The inexperience led the Steelers to bring back Keisel only two weeks before the start of the regular season, but turning 36 in two weeks, he's no longer an every-down player. Keisel is filling the role of mentor and an insurance policy more than anything else.
Still, the defensive line will be expected to perform up to expectations immediately.
“We know what we have to do,” McLendon said. “We have to all stay in our gaps. We all have to play technique and if we do what our coaches ask us to do, we will be fine.”