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Pittsburgh's Base Defense Isn't Dead

Published

2 years ago

March 3, 2024

It’s easy to take a new-age thought to NFL defenses, including the Pittsburgh Steelers’ world. No question, defenses and their needs have shifted compared to a decade ago. There’s more specialization, more rotation, more creativity and volume.

But there’s a prevailing wisdom that it’s a sub-package world, and we’re all living in it. Nickel and dime defenses rule the land. That’s not entirely true. If anything, we could see a shift in the other direction.

It’s something worth noting based on our final Steelers’ 2023 defensive charting. Information you won’t get anywhere else. That’s why we do it. We’ve been tracking the team’s base and sub-package rates for basically a decade. This year, the team’s base 3-4 defense was at nearly its highest point of our tracking.

According to our charting, here’s how the three main groupings were used this year.

Nickel: 37.1 percent (421 snaps)
3-4: 34.6 percent (393 snaps)
Dime: 22.0 percent (250 snaps)

Nickel still won out. But barely. Sub-package is still used the majority of the time, but more than one-third for base is nothing to sneeze at. And it was the highest rate we’ve tracked since 2015. The previous high? 39.9 percent in 2020. Base defense usage is increasing, not decreasing. Here’s the yearly rate since 2015 (and this number, to be clear, includes all packages with at least three linemen except goal line, adding in 4-4 and 3-5 fronts).

Steelers Base Defense Usage, 2015-2023:

2015: 27.4 percent
2016: 28.7 percent
2017: 38.8 percent
2018: 31.0 percent
2019: 31.3 percent
2020: 39.9 percent
2021: 35.6 percent
2022: 31.8 percent
2023: 40.3 percent

There’s ebbs and flows but it’s a general upward trend. The last time Pittsburgh ended a season in the 20’s was 2016 and the rate’s been over 35 percent in three of the last four seasons.

Much of this is responding to personnel. If offenses come out heavy, the Steelers’ defense will match and vice versa. But there are some exceptions. Pittsburgh will sometimes stay in base against three-receiver sets (13.5 percent) and sometimes play nickel against two tight end groupings (7.0 percent) depending on the game plan and skill set of the offense (teams with athletic tight ends will result in the Steelers playing more sub-package, even against 12 personnel). Offenses could be getting heavier, especially as the move to tight end becomes popular and easier to find, and defenses are responding.

What about divisional play? That’s what the Steelers think about when they build out their roster. The numbers are similar. In their six combined games against the Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, and Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh played base 3-4 defense 32.3 percent of the time, a bit lower than their 34.6 season mark. A bit surprising, though consistent with our research in past years – the Steelers play base defense more outside of the division than against it. Still, it’s essentially one-third of the time.

Does game circumstance have an impact? After all, if the Steelers are trailing late, the opposing offense is more likely to be running, and Pittsburgh’s defense is more likely to be in base. Removing all fourth quarter snaps from our charting, the amount of three-down lineman usage ticks up, 41.9 percent compared to the 40.3 percent total.

All the evidence points the same way. Base defense isn’t the majority grouping, but it’s still a critical one. You need a good nose tackle and need depth behind. Pittsburgh found their starter in Keeanu Benton, though what’s behind him is unclear. Montravius Adams is quietly about to become a free agent. Don’t take it for granted.

Football is cyclical. What’s old is new. Offenses were getting smaller, faster, and the game has been more horizontal. Defenses responded in kind. Smaller and quicker defensive tackles, linebackers who looked like safeties, with a high priority on athleticism. That’s still true today, so offenses are countering back. They’re getting bigger, physical, and more downhill, especially as defenses play more two-high shells to protect the deep ball but invite the run. That’s why we’re seeing the shift. Base defense isn’t thriving, but it’s far from dead. This shift towards it might only continue.

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Pittsburg, PA

2016 Championship Reunion: Conference Final Lookback | Pittsburgh Penguins

Published

8 hours ago

January 28, 2026

Press Room

2016 Championship Reunion: Conference Final Lookback | Pittsburgh Penguins

Ahead of the 2016 Championship Reunion on Jan. 31, we are taking a look back at each playoff round with a player who had a big impact on the series. Today, Bryan Rust talks the Eastern Conference Final against Tampa Bay. To join us for the reunion, click here.

“You’re now a Pittsburgh legend.”

That’s what Nick Bonino said to Bryan Rust on the bench after the Penguins defeated the Lightning in Game 7 of their 2016 Eastern Conference Final matchup.

“And I was like, what are you talking about?” Rust said with a laugh. “But over the years, it’s like, okay – the more and more you think about it, it’s like, wow, that’s something that’s cool.”

Then 24 years old, Rust put together a performance for the ages.

Game 1 turned out to be Andrei Vasilevskiy’s introduction to the league. Then 21 years old, the 2012 first-round pick – drafted by Tampa at PPG Paints Arena – took over between the pipes after Ben Bishop was carted off the ice and sidelined for the rest of the series. Vasilevskiy helped the Lightning earn a 3-1 victory in Game 1 before the teams went to overtime in Game 2.

And in the first minute, Rust helped the Penguins earn a 3-2 victory after setting up Sidney Crosby for the winner.

“I got off the bench, and what I would guess I was thinking was I was gonna drive the net, and then kind of saw him kind of out of the corner of my eye,” Rust recalled with a laugh. “So, I just pulled up, kind of laid it to him, and he did the rest.”

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New Steelers Coach Mike McCarthy Wants Aaron Rodgers Back in Pittsburgh

Published

20 hours ago

January 27, 2026

Press Room

New Steelers Coach Mike McCarthy Wants Aaron Rodgers Back in Pittsburgh

Mike McCarthy is wasting no time in trying to lure Aaron Rodgers back to the Pittsburgh Steelers for another season.

The new Pittsburgh Steelers head coach not only made his pitch for Rodgers to return for the 2026 season, but McCarthy also revealed that he’s been in contact with the quarterback, he shared at his introductory press conference on Tuesday.

“Definitely. I don’t see why you wouldn’t,” McCarthy told reporters. “I have spoken to Aaron, and so that’s really where we are there. I was able to sit back and watch the games. I watched most of the Pittsburgh games on TV, and I thought he was a great asset for the team.”

Rodgers, 42, hasn’t said yet if he’ll play again in 2026. Shortly after he signed with the Steelers this past offseason, he indicated that the 2025 season would be his last. But he said following the Steelers’ playoff loss to the Houston Texans that he was “not going to make any emotional decisions” regarding his future in that moment.

“I’m disappointed,” he said. “Obviously, it was such a fun year. A lot of adversity but a lot of fun.”

Of course, McCarthy coached Rodgers when he was the head coach of the Packers, working alongside the quarterback for 13 seasons. The duo won a Super Bowl together during that time, with Rodgers emerging as one of the game’s top quarterbacks and winning multiple MVP awards.

While McCarthy has made it clear he’d like Rodgers to return as the Steelers’ quarterback, he said he’ll also give him the space he needs to make a decision.

“I think when players are up that stage of their career, they need to step away and decompress,” McCarthy said. “I think that’s very important.

“The game is so emotional, what these men commit to, and what they put into it. I think that time away is important.”

Rodgers had a respectable season with the Steelers in 2025 following a disappointing two-year stint with the New York Jets. He completed 65.7% of his passes for 3,322 yards, 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions to go with a 94.8 passer rating, helping Pittsburgh go 10-7 and win the AFC North.

Even if Rodgers returns, though, questions still remain at quarterback for the Steelers. They don’t have a clear longterm solution at the position, with veteran backup Mason Rudolph and sixth-round rookie Will Howard being the only other quarterbacks on their roster.

However, McCarthy seemed bullish about the options the Steelers have in their quarterback room.

“I’m really excited about Will Howard,” he said. “I think he’s someone that I thought really came on there at Ohio State. I’m anxious to work with him.

“It’d be great to have Aaron back, but with Will and Mason, I’m really, I’m really, really excited to get started with those guys.”

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Extremely cold temperatures will be in place for the Pittsburgh area through the end of the week

Published

1 day ago

January 27, 2026

Press Room

Extremely cold temperatures will be in place for the Pittsburgh area through the end of the week.

Any Alert Days Ahead? Tuesday is a First Alert Weather Day due to wind chills potentially dipping to 25 degrees below zero. Friday and Saturday are likely First Alert Weather Days due to extreme cold.

Aware: Extreme cold warning in effect through 11 a.m. today, A cold weather advisory is in effect from 7 p.m. today through 11 a.m. on Wednesday.

There will be little escaping the cold over the next week, while outside, temperatures most mornings dip to 0° or below.

Highs are only expected to hit the mid-teens. When it gets this cold, we see a slew of cold-weather warnings and advisories being issued. For a general rule of thumb, warnings are always worse than advisories. So even without knowing why they are issued, you should think an Extreme Cold Warning is worse than a Cold Weather Advisory.

Extreme Cold Warnings are issued when wind chill values dip below twenty below zero. At these temperatures, you are looking at frostbite setting in 30 minutes or less. A Cold Weather Advisory is issued when wind chill values dip to lower than ten below zero but not more than twenty below zero.

KDKA Weather Center

So knowing that, we will likely see Cold Weather Advisories also issued for Wednesday evening to Thursday morning with morning temperatures near 0° and wind chills between -10° to -20°. Thursday evening to Friday morning, along with Friday evening to Saturday morning will likely see Extreme Cold Warnings issued with morning temperatures falling to around -5° on Friday morning and -8° on Saturday. It won’t take too much of a wind to get to the warning criteria on those days. If you must work outside for any long period, please take precautions against frostbite, including layering and covering up, along with making sure your skin isn’t dry.

At least there are no days when we are expecting to see several inches of snow incoming. We do have a chance for snow tonight, with our best chance coming after 5 this evening, with upslope snow showers possible for the rest of the evening. Snow totals will be an inch or less. Besides that, I don’t have anything more than an isolated snow chance through next Monday.