The Steelers 3-4 Defense Scares Us

Already riding the Hawks bandwagon? We'll give you two weeks of in-depth *football* coverage to impress your friends on game day. Note: that's *football* coverage, not coverage of which player's dad has an incurable disease or of Tim McGraw's game prediction.

Unlike most NFL teams, but like the two-time champion New England Patriots and three 2005 Seahawk opponents, the Pittsburgh Steelers employ a 3-4 defense. That's three defensive lineman and four linebackers. The more common alignment, and the one the Hawks defense uses, is a 4-3--four defensive linemen and three linebackers.

Four times this season, the Hawks have faced a 3-4. These included both their best and worst offensive performances of the season. Against the Texans' 3-4, they scored 42 points One week later, against the Cowboys' 3-4, they scored 13. They also twice faced the 49ers 3-4, scoring 27 and 41 points, respectively.

Can the Seahawks score against a 3-4? They scored against the Texans and the 49ers, but these were the two worst defenses in the NFL. The Cowboys' defense, which shut the Hawks down, was rated #10. The Steelers? #4 (just behind Carolina).

The Steelers' 3-4 defense is a major factor in their playoff success. In consecutive playoff wins against Peyton Manning's Colts and Jake Plummer's Broncos, they pressured, harried and eventually demoralized the opposing quarterbacks with the diverse blitzing schemes that the 3-4 permits.

In the 3-4, one linebacker or defensive back usually joins the three down lineman in rushing the quarterback. But the QB doesn't know which one it will be. The Steelers mixed up their blitz magnificently--rushing Joey Porter from the corner, and rushing lighting-fast Troy Polamalu from his strong safety position. Sometimes both rushed. Or two linebackers rushed and a lineman dropped back into coverage. This caused the "protection problems" that Peyton Manning threw his teammates under the bus about in his post-game press conference.

How will the Seahawks attack the 3-4? Tune in tomorrow, when we will take our guess.

An in-depth primer on the 3-4, courtesy of the Raiders' one literate fan.

And another from a guy employed at a software company.