In take two against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Pittsburgh Steelers say their defensive approach didn’t radically change. But the data paints a different picture. Perhaps it didn’t change radically, but it had clear tweaks and adjustments beyond personnel (e.g., shifting Jalen Ramsey to safety and James Pierre’s emergence at cornerback).

Our Clayton Eckert provided coverage data from both games – Week 7 and Week 11. The differences are clear.

Steelers’ Coverage Usage (Week 7 vs Week 11)

Coverage
Steelers Week 7
Steelers Week 11

Cover 0
4.9%
0%

Cover 1
26.8%
12.8%

Cover 2
17.1%
43.6%

2 Man
22.0%
7.7%

Cover 3
17.1%
15.4%

Cover 4
7.3%
20.5%

Cover 6
4.9%
0%

What changed? A lot more Cover 2 than the first matchup. It accounted for nearly 45 percent of the Steelers’ coverage calls, 2.5 times the Week 7 rate. Cover 4 saw a spike, nearly tripling its original rate. On the other end, Pittsburgh’s Cover 1 rate was halved after the strategy struggled to contain Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins in the first meeting.

For some context, Pittsburgh played plenty of two-high zone on the Bengals’ final possession. With the game’s outcome already decided, these calls occurred in garbage time. Still, the Steelers used Cover 2 when the contest was competitive. This included a ton of Inverted Cover 2 with a cornerback taking deep half and a safety dropping down over the middle.

The plan also seems simplified. In Week 7, the Steelers had a larger menu with more specialty and bracket coverages. In Week 11, the play sheet was pared down. Just five different coverage variations compared to the seven in Week 7 (and really more, since this data doesn’t always accurately capture those specialty calls).

Clearly, the switch worked. Chase was held to three catches for 30 yards, the latter his worst mark ever against the Steelers (and 16 of those yards came on the meaningless last drive). Higgins scored early and made a handful of plays, but nothing that broke Pittsburgh like his fourth-quarter catch in Week 7 to set up the game-winning field goal. Tertiary names like Andrei Iosivas and Noah Fant were non-factors.

Better run defense helped. Chase Brown still popped a couple of runs, but the pile didn’t move forward as consistently. The Steelers spilled runs more effectively, and the Bengals weren’t as efficient. In coverage, the play was strong. Joey Porter Jr. was great in man coverage. James Pierre is having a career year. Brandin Echols looks like this year’s DeShon Elliott. But the schematic tweaks played their part in not letting Flacco and company wreck the defense again.