The point was that you guys would be missing Smith because he is INJURED. To which you responded "we wont miss him because ziggy hood is better than an injured Smith" It seems you are the one who is quite confused.
We haven't been missing him. He has been gone for most of the year, and the defense is still number 1 in the league in terms of scoring and rushing defense. There has been no dropoff in play. If we are missing him, I am not seeing it. Hood will be the starter next year. There is a time when a veteran has to make way for the future. Ziggy Hood is the future.
the defense is incredible -- jets will need creativity to move the ball consistently. this is a game where passes will have to simulate runs. the jets ran on pitts in the first game. (even the sanchez rush td -- the fake to greene would have been a first down). i don't see the same results this week. we were way over the average last time.
The Steelers D in the first 5 games and then without Smith are a lot different. Still a strong D without him, but they were abusing teams in those first four games without Big Ben. It's just a testament to the Steelers front office for having enough depth this year to overcome losing Smith. Hood wasn't ready last year when it happened and we subsequently missed the playoffs.
I was looking at the stats..Hood has three sacks, but he has only started 9 games..Smith in his second year had 4 total sacks, but he started 15 games. Either way the defense is good
Smith was never the "sack" guy, like most 3-4 DEs. Hood is a special player on the 3-4 DLine. Just not for one game. Pittsburgh delenda est.
Sacks don't mean anything for a 3-4 DE. They're job is to eat up blockers so the linebackers make plays. I guess Casey Hampton isn't much of a NT because he doesn't get many sacks either.
Everyone is banged up this time of year. Pittsburgh will come to play and their fans will make it crazy. It will be a really big challenge for us.
Some 3-4 DEs can create sacks(Seymour), others just take advantage of great opportunities. Hood is taking advantage of what the OLines give him, but it's not the type of production you can count on from 3-4 DEs. Pittsburgh delenda est.
The Steelers use the zone blitz as opposed to the normal 3-4 D. Our D relies on our linebackers to create the pressure. They can't do that unless our D-lineman are "blocking" the offensive line.
