The man most pleased by the erasure of Tom Brady's four-game suspension is Tom Brady. The man most displeased by it is Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler.It'll be his retooled and refigured stoppers that will face not Jimmy Garoppolo on Sept. 10 when the NFL regular season begins, but the four-time Super Bowl champion (and considerably vengeful signal caller) Tom Brady.
Pittsburgh is making a major transition on the defensive side of the football after they parted ways with long-time coach Dick LeBeau this winter, and the results as of yet have not been pleasing to the eye.
A steel curtain, they have yet to be.
In the combined first halves of four exhibition contests, opposing quarterbacks have completed passes at a rate of 80 percent, have thrown four touchdowns, failed to complete even one interception, and compiled a 122.3 quarterback rating in the process.
Buffalo gained 542 yards against this group last weekend while gashing them for 20 or more yards on seven plays from scrimmage.
"After the last performance, I don't feel like we had too much to look at that was encouraging, to be honest with you," linebacker James Harrison said after that showing. "It's still the preseason, but there are still things that we need to fix or adjust."
Whether or not the preseason is or is not an omen of things to come, those numbers are not inspiring. Keith Butler tends to think it does.
"We need the experience together, and even if it is experience of failing, it is better than not being out there," he said this week. "You have to put some stock in the preseason because you have to see who can do what and you evaluate like that."
To be fair, the Steelers haven't been fielding their complete unit. Lawrence Timmons, the leader of their linebacking corps, has missed three weeks with a toe injury. Defensive end Stephon Tuitt twisted his ankle against the Packers and safety Mike Mitchell has been nursing a sore hamstring and twisted ankle that kept him from action.
Still, Pittsburgh was 18th in total defense and 27th against the pass last season. Meanwhile, Brady threw the fifth-most touchdowns (33) and the Patriots were 9th in total offense. But the Steelers have hope in second-year linebacker Ryan Shazier and drafted two promising talents in backer Bud Dupree and corner Senquez Golson. They added corner Brandon Boykin in a trade with the Eagles in August.
The sum of those parts will reveal themselves in due course over their 2015 campaign, and they'll get one of their stiffest tests right away in Foxborough with the nation watching.
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