Miscommunication, mistakes on D vs. Steelers called ‘an anomaly.’ Can issues be fixed?

Lost in the Carolina Panthers’ steaming heap of a defensive performance on Thursday night was something incredible.

On third and 17 for the Pittsburgh Steelers, 38-year-old, 295-pound Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers dropped 15 yards into coverage and broke up a Ben Roethlisberger pass intended for JuJu Smith-Schuster.

On that play, a planned call according to defensive coordinator Eric Washington, everything went right.

But the many, many things that went wrong in the 52-21 loss overshadowed that gem.

And one play that stood out in particular was a now-infamous Pittsburgh third down, in which the Panthers rushed only two players, and ultimately left prolific receiver Antonio Brown in a one-on-one matchup deep downfield against safety Mike Adams.

Roethlisberger, with all evening to throw, hit Brown for a 33-yard pickup.

It was nearly unfathomable that Washington, who spent eight years as Carolina’s defensive line coach, would rush only two in that situation.

And he didn’t. Instead, Washington said, there was a miscommunication.

“I won’t get into the exact details of the particular scheme,” he said Tuesday in his first comments to media since the loss. “There was a miscommunication on that particular play (and) there were more people assigned to rush in that situation than what we had.”

But Carolina’s pass rush hasn’t been consistent. The Panthers are well below the 50-sack pace of a season ago, with 22 through nine games.

“(We just have to) keep grinding,” defensive end Wes Horton said. “We know our identity as a rush front. It takes all four guys (on the interior and exterior) to get there. So it’s not on one individual player to get there, all four of us have to get there.”

Because of Washington’s background as a defensive line coach, it’s that much more glaring when the Panthers can’t get any pressure.

“We’re his pride and joy,” defensive tackle Kawann Short said. “That’s one of those things where he demands more out of us, and he knows what every guy in that room is capable of. So we expect that. We take that, and we strive for it.”

Short added many of the problems Carolina had Thursday night, particularly in the pass rush, stemmed from players trying to do too much. That at times led to miscommunication.

“And I think we just need to light our hair on fire, and just go,” he said.

Consistently searching for consistently

It wasn’t just the pass rush on Thursday, however. The Steelers seemed to capitalize in all the areas where the Panthers are still trying to find stability.

And that’s everywhere.

“We need consistency in all areas,” Washington said. “When you have the outcome that we had, you have to look at everything. You have to look at our run defense. You have to look at our inability to get off the field on third down. Our pass rush. We’re a team that thrives on front-and-coverage. Being able to generate pressure. ... And we’ve had some outstanding results with that this year. The other night was one of those where that did not happen.”

Roethlisberger largely had a ton of time, seemingly unbothered by Carolina’s rush. Running back James Conner gouged Carolina’s front for 65 yards and a touchdown before having to leave the game with a concussion. Carolina ranks next-to-last in the league in red zone defense and the Steelers scored touchdowns on all four of their trips to the red zone.

Brown scored a touchdown after pulling a move on rookie cornerback Donte Jackson. His counterpart, third-year corner James Bradberry, ws beaten on a double move by Smith-Schuster for a 75-yard touchdown. Roethlisberger threw for 328 yards and five touchdowns, and had a perfect passer rating.

“It was a myriad of things,” Washington said. “We had execution issues. Credit the Steelers, they did some nice things. They put themselves in a position to move the football. ...

“Execution. I mean, we have calls, we have leverage, we have gap responsibility. We have things that we have to do from one down to the next in terms of our assignment. And we did not get that done.”

Hitting reset, being urgent

The staff began to review film on Friday, a process which carried over into the weekend as it normally does.

“As far as processing (the loss), I took the same approach,” Washington said. “I’m going to look at it, as a coaching staff we sat down and identified the areas where we fell short, and we put a plan in to address the players and move them forward.”

The players were given Friday off and told to “get away from football a little bit” by head coach Ron Rivera as the staff continued to evaluate the film.

Then on Tuesday, Washington said, the team had an excellent practice.

“(We were) reminded of our identity, reminded of the talent that we have in the room,” Horton said, “and then just getting back out on the practice field, having a little bit more urgency on the practice field and just tightening up the bolts.”

Washington remains optimistic that the proper fixes will be put into place for the stretch run.

“We have a high opinion of what we should be able to do every time we step on the football field,” Washington said. “That did not happen the other night. I’d like to think, and I believe, that was an anomaly. And that we will rectify what happened.

“We just had a great practice. When you succeed, or you fall short, what you have to do is move forward to the next thing. We have a 16-game schedule, and hopefully a lot more games than that. ...

“Our belief is strong. We believe in who we are and what we’re all about. And we’re going to continue to pursue that.”

This story was originally published November 13, 2018 at 5:45 PM.