The Pittsburgh Steelers enter the season with elevated expectations despite two straight 8-8 seasons, and who can blame them? The team won eight of its last 12 games last season after starting 2013 with an 0-4 record, thanks primarily to their defense tightening up as the season progressed. They’ll need more of the same in 2014, but with the added emphasis on illegal contact and holding penalties, the team is just hoping its defense can stay above water.
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“This is definitely new to me, as far as how (they’re) calling it right now,” cornerback Cortez Allen said, per Trib-Live Sports. As many know by now, penalties are way up in the NFL with no sign of it slowing down. It’s adjust or be left behind with the rest of the dinosaurs. Given that the average age of Steelers defenders isn’t too far from the Age of Dinosaurs, fans had better hope the defensive leaders can step up in a hurry.
“It’s been a little tight, but if that’s the way they’re calling them and you have to expect it. You got to adjust to it,” Allen said. “Not as far as changing what we’ve been doing all along, but being more conscious of how they’re calling (penalties) and make adjustments.”