Pro Football Focus’s Steve Palazzolo took us up on our request to provide the best plays for each Steelers player in 2014. As part of this ongoing series, we’re going to break those plays down and give some insight behind what the analysts at PFF may have seen. While their scores are proprietary, our partnership on this project will show readers a bit of what PFF sees in plays, and why the player received high scores on them.

Agility Causes Pressure

It’s not just about brute strength for Steelers linebacker Lawrence Timmons. An excellent athlete, he’s come into his own as a strong, tough player, but his trademark is still his quickness.

Timmons has a 1-on-1 match-up with the guard, and a three-yard running start at him. At this point, the guard doesn’t have much choice but to guess with the hope he can at least get a piece of the blitzing Timmons.

Give the guard credit, he prevented the sack, as well as Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan for escaping and trying to make something happen. Timmons blew the play up, though, put a great move on the blocker and forced Ryan out of the pocket.

The Total Defender

A linebacker is responsible for run support as well as coverage, and an offense can exploit an over-emphasis by the linebacker in either one of those phases.



This is a great example of Timmons pursuing the play while still maintaining discipline to his responsibilities.

The Bengals are trying to isolate Timmons in coverage on the tight end, and get him the ball in wide space, trying to out-flank the defense. It may not look like much, but because Timmons keeps his shoulders square with the line of scrimmage, he’s able to see the play developing and he reacts to it perfectly.

Give a nod to James Harrison for forcing the quick throw, but even if Dalton isn’t pressured, Timmons is right on the receiver. A completion wouldn’t go for more than a yard or two.

Stopping Outside Zone

Coaches should highlight this play when instructing linebackers on how to defend stretch runs.

Timmons reads the play from the snap, and attacks the line of scrimmage while keeping his shoulders square to it. He sees the tackle converging on him, and Timmons gets low, and gets outside his block, maintaining leverage and keeping his angle true to the runner.

That enables him to get past the block, and to continue pursuing the runner in space. Doing that destroys the integrity of the zone block and it forces RB Arian Foster (maybe the best zone runner of his generation) to get flat with his angle and try to beat the defense to the sideline.

Timmons pursues Foster all the way to the sideline where he’s able to cut him down for a loss of a yard.

Follow Steve Palazzolo on Twitter @PFF_Steve, as well as the site’s main handle @PFF. Check out all our All-22 Steelers Film Review pieces here.

Antonio Brown – Part I

Ben Roethlisberger – Part I

Martavis Bryant – Part I

Kelvin Beachum

Le’Veon Bell

Markus Wheaton

Heath Miller

Maurkice Pouncey

David DeCastro

Dan McCullers

Stephon Tuitt

James Harrison