Artie Burns,Chris Hogan

Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Artie Burns dives after New England Patriots wide receiver Chris Hogan in the first half of the AFC championship game, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2017, in Foxborough, Mass. The Patriots went on to blow out the Steelers and win the Super Bowl. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

(Matt Slocum)

PITTSBURGH -- The New England Patriots, Denver Broncos and even their defeated Super Bowl opponents showed Artie Burns one common element of their defenses.

They played man-to-man coverage and played it well.

As the Pittsburgh Steelers dive deeper into their spring practices this week, they also continue a years-long project of transitioning to a more aggressive approach in their secondary.

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Mike Tomlin made this shift clear when speaking after the selections of Artie Burns and Sean Davis following the 2016 NFL draft. Both went on to start as rookies.

Defensive backs coach Carnell Lake spoke along similar lines as he praised Cameron Sutton and Brian Allen after the 2017 draft. All are players the Steelers wanted to see more of, pressed in the faces of opposing receivers. Pittsburgh has decided, in short, it can only win so much without them.

"I think that we want to become more man-centric. That's the way teams win a Super Bowl," Burns said. "Every team that's won a Super Bowl the past couple years has played man."

Burns went on to rattle off the names of those teams. His last game was against one of them.

The New England Patriots blew the Steelers out, 36-17, in the AFC Championship game, when Pittsburgh's zone defense got shredded for 374 yards by Tom Brady and a Patriots offense that spent much of the second half slowly killing clock.

Fool-proof zone doesn't exist, Burns said.

"There's always some opening in a zone defense, somewhere somebody missed a drop. There's always some loophole in a zone defense," Burns said, "and playing man you know you can get right in somebody's chest and pressure them.

"You got to be physical and attack."

It's inevitable, free agent signing Coty Sensabaugh said -- corners have to play man.

And as the Steelers step further from their soft zone and "tackle the catch" approach of 2015, they're piling up personnel to finish the job. Installation in organized team activities hasn't reflected a massive adjustment, Burns said. It's too early.

But it is coming.

"I don't think you can be a corner in today's game and not enjoy playing man. I just don't see it happening," Sensabaugh said. "These guys are all as skilled as they are and the way the game is I think you have to line up and win your one-on-one matchup."