Many key members of the Steelers defense, from coaches to players, are still getting to know each other from a significant perspective.
Sure, they've been together since the spring, with training camp and the preseason to collaborate. But it's only been one game in the regular season, and it reinforced what the hopes would be when the new coaching staff took over under Mike McCarthy, particularly defensive coordinator Patrick Graham.
"I think P-G's super power is he explains his vision to the defense and why he's calling it, how he's utilizing the players at a certain level, better than probably any coordinator I've been around," said Joe Whitt Jr., the team's secondary coach and assistant head coach, after practice Friday.
Whitt has been a defensive coordinator in the NFL himself, so he understands what comes with the territory. When it comes to Graham, there's a lot of talk — and rightfully so — about his scheme, his play-calling, and the X's and O's aspect of the gig.
But Whitt offered insight into how such a veteran-laden unit has taken to a lot of new faces leading their meetings and their practices. And it's not just McCarthy and Graham at the top.
"I give a lot of credit to his [position] coach C.J. [Ah You]. C.J.'s done a heck of a job. We've asked this guy to come in here and move around and do things he hasn't done before, and CJ has conveyed to him in a way he's bought into," Whitt said of Watt. "For him to be a superstar and to buy into our coaching, it just speaks volumes to who he is as a person and a player."
Of course, Watt isn't the only superstar on the defense. Cameron Heyward is a six-time All-Pro and Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award winner.
He's also an ageless wonder at defensive tackle. And position coach Domato Peko couldn't have been more impressed by Heyward's hat trick of pass deflections in the opener — in just 32 snaps.
Speaking of leaning into new strategies, that was Heyward's fewest snaps in a game from start to finish since 2013, his third year in the league. But the vision for how the rotation would play out paid off.
"He had the trifecta, man," Peko said. "Three of them? That doesn't happen much. But he's a different type of player. We're just going to continue to try to lead from the front. The way we can do that this week is stopping that run."
The Patriots play host to the Steelers at 1 p.m. Sunday with plenty of familiarity between the two sides. New England head coach Mike Vrabel spent eight consecutive seasons there as a player, a span directly followed by Graham spending seven consecutive seasons there as an assistant coach. Steelers tight ends coach Robert Kugler was with the Patriots the past two seasons as an assistant offensive line coach.
Now Graham will call plays against offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. Those two overlapped on the Patriots coaching staff for four years. McDaniels then brought in Graham as his defensive coordinator in 2022 when he was hired as the Raiders head coach. The defensive backs coach and pass game coordinator under McDaniels and Graham was Jason Simmons, who now holds the same post in Pittsburgh.
"There is some familiarity," Simmons said Friday with a smile. "But the familiarity is knowing that Josh will change every week. He will try to expose anything you have not done well. We all know that. So, the thing is, we know that he's multiple. We're going to be multiple. He's going to challenge us and we're going to challenge them."
