Steelers camp setup: Must repair defense

LATROBE, Pa. -- It's Super Bowl or bust once again for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2018. And as their stars age and near the end of their contracts, the window might be closing for a team that has been a consistent playoff contender for the past four seasons. The Steelers made the playoffs every year from 2014-17, but they never made the Super Bowl. In fact, some might consider them underachievers given that they finished in first place in the AFC North in three of those seasons and only made it to the AFC Championship Game once in that span. The most disappointing postseason loss came in January when the Steelers fell flat in a 45-42 divisional round loss to the Jaguars at Heinz Field. It was the second home playoff loss in the past four seasons, and it came in a most disheartening way. The once-proud Steelers defense could not stop the run or the pass against a previously offensively-challenged Jaguars team that relied heavily on its defense to win the AFC South. The Steelers remain contenders in the AFC, but their troubled defense will be closely watched during training camp and the preseason. All players report July 25. Fixing the defense is the biggest obstacle between the Steelers and another Super Bowl appearance. The run defense ranked 27th in the league in yards per rush and the pass defense was leaky at inopportune times. The coaching staff set out to fix those issues by signing safety Morgan Burnett to replace Mike Mitchell, whose inconsistent play in the back end of the secondary had been problematic for years. Burnett is expected to provide good run support and communicate much more effectively than his predecessor. But the problems last season were not limited to the secondary. The run defense declined considerably after Ryan Shazier was injured and lost for the season. The plan right now is to replace Shazier with either Tyler Matakevich or Jonathan Bostic. Neither can begin to approach the level of play Shazier provided to the defense the past four seasons. Despite the many issues on defense, the Steelers remain the favorite to repeat as AFC North champion, mostly because of their offense. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, receiver Antonio Brown and running back Le'Veon Bell compose the most talented trio in the NFL. However, this is likely the final season for the three of them to play together. Bell and the Steelers could not come to terms on a long-term contract before the league-imposed deadline earlier on July 16 so he will play on the franchise tag for a second year in a row and will be able to negotiate with other teams in March. The only major change on offense is new coordinator Randy Fichtner taking over for Todd Haley, whose contract was not renewed. Many inside the organization believe Fichtner's promotion will improve the offense because he has a strong relationship with Roethlisberger and understands how to distribute the ball after serving 11 years as an original member of Mike Tomlin's staff. The pressure is on Fichtner because Haley oversaw some very good offenses in his six seasons as coordinator. The main objective for Fichtner will be improving a stagnant red-zone offense and a running game that averaged just 3.8 yards per carry, an average far too low for a unit with Bell and three Pro Bowl offensive linemen. If Fichtner can improve those two areas the Steelers will be a legitimate threat to the Patriots and the Jaguars in the AFC.