The Pittsburgh Steelers will play the 7th game of the 2024 regular season on the 20th (local time). Sunday night at home against the New York Jets. They will enter the competition as slightly underdogs. Here are five things the Steelers need to do at home on Sunday night to get their fifth win of the 2024 season.
Connects to 4, but you may need more – The Steelers defense did a better job pressuring Jets QB Aaron Rodgers on Sunday night. We’ve seen in the last three games the Jets have the impact that pressure can have on Rodgers and their passing attack. The defenses of the Denver Broncos and Minnesota Vikings hammered Rodgers. As you know, the veteran Jets quarterback has been sacked 11 times in the last three games and 16 times so far on the season.
The Steelers typically like to only have four guys rushing on defense, and on top of that, this unit doesn’t attack often. Running only four players rushing for the defense may be a good plan to start with on Sunday nights, but without someone coming home and hitting Rodgers on a regular basis, that plan will have to change, and that likely means rushing the veteran quarterback often. This is high. Rodgers gets the ball out fast enough that unless he’s forced to hold on to the football in certain situations, it may not be very likely for him to get a good hit. Putting pressure on Rodgers will be key on Sunday night.
Stay away from the source – The Jets secondary will appear as a strong unit in Pittsburgh on Sunday night, as NCB Michael Carter II (back) and S Chuck Clark (on IR with ankle injury) are non-starting. Additionally, it is questionable whether starting CB DJ Reed (groin strain) will be able to play after being unable to practice all week. Even if Reed plays Sunday night, he won’t be 100 percent. But the Jets will have top CB Sauce Gardner on Sunday night, and he’s one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL. Because of that, the Steelers’ passing game against the Jets will probably have to adjust to avoid attacking him very often.
It’s difficult to know for sure whether Gardner will travel to the field most of Sunday night to keep up with Steelers WR George Pickens. Otherwise, if Pickens draws a cornerback other than Gardner in coverage, he will easily become a primary target in the passing game, especially without the help of a safety bracket. Regardless of what coverage the Jets use, the plan should probably be to hit another cornerback not named Gardner, and that includes the out-of-health Reed, who has played well in coverage so far this season.
Satisfaction with play-action – The Steelers have been miserable so far this season when it comes to utilizing play action in the passing game. In fact, according to Sports Info Solutions, the Steelers’ offense averages just 5.7 yards per attempt on play-action attempts, and their average throwing depth is just 5.3 yards from the line of scrimmage. To make matters worse, the Steelers allowed a pressure rate of 50.9% on play-action plays, the worst in the league.
Could a change in quarterbacks make a difference when it comes to utilizing play action? Russell Wilson has been a little better at using play-action over the past two seasons with the Denver Broncos and has yet to take a regular season snap so far this season, so that’s all we have to do with him right now. By the way, defensively the Jets have allowed 7.4 yards per attempt on play-action plays so far this season.
Automatic static disable to confuse flight plan – Defensively, the Steelers are running a lot of cover-3 zones this year, which puts them near the top of the league in middle-of-the-field closure coverage. As you can imagine, the Steelers’ ability to disguise behind-the-field coverage isn’t great at all, and advanced analysis suggests that only the Dallas Cowboys are worse in percentage terms. Simply put, the Steelers are very static defensively, so what you see is what you get.
When facing a skilled quarterback like Rodgers, being static for most of the defensive play probably isn’t conducive to success. If anything, the Steelers may have to think about playing less zone against Rodgers and consider playing more men since the older quarterback likely won’t start the football as often. If Rodgers can easily watch and analyze Steelers coverage for most of Sunday night, especially if it mostly ends up in a cover-3 zone, there’s a good chance he can break it down pretty easily the same way Indianapolis Colts QB Joe Flacco did. That was a few weeks ago.
concession hall – The Jets have relied heavily on RB Breece Hall in their first six games because he allows him to run the football on the ground and in the air. So far this season, Hall is averaging nearly 14 carries per game and over 5.5 targets in the passing game. He averaged 4.7 yards per touch through six games.
The Jets will likely try to start the game early on Sunday night with this game being played in front of a hyped crowd in Pittsburgh. If Hall isn’t stopped early Sunday night, the Jets’ offense could get ahead of the chains and likely stay on the field for an extended period of time. Rodgers is already a great quarterback, and he becomes even better when he’s in secondary and short situations. If Hall has a productive game, it could be a long night for the Steelers’ defense and one where the unit may need to be on the field for 65 or more plays.
