The Pittsburgh Steelers have a tough matchup ahead of them on Sunday night. The Green Bay Packers visit, and while they’re certainly a beatable team, it’s going to be difficult on both sides of the ball. Defensively, the Packers have quite a talented pass rush that the Steelers will have to contend with. Offensively, they’re led by a good head coach in Matt LeFleur, and that’s an area where analyst Gregg Rosenthal thinks the Packers will have a real advantage over Mike Tomlin and Teryl Austin’s defense.
“If they can pressure Jordan Love, that is the recipe,” Rosenthal said Thursday on his NFL Daily podcast. “But I like the coaching matchup for Matt LeFleur over this Steelers defense. And for them to put up a big number, and challenge Aaron Rodgers to match up.”
Jordan Love hasn’t been great under pressure. But fortunately for the Packers, he hasn’t been under pressure that often as of late. After taking seven combined sacks in Weeks 2 and 3, Love has been sacked just once in each of their last three games. And really, Green Bay’s game plan could look a lot like what the Cincinnati Bengals did against the Steelers last Thursday.
The Packers don’t want let T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig tee off on Love. However, Love is very efficient on quick throws, the same concepts with which the Bengals ate the Steelers. Joe Flacco found Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins consistently on quick slants or out routes, showing impressive anticipation while doing so. That’s something Love can do as well. And with a deep receiving corps, the Packers may aim for a similar approach against the Steelers this week.
Part of the reason Flacco was able to do that so easily was the lack of a consistent Steelers pass rush. To Rosenthal, that’s a sign that Herbig needs to be on the field more.
“Will Mike Tomlin even have the best pass rusher on the team on the field?” Rosenthal asked. “It was a little insane last week, at the end of that game. Like, they’re still in man coverage, and Nick Herbig, the best pass rusher, is literally not on the field.”
Herbig’s usage is something the Steelers should be sure to focus on this Sunday. They were repeatedly gashed by the Bengals’ passing game and stayed in nickel a majority of the time in an effort to stop that. It’s hard to get an extra edge rusher on the field in those situations. Alex Highsmith is also never a bad option to have on the field over Herbig, either.
That said, his reps do need to increase going forward. Earlier this week Tomlin suggested they will and said for fans to “keep watching”. For what it’s worth, he said something similar about Pat Freiermuth recently, too. And Freiermuth broke out in a big way against the Bengals last Thursday.
The Steelers are going to have to pressure Love to beat the Packers. He doesn’t do nearly as well under pressure as he does when he tries to get rid of the ball quickly. The Steelers’ defensive coaches will need to be much better this week in their preparation and adjustments.
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