The Steelers have had success with Aaron Rodgers using a quick-passing approach, but their opponents have against them, too. Particularly over the past two weeks, the Bengals and Packers have torched the defense with a quick-passing approach. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, HC Mike Tomlin said he doesn’t plan to make any adjustments.
Here are the average snap to throw times by game against the Steelers so far this season:
Jets 3.53
Seahawks 2.71
Patriots 2.65
Vikings 2.70
Browns 2.61
Bengals 2.44
Packers 2.64#Steelers #NFL https://t.co/Q5uaQpb8Qi
— Steelers Depot 7⃣ (@Steelersdepot) October 28, 2025
“I think that’s been our life for a number of years. Any time you’ve got dynamic rushers, I think that’s the first way that you work to minimize them. I think that’s everyone’s agenda, to be quite honest with you, when they play us”, Tomlin said about teams using quick-passing games against them, via the Steelers’ website. “From that standpoint, it’s nothing new. It requires no quote-unquote adjustments. Certainly, we can coach and play better”.
In Week 8, the Steelers watched Joe Flacco carve up their defense, averaging a 2.44-second time to throw. On Sunday, Jordan Love averaged 2.64 seconds. It’s worth noting that in both cases, these figures are appreciably lower than their season-average times.
In other words, opponents have figured out that the Steelers can’t stop the quick-passing game and are exploiting it. Defenders say that they have a plan for that and they always do and that they just need to execute it better. But if they have a plan, then at what point does it come down to personnel? Last week, the Steelers did start playing Brandin Echols over Darius Slay, but that won’t solve anything. So what will?
“There’s lot of answers to that, to be honest with you. None of it is earth shattering or interesting”, Tomlin said about how the Steelers defense can better counter the quick passes. “You change up schematics, you play man, you play bogus zones, all of which we do. We just hadn’t been doing it well enough to minimize what you discussed. So, we are going to keep working”.
Up next is Daniel Jones of the Colts. He averages 2.77 seconds to throw, roughly the same but slightly lower than the Packers’ Jordan Love—who lowered his season average playing against the Steelers. Jones has held the ball longer in recent weeks, but he knows when he can afford to.
Jones can get the ball out quickly when a game calls for it, and you can imagine the Colts are working on that with him this week to prepare for the Steelers’ defense. If they’re not showing on tape that they can stop something, you might as well do it, right?
In the meantime, the Steelers also have to worry about RB Jonathan Taylor. Leading the league in every major rushing category, he is making a push for a non-quarterback MVP. Through eight games, he has 850 rushing yards on 143 attempts with 12 touchdowns.
Equally important, he hasn’t fumbled, and the Steelers crumble when they can’t take the ball away. So if Taylor is battering the defense, they won’t even have to worry about how long Daniel Jones sits back there. And neither will he.
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