The Indianapolis Colts visit the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, and the latter has quite a task ahead of them. After struggling in each of the last two weeks, the Steelers now face the top-seeded AFC team, which rolls into this matchup with the hottest offense in the league. Former Steelers NT Chris Hoke isn’t expecting a lot from the Steelers’ defense this week.
“I don’t think there’s one defensive strategy to be employed here,” Hoke said Thursday on 93.7 The Fan. “I think you gotta mix it up, you can’t just go man, you can’t just go zone. But the fact that they have so many eligibles, so many weapons, I mean, this is the number one offense in the NFL. A very balanced attack. This is the Steelers’ nightmare.”
The Colts have arguably the most complete offense in the league right now. Jonathan Taylor is a legitimate MVP candidate. He’s rushed for 850 yards and 12 touchdowns already, both of which lead the NFL. He sports a whopping 5.9 yards per carry, behind an offensive line that is creating massive holes for him. Just look at the blocking Taylor gets on this play.
The Steelers have shown some improvement against the run in recent weeks, but they’ve still been too inconsistent. They bottled up the run in the first half last week. Yet, they allowed Green Bay to really go to work them in the second half. With how easily their defensive linemen can be moved, and how bad the linebackers have been filling gaps, this certainly looks like a troubling matchup.
However, the Steelers can’t afford to pack the box the whole game, either. If they do, their struggling secondary will have to deal with a dynamic Colts passing attack. WRs Michael Pittman Jr., Alec Pierce and Josh Downs are all having terrific years, thanks to a resurgence from QB Daniel Jones.
“Hopefully, the [Colts] defense isn’t as good, that the Steelers can score, and they could get a stop here and there,” Hoke said. “But the way they’ve been playing since the bye week, they’re gonna struggle if they keep playing that way against this Colts offense.”
The Colts’ defense has been susceptible at times, and the Steelers’ offense is certainly capable of scoring points. And the idea of getting a stop here and there to win games has worked in the past. It’s Mike Tomlin’s formula in winning tough matchups like these. Score just enough, get timely stops, and win the turnover battle.
The problem is this defense isn’t getting any key stops, or forcing any turnovers. The Steelers seem to regress defensively as the season goes on, which is a terrible sign against this Colts team. The Steelers are going to need a bounce-back performance defensively. Unfortunately, they’ll have to do so against the best offense in the league.
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