As we do every week to prepare you for the upcoming game, we give you our X factor of the week. Sometimes it’s a player, unit, concept or scheme. Here’s our Pittsburgh Steelers X factor against the Cincinnati Bengals.
STEELERS VS BENGALS X FACTOR: CB JAMES PIERRE
Compared to the rest of the Steelers’ defense, James Pierre hasn’t got a lot of action at all. He’s played just 110 snaps on the year, only 17 percent of the Steelers’ defensive total. Many of those came last week against the Los Angeles Chargers. With Darius Slay exiting the game with a concussion, Pierre got a lot of run.
He did very well with those opportunities. Pierre was one of the bright spots once coming onto the field and showed great technique as he broke up two passes and had five tackles on the day.
That’s the progression of what’s been a solid season for James Pierre. He had some nice interceptions in the preseason but just hadn’t got a ton of chances with the depth already ahead of him at cornerback. However, now his opportunity may have come.
Jalen Ramsey is focusing on safety. Darius Slay is in concussion protocol. Even some depth guys like Cory Trice Jr. are dealing with injuries. The coaching staff made the decision to roll with Pierre once Slay went down last week, and he certainly did well enough to earn more opportunities. Pierre earned a 78.9 grade from PFF, the fourth-best of all Steelers defenders last week.
Given his small number of snaps, his stats come in a very small sample size. But they are very impressive. James Pierre has been targeted 13 times and has allowed just four completions for 33 yards. On the nine incompletions, a whopping six of them have been defended by Pierre, quite an impressive rate. Quarterbacks have a rating of just 40.2 when throwing at him.
That impressive play will be paramount against the Cincinnati Bengals’ and their talented receiving core. Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins ripped the Steelers apart last time they played, with nobody in the secondary having a good game. But Pierre wasn’t able to make an impact then.
Now, he should be able to. It’s a tough test for James Pierre, going against arguably the most talented receiving corps in the league and a quarterback playing some of his best football. But Pierre has answered the call so far. The Steelers need him to do so again on Sunday.
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