The Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense is playing well. Keeanu Benton is playing the best ball of his career. But those streaks will be tested Sunday against the Chicago Bears. An offense unlike any other the team has faced so far. One with plenty of tricks and traps and an emerging quarterback in Caleb Williams running the show. Benton knows for all the window dressing that’s out there, sticking to the fundamentals is a must.
“He’s a guy who know how to use his legs to get those yards,” Benton told reporters via the team website Wednesday. “Extend plays. And we gotta find a way to keep him in that QB trap as a defensive line.”
Perhaps the biggest difference in Williams’ second NFL season is his sack rate. As a rookie, he was consistently hit and took negative plays. His 68 sacks led the league and tied for the third most of any quarterback in history. In 2025, he’s on pace to be sacked just 27 times with a sack rate cut by more than half, 10.8 to 4.7 percent.
Williams’ mobility remains an asset and has been used for good far more often this season. Not only to gain yards, he has three rushing scores, but to keep plays alive behind the line of scrimmage. Mobility the Steelers don’t see in practice and have struggled against in the past. Justin Fields had success against Pittsburgh in Week 1, and the team hasn’t faced a quarterback of Williams’ mobility since.
To help provide those looks, Pittsburgh signed John Rhys Plumlee to its practice squad. Though listed as a wide receiver, he’s likely taking scout-team reps as a former college quarterback who played the position with the Steelers last summer.
For Benton and the Steelers’ line, there will be a balance between rushing Williams while containing him. Any good rush must be coordinated with everyone playing their part. Rushing in the correct gap, not overlapping, and not creating escape lanes for Williams to exploit. That’s harder with a four-man rush and one key element of the Steelers’ game plan will be how much they blitz. Williams can still wilt under pressure, but the Bears’ offense is creative and utilizes space well, leaning on RPOs to feed its gadget receivers the ball.
Trapping and sacking Williams will go a long way toward Pittsburgh earning a win. Similar strategies will be needed in the following weeks against the Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen and Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson.
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