The Pittsburgh Steelers will play their 11th game of 2025, traveling to the NFC North division to take on the surging Chicago Bears. The division leaders are 7-3 and have won seven of their last eight games. The Steelers are 1-1 against the NFC North so far, winning against Minnesota and losing to Green Bay.
Below are five key things I believe the Steelers will need to do to secure their seventh win of the year.
Contain Caleb – Chicago quarterback Caleb Williams is one of the most athletic quarterbacks in the league. His arm strength and mobility allow him to make plays in a variety of ways. The Pittsburgh pass rush and coverage need to complement each other efficiently to prevent the big plays.
Everyone has talked about how quickly Aaron Rodgers is getting the ball out this season. He is the quickest in the league at 2.59 seconds from snap to throw. Williams is the exact opposite. He leads the league with a 3.24-second time to throw average. Some of that time to throw is due to his ability to extend the play outside the pocket and throw accurately on the move.
On the ground, Williams is no slouch either. He is fourth in the league for rushing yards by quarterbacks with 272 yards. He has added three rushing touchdowns.
The Steelers’ pass rush needs to get pressure and keep him in the pocket. Sacked just 16 times, he will be hard to corral. Additionally, the coverage needs to keep up its strong play of late. Williams has a strong arm but doesn’t take chances. His aggressiveness percentage is the lowest in the league (10.5 percent), and he has thrown just four interceptions.
Keep the coverage tight and keep him in the pocket to limit his effectiveness.
Capitalize on a Perceived Advantage – The Bears received some bad news on the injury front. They will be without their number one tackler, number two tackler, and their number two tackler from a year ago.
The linebacking trio of Tremaine Edmunds (groin), Noah Sewell (elbow) and T.J. Edwards (hand) has all been ruled out of Sunday’s game. It is common for teams to go after backups, though usually more commonly at the defensive back position.
Arthur Smith and his merry band of tight ends need to take advantage of the intermediate levels of the field. They need to assess the likes of D’Marco Jackson (32 defensive snaps this year) and Amen Ogbongbemiga (0 defensive snaps). Put them on the hot seat with all of the tight ends.
Additionally, there should be a heavy dose of the run game. The Steelers stuck with it last week despite the Bengals putting seven and eight men in the box the entire game.
Make the backups show they can step up and make plays.
Make Swift Stops – The Chicago run game is one of the best in the league. They revamped their offensive line with new starters everywhere except right tackle.
Free agents Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson were added at guard. Drew Dalman was added to play center. And left tackle is manned by Theo Benedet, who signed as an undrafted free agent in 2024. After injuries to Braxton Jones and Kiran Amegadjie, he became the starter in week four.
The combination of D’Andre Swift and rookie Kyle Monangai has blossomed in head coach Ben Johnson’s game plan. Swift has 634 yards and is on pace for a career high. Monangai had a monster game in his only start (176 yards) and has been a nice complement to Swift. Add in the yards from Williams, and you have the number three rushing team in the NFL, averaging 4.8 yards per carry.
The Steelers’ run defense has been up and down. Mostly down, allowing over 100 yards rushing in six games. However, the defensive line has been better recently, and so has the team’s ability to rally to the ball.
Keep the rushing numbers down, and the winning opportunity goes up.
Don’t Force and Try to Force – We all know Mike Tomlin likes to keep his passing game safe. Year after year, we have seen the Steelers primarily throw outside the numbers to avoid turnovers. This season, they have increased their throws inside the numbers, which has helped improve yards after the catch.
We might see them go back to the extra safe passing game this week. And that is regardless of who starts at quarterback.
The Bears lead the league with 15 interceptions and have a plus-16 advantage in turnover differential. They are led by safety Kevin Byard with five and cornerback Nashon Wright with four. Edmunds also has four, but as stated earlier, he is out this week. We probably won’t see them force the ball downfield.
Pittsburgh’s turnover differential is plus eight. That is tied for fifth. Unfortunately, the Bears don’t turn it over a lot. Just four interceptions and two fumbles lost.
If you’re looking for someone to target to force some fumbles, it is the quarterback. Williams has five fumbles this year and 15 in 27 career games.
Look for the Steeler pass rush to go after the strip sack whenever they get close.
Finish Strong – The Steelers seem to always play one-score games. Even big leads would dwindle, and it would come down to the final drive. This season has been a bit of an anomaly. Only half of their games have been one-score games, and just one of the last four fits that criteria.
Chicago has been similar in the total number of close games (six), but five of their last seven games have been one-score games.
That stretch puts Williams as the league leader in comebacks this season. He has put together five game-winning drives to complete those five fourth-quarter comebacks.
In their four road games, the Steelers have played three one-score games. The lone game that didn’t qualify was the loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in week ten.
As of this writing, the line on the game is less than a field goal, so it should be a close game. If Pittsburgh has the lead late in the game, they need to keep Williams from adding to his league-leading numbers.
Related Items:Aaron Rodgers, Amen Ogbongbemiga, Ben Johnson, Braxton Jones, Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears, D'Andre Swift, D'Marco Jackson, Drew Dalman, Joe Thuney, Jonah Jackson, Kevin Byard, Kiran Amegadjie, Kyle Monangai, Mike Tomlin, Nashon Wright, Noah Sewell, T.J. Edwards, Theo Benedet, Tremaine Edmunds
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