The Pittsburgh Steelers don’t have an easy feat when it comes to stopping the Chicago Bears offense today. The Bears have been one of the most effective teams running the football this year under head coach Ben Johnson, as they’re the second-best rushing team in the league. In a report on NFL Gameday Morning ahead of the Steelers-Bears game, Stacy Dales said she talked to Patrick Queen who stressed the importance of stopping the run to slow down QB Caleb Williams.
“I spoke with linebacker Patrick Queen, who told me when the Bears run the ball, the offense opens up. That’s when Caleb [Williams] is most free and most himself. They want to bottle him and the run game up today.”
If the Steelers try and force Williams to beat them with his arm, their chances of winning are going to increase. Williams has benefitted from the strong run game, and he himself isn’t afraid to run the ball. More than anyone in the league, Williams tries to extend plays with his legs and play out of structure, and that’s something the Steelers can take away if they make the Bears more one-dimensional.
D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai are a strong running back duo, and the Steelers have been inconsistent when it comes to stopping the run this year. They need to be on their game today to slow down the Chicago offense. It starts up front, but Queen is going to need to make sure he isn’t making tackles and is effectively getting downhill. Gap integrity has been a problem at times, too, and when the Steelers’ defensive line gets out of their gaps, that’s when they get gashed on the ground. The Chicago offensive line has been improved this year, but Pittsburgh should still have an advantage with its defensive line play.
The game might just come down to how well the Steelers can defend the run. The run game opens everything else up for the Bears, and limiting them on the ground should increase the opportunities for takeaways and mistakes by Williams. It can’t just be all talk from the Steelers when it comes to smashing the run, and if they can slow down Chicago’s ground game, it should lead to good things.
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