Steelers Buccaneers key matchups
Steelers Buccaneers key matchups
Arriving Friday morning in Paris for a Week 7 clash with the New Orleans Saints at Stade de France, the Pittsburgh Steelers have a bit of catching up to do when it comes to acclimating to the time change.
Fortunately, Pittsburgh has done this recently, traveling to Dublin last year, though this is a new coaching staff and a number of new faces are on the roster. Still, that experience should come in handy, especially for the veterans like Aaron Rodgers, Cameron Heyward and T.J. Watt.
We’ll see if that experience playing international football comes into play on Sunday. It might not matter as the two teams appear evenly matched on both sides of the football. So, it’ll come down to some individual matchups.
There will be games within the game, and below are my four matchups to watch Sunday at Stade de France in Paris.
STEELERS OLB ALEX HIGHSMITH VS. SAINTS LT ASIM RICHARDS
Alex Highsmith had a marquee matchup against Tampa Bay star left tackle Tristan Wirfs last Sunday. He didn’t have much production in it, though he did impress Wirfs throughout the game. This week, Highsmith gets an advantageous matchup against backup Saints left tackle Asim Richards.
Richards has allowed 19 pressures this season and has had issues with guys like Maxx Crosby and Za’Darius Smith. That said, he’s played good football that last two weeks against the Vikings and Giants, allowing just three combined pressures.
Highsmith has been a bit quiet since a hot start to the year, and he needs to take advantage of a backup. The seventh-year veteran is up to 19 pressures this season, which leads the team. He needs to convert some of those pressures to sacks, though. This is as good a week to as any to do it.
If not, noise regarding Nick Herbig needing to play over him could start to get louder.
STEELERS TE PAT FREIERMUTH VS. SAINTS LBS & SAFETIES
The Saints have struggled in recent weeks against tight ends, so a major opportunity is there for Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth in the middle of the field.
New Orleans allowed New York’s Isaiah Likely to haul in six receptions for 99 yards and a touchdown last week. In Week 5, Vikings tight ends had seven receptions for 50 yards, and in Week 4, Falcons tight ends had four receptions for 56 yards.
Opportunities will be there, and the Steelers should lean heavily on Freiermuth to carve up the Saints in the middle of the field. Freiermuth had just two receptions for 11 yards last week in Tampa Bay, but he’s up to 21 receptions for 180 yards and four touchdowns this season.
He might not put up numbers like he historically does against the Cincinnati Bengals this week, but I expect a big game from the sixth-year veteran. Teams have attacked the Saints’ defense well in the middle of the field with their tight ends, and that’s where Freiermuth has to feast on Sunday.
SAINTS WR CHRIS OLAVE VS. STEELERS CB ASANTE SAMUEL JR.
The Steelers’ secondary played well in Week 6 against Tampa Bay, but the group will face a better passing attack this week, one that won’t be limited by a rookie undrafted free agent QB. It will have to deal with a star receiver, too, in Saints veteran Chris Olave.
Olave already has 43 receptions for 580 yards and two touchdowns this season. Saints quarterback Tyler Shough looks his way a ton, and more often than not he’s rewarded for it. Olave is a great route runner and has terrific hands. He can serve as a possession receiver, or he can work vertically. Surprisingly, he’s good in contested-catch situations, too, hauling in 10-of-16 contested-catch targets, according to Pro Football Focus.
We’ll see how the Steelers decide to play him on Sunday. Jamel Dean has the most experience against him, having him played him twice a season while with Tampa Bay. But this feels like a matchup more suited for Asante Samuel Jr., who can match Olave’s speed and athleticism.
Samuel has struggled in recent weeks and hasn’t been able to build on the training camp and preseason hype he generated. If he can slow down Olave on Sunday that would go a long way towards regenerating some of that hype. Samuel has allowed 18 receptions on 32 targets this season for 274 yards and three touchdowns, including one last week. He needs to get back to the level he performed at against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 5.
SAINTS EDGE CARL GRANDERSON VS. STEELERS RT MAX IHEANACHOR
The future remains very bright for Steelers rookie right tackle Max Iheanachor, but the individual matchups are going to start getting much harder moving forward.
Iheanachor played relatively well in Week 6 against Tampa Bay, but he did allow four pressures and a sack. So far this season he’s allowed 12 pressures and three sacks, according to Pro Football Focus. He has been riding the roller-coaster as a rookie. Now, he has to adjust to playing in Paris on a normal work week and finds himself staring down a tough matchup against Saints EDGE Carl Granderson.
Granderson has been very good this season and has dominated in the last two weeks in particular. Against the Vikings and Giants, Granderson combined for six pressures and four sacks, according to PFF. He’s a big, physical specimen coming off the edge. He defends the run well and has started to find his game as a pass rusher. He had 39 pressures and seven sacks last season and is already well on his way to surpassing those numbers.
With so much focus on Chase Young on the right side of the Saints’ defense, do not forget about Granderson. He can wreck a game and is on a heater. Iheanachor needs to be at the top of his game, or it could be a sloppy performance by the Steelers’ offense in Stade de France.
Related Items:Alex Highsmith, Asante Samuel Jr, Max Iheanachor, New Orleans Saints, Pat Freiermuth, Pittsburgh Steelers, Trending
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