How the Pittsburgh Steelers Can Stop the High-Powered Saints Offense

At this point, the Pittsburgh Steelers have to wonder what else they can do if they want to make the playoffs. As they prepare for the return from their bye week at 7-4 with a big matchup against the New Orleans Saints, they find themselves in a three-way tie with the Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Ravens for second place in the AFC North.

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Anytime a team has to prepare to take on the New Orleans Saints, the top priority is trying to slow down quarterback Drew Brees. So far this season—and over his career, really—few defenses have figured out a way to completely shut down Brees and that explosive passing attack.

This season, Brees has been held under 300 yards passing only five times. If the Steelers want to win this game and hang on to their playoff hopes, managing the game from a pass defense perspective is a must.

There are really three phases to this.

First, the Steelers need to do all they can to keep Brees off the field, which means sustaining long scoring drives. That sounds like an easy task with running back Le'Veon Bell on the roster. Bell had 33 carries in a win over the Tennessee Titans in Week 11.

While 33 carries might be excessive for Bell, sticking to the run game with intensity will be vital to moving the chains and keeping the Saints offense off the field. Along those same lines, when the Steelers have to throw for a first down, Bell, wide receiver Antonio Brown and tight end Heath Miller should be the targets.

Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Both Brown and Miller are sure-handed targets with a knack for moving the chains. Bell, Brown and Miller have accounted for 158 of the Steelers 234 total first downs this season (minus penalties).

Second, it is all about the pass rush. There is an old football adage that says you play pressure on good quarterbacks and coverage on great ones. The Saints have done a great job of protecting Brees via both blocking and scheme. Brees has been sacked only 17 times all year. By comparison, Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been sacked 30 times.

Pittsburgh cannot commit heavy numbers of pass-rushers, because coverage will remain the highest priority. That means if the Steelers are going to be able to send only four, they will have to be creative, showing six and seven rushers at the snap and then dropping two or three out into coverage. Quick pressure from a variety of gaps is the best bet to get some heat on Brees.

Oh, and speaking of coverage, how the secondary handles the back end will be just as important as anything else. Going back and watching several Saints games showed there were some schemes that appeared to be effective against the spread sets New Orleans employed.

The Cincinnati Bengals did a really nice job forcing Brees to make some bad throws, and they did so without sacking him. Here’s a coverage look Cincinnati used with some success against the Saints that Pittsburgh could mimic:

NFL Game Rewind

The Saints come out in a bunch set with four wide receivers/tight ends split out. From this, New Orleans will use motion and shifts to get players wider if the coverage dictates it. The hope with this formation is to force the defense to shade inside heavily, perhaps thinking run, and allow the outside receivers a clean release deep.

The Bengals counter this with nickel, press man on the inside receivers and off man on the outside. Cincinnati keeps one deep safety as over-the-top help on the outside.

NFL Game Rewind

At the snap, Brees has wide receiver Marques Colston open but is looking for tight end Jimmy Graham all the way. Brees has a small window, but, as you see in the second picture, the Bengals safety is able to close and forces an errant throw. It could be that inside pressure from the Bengals forces the throw. It is also important to point out that Cincinnati ended up rushing three and dropping eight into coverage.

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

The Steelers could do something similar with their nickel personnel. Pittsburgh could bring five to the line of scrimmage in some combination. Pittsburgh has utilized so many different variations of that front six; it is difficult to hypothesize just who would be out there.

Ideally, it would be some combination of defensive linemen Cameron Heyward, Stephon Tuitt and Daniel McCullers with three linebackers who could provide versatility. My three would be Jason Worilds, Lawrence Timmons and Ryan Shazier.

The key is the secondary. If cornerback Ike Taylor and safety Troy Polamalu return, it will make this scenario much easier to sort out. Safety Mike Mitchell can play the deep safety, with Polamalu up in the slot opposite Taylor in the other slot over Graham. That leaves cornerback William Gay on the outside and either Cortez Allen or Brice McCain opposite him.

This alignment puts a big body who can run on Graham and speed on the outside. This is really a make-or-break game for Mitchell. He is going to have to make smart reads because you can bet the Saints are going to try to go over the top when they can. Can the Steelers stop the Saints passing offense completely? Probably not, but doing these things can certainly slow it down.

 Stats courtesy of NFL.com.