Steelers vs. Seahawks: What's the Game Plan for Pittsburgh?

On paper, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Seattle Seahawks match up quite well. Unfortunately for both teams, games aren't played on paper.

The Steelers come into this showdown with the Seahawks on national television missing some key players on offense, but they are relatively healthy at the skill positions minus Le'Veon Bell.

With Ben Roethlisberger getting the bye week off to let his left foot injury heal as much as possible, the Steelers offense should pick up right where it left off in the Week 10 win against the Cleveland Browns.

Obviously the Seahawks defense is head and shoulders better than the Browns' porous defense, but the fact that Roethlisberger is back in the lineup long term (hopefully), the Steelers offense should finally be able to get back to their high-flying ways from one year ago.

Pittsburgh can get back to those high-flying ways offensively, Sunday, in Seattle if Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant, Markus Wheaton and Heath Miller are able to win individual battles against the Legion of Boom, which has taken a major step backward in 2015.

Defensively, the Steelers unit should be able to put the clamps on a very vanilla offense under Russell Wilson, though that is through no fault of his own.

Thomas Rawls has emerged as one of the most valuable running backs in football, taking over for the injured Marshawn Lynch to rush for more than 600 yards on just 101 carries.

Rawls runs hard in an eerily similar fashion to Marshawn Lynch, which has given the Seahawks a much-needed ground threat to take pressure off Wilson and the passing game, which has struggled thanks to the starting offensive line's putrid play.

If Pittsburgh can tackle well in the open field, apply pressure early and often to Wilson and make some offensive plays against an opportunistic Seahawks secondary that has struggled with communication issues all season long, the Steelers should be able to pick up their first win in Seattle since 1983.

Steelers' Offensive Game Plan

Seattle possesses a tough, imposing run defense, led by Brandon Mebane, Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright, that holds opponents to just 96.4 yards per game on the ground.

In fact, Seattle has allowed just 15 rushes of 10-plus yards all season. Conversly, the Steelers have recorded 35 rushes of 10-plus yards this year. That's a strength-on-strength matchup that should have everyone's attention on Sunday.

It's no secret that the Steelers have become a pass-first offense, thanks to Roethlisberger developing some insane chemistry with Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant. However, for the Steelers to really put their stamp on this game, the offensive line must come out and push people around, allowing Pittsburgh to establish a balanced attack, putting the Seahawks defense on their heels and guessing.

Should the Steelers be able to do that, expect plenty of play-action shots down the field against the Legion of Boom. Seattle employs a Cover 3 defense with a single-high safety (Earl Thomas) a majority of the time, but they've been prone to big plays down the field this year, thanks to Thomas guessing in the middle of the field and Richard Sherman and Cary Williams struggling in man coverage down the field.

Sherman is still the NFL's top cornerback, but he's had a hard time in space once receivers get past his press technique at the line. With that said, he's still an absolute freak in the air, fighting for the ball, considering he has a WR background from his early days at Stanford.

If Martavis Bryant and Antonio Brown can get off the line quickly, shed the press coverage and get into space, it could be a long day for the Seahawks defense, which has blown five fourth-quarter leads this year.

In the trenches, the goal has to be protecting Roethlisberger, who—while healthy enough to play—isn't as mobile enough to avoid the rush, which the Seahawks bring plenty of. Luckily, the Steelers won't have to worry about Bruce Irvin (4.5 sacks), who will sit out Sunday's game with a knee injury.

Unfortunately, the best defensive duo in football of Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett is playing at a high level and are fully healthy. They'll prove to be a handful for the Steelers' offensive line.

Bennett is versatile enough to move all over the defensive line and is athletic enough to drop into coverage in the red zone. He's a serious weapon for Seattle, which knows exactly how to use him. The interior of the Steelers' offensive line could have issues with Bennett on obvious passing downs, as that's where he slides down on 3rd-and-long situations, but with the loss of Irvin for this week, Bennett could stick primarily at defensive end.

This battle for the Steelers offense will be won or lost in the trenches, which will be a great battle on both sides of the ball.

Steelers' Defensive Game Plan

Cam Heyward, Stephon Tuitt and Steve McLendon must be licking their chops looking at the offensive line of Seattle.

This is easily the worst offensive line in football; it's worse than the Cleveland Browns, whom the Steelers destroyed in Week 10.

Seattle has thrown together a patchwork offensive line that is unbelievably bad at pass protection, which forces Russell Wilson to scramble around looking to make plays. Through 11 weeks, Seattle has allowed the NFL's second-most sacks with 35, just one behind the Cleveland Browns with 36.

Pittsburgh will have to collapse the pocket around Wilson, forcing him to try and get rid of the ball quickly without getting out on the edge to see the rest of the field.

With that said, the Seahawks' bread and butter is a smash-mouth power-rushing attack. With Rawls taking over for the injured (and largely ineffective Lynch), the Seahawks offense has taken off in recent weeks. When Seattle is able to establish the running game, it's able to build off it with play actions, roll outs to get Wilson on the edge and some occasional deep shots to Jermaine Kearse and the dynamic rookie Tyler Lockett.

On paper (there's that saying again), one would assume that the Steelers defense should be worried about Jimmy Graham in this one considering the struggles Pittsburgh has shown throughout the year against top tight ends. However, on film it still looks like the Seahawks don't have much of a clue as to how to use Graham as the dynamic weapon he was supposed to be for this offense.

While Wilson has started to target him much, much more as the season has progressed, the Seahawks are an abysmal redzone offense. With the way Will Allen has played this year, don't be surprised if he's matched up with Graham wherever he goes in this one.

Regardless of what style the Seahawks try to go with offensively, it all comes down to how the Steelers tackle on Sunday. If they revert to their old ways and miss tons of tackles, the Seahawks could have a big day on the ground and after the catch.

Rawls is a major test that the Steelers must pass this weekend.

Key Matchups

Antonio Bryant and Martavis Bryant vs. Legion of Boom

Oh. My. Goodness.

Talk about a juicy matchup. Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant going against Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor. Can we get an ISO cam on these matchups? Seriously.

Whomever comes out on top in this matchup will play a large role in determining the outcome of the game. Brown has toasted most of the corners he's played the last few years. Add in a healthy Roethlisberger, and Brown could have his way with the best cornerback in the league.

However, Bryant could put up the best numbers of any Steelers receiver this week because of the lack of depth the Seahawks have behind Sherman at corner.

Steelers Offensive Line vs. Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril

Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril might be the NFL's most disruptive duo. Through 11 weeks of the season, Bennett and Avril have combined for 13 sacks (6.5 each). Avril primarily comes off the edge against left tackles, while Bennett is versatile enough to move around the line and rush from anywhere on the field.

Pittsburgh's biggest challenge is figuring out where Bennett will come from along the line and adjusting to his position. When Bennett slides inside, the burden of blocking him will fall on David DeCastro, who is more than up to the task.

While Bennett can be handled on the right side of the line, the same can't be said confidently about Avril. Alejandro Villanueva is still learning how to play the position, which should play right into the hands of the crafty Avril.

Matchup X-Factor

Markus Wheaton

It's time to stop with the excuses and start making plays.

Wheaton previously said the lack of timing and chemistry with Ben Roethlisberger was a large factor in his struggles so far this season, but now that the Steelers have had a bye week to allow Wheaton and Roethlisberger to get back on the same page, there can't be any more excuses for Wheaton's poor play.

This week would serve as a great time for Wheaton to get back on track.

He won't face any corners that should scare teams, and he'll draw limited coverage while most of Seattle's attention will be focused on Brown, Bryant and Heath Miller.

Don't be surprised if Roethlisberger tries to get Wheaton going early to take some attention away from Brown and Bryant.

Prediction: Steelers 24, Seahawks 20

For the first time since 1983, the Pittsburgh Steelers will emerge victorious on the road in Seattle.

The Seahawks are nowhere near the team they were the last two years, including a defense that has had a tough time closing out games and a porous offensive line that is easily the NFL's worst.

Pittsburgh comes into this game near full health with its star quarterback directing an explosive offense that looks to go on a roll to close the year in a wide-open AFC at this point—minus New England.

Roethlisberger, Brown and Bryant pick up right where they left off before the bye week, while the Steelers front seven harasses Russell Wilson all game long, thanks to a horrendous offensive line.

I like the matchup of the Steelers' front seven against a bad Seahawks offensive line. I also like Antonio Brown's and Martavis Bryant's ability to stretch the field and make some big plays against a secondary that struggles with communication.