Pittsburgh Steelers Defense Needs to Be Concerned About Johnny Manziel

Granted that Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel remains his team's starter after the latest Instagram video of him celebrating the holidays doesn't force him to the bench, the Pittsburgh Steelers defense could have its hands full with the mobile passer.

Manziel hasn't been much of a consistent threat this year. In his 10 game appearances and six starts, he's completed 129 of his 223 pass attempts, for 1,500 yards, seven touchdowns and five interceptions. He's been sacked 19 times, a byproduct both of his penchant to scramble against much bigger, faster men than he was accustomed to in college as well as his coaches' desire to keep him in the pocket more often.

As such, he's rarely been allowed to unleash what made him a household name at Texas A&M. But with the Browns a three-win team with one week left to play, he was allowed to do what he did best in the team's Week 16 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs: improvise.

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Manziel was the Browns' leading rusher in the game, with 11 carries or scrambles for 108 yards. The same thing could happen against Pittsburgh's defense, and given its recent history against quarterbacks of Manziel's style, it must be careful in its approach to him on Sunday.

There are three key examples of how Pittsburgh and Manziel could square off. And only one is the correct approach.

The three games in question are the Steelers' meeting with the Denver Broncos and Tim Tebow in the Wild Card Round of the 2011 playoffs, the 2012 faceoff with Robert Griffin III and the 2013 game against the Oakland Raiders and quarterback Terrelle Pryor. 

All three were very different games for Pittsburgh's defense, but the one thing they had in common was that it asked the defense to account for a quarterback who is capable of both running and passing the ball, often in equal measures.

Year	QB	PIT W/L	Atts.	Comp.	Yds.	TD	INT	R.Atts.	R.Yds	R.TD
2011	Tebow	L	21	10	316	2	0	10	50	1
2012	Griffin	W	34	16	177	1	0	6	8	0
2013	Pryor	L	19	10	88	0	2	9	106	1

It's clear that the Steelers learned a lesson after what became a playoff loss to Tebow's Broncos. Pittsburgh's defense simply had zero respect for Tebow's ability to throw, but this allowed him to take advantage of the weak coverage that led him to complete just 10 passes, but for a total of 316 yards and two touchdowns. And that allowed him to actually surprise the Steelers when running; he added 50 yards and another score on 10 carries.

Against Griffin and then Pryor, the Steelers conceded a passing prowess to the pair of quarterbacks. But, the results were drastically different. Pryor, too, only had 10 completions, but for just 88 yards. He threw zero touchdowns to two interceptions. But his 93-yard touchdown run to open the game caught the Steelers unaware; ultimately, Pittsburgh lost, 21-18.

The approach the Steelers took with Griffin, though, is a perfect blueprint for how to control Manziel. The key is to respect him as a runner and a passer while at the same time identifying and exploiting his weaknesses. And just like Griffin, Manziel has many, mostly related to pocket awareness and footwork. 

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Pressure, paired with appropriate containment, led to Griffin completing only 16 passes on 34 attempts for 177 yards and one score while rushing for eight yards on six carries. He couldn't get his feet set or his eyes downfield, nor did he have enough time to both scan the field for an open receiver and find a lane to run through. His inexperience played right into Pittsburgh's hands.

And the same can be said for Manziel. A great example is his passing in the loss to the Chiefs last week. Though Manziel had his top rushing performance as a pro, he completed 13 of his 32 pass attempts, for 136 yards, no scores and an interception. He was constantly out of sorts in his stance and mechanics, and the results were apparent on the field through all four quarters.

Pressure was also a cause of this, though the Chiefs did not do as good of a job containing him as the Steelers did Griffin three years ago. But, Pittsburgh's defense is tied for fourth in sacks this year, while Manziel has been taken down on nearly eight percent of his pass attempts. 

Games	Starts	Atts.	Comp.	Comp.%	Yds.	TD	INT	Sacks	R.Att.	R.Yds.	R.TD
10	6	223	129	57.8%	1,500	7	5	19	37	230	0

While Griffin was sacked just once in that game, that doesn't tell the entire story of how the Steelers pressure affected him; and the Chiefs didn't sack Manziel a single time in Week 16, but they greatly affected his comfort as a passer.

But, the Steelers must also keep in mind the lesson they learned from Tebow: They must not underestimate what he's capable of as a passer.

While Manziel's technique is certainly flawed, he did average 9.6 yards per attempt in his final year in college, had 37 passing touchdowns to 13 interceptions and had over 4,000 yards. His arm is strong, and it cannot be ignored just because he's exceedingly green when it comes to playing the position on a professional level. The ghost of Tebow needs to still haunt, for Pittsburgh's benefit.

As long as the Steelers don't get caught by surprise, as they did by Pryor, or underestimate what Manziel is capable of as a passer, as they did with Tebow, they can employ the Griffin approach to containing Manziel's effectiveness on Sunday.

There are reasons to be underwhelmed by Manziel this week, but to do so to the point where he's considered an afterthought could prove problematic for the Steelers. Learning from past mistakes and doing what they know works must be the top priority.