Pittsburgh Steelers: Keys To Defeating Defending Super Bowl Champ Saints
The past two Super Bowl champions will compete when the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints kickoff for a Halloween primetime game.
The tough, physical Steelers defense will have to match up with the high flying, finesse offense of the Saints.
For Pittsburgh’s defense, it will be an uphill battle going against Drew Brees, one of the game’s best quarterbacks.
A struggling pass defense will be without support up front with Aaron Smith out of the lineup.
Injuries to Brett Keisel and LaMarr Woodley are also set backs that could give the Saints a big advantage.
However, the Steelers have a fine quarterback themselves in Ben Roethlisberger.
With Rashard Mendenhall nursing a shoulder injury, Roethlisberger may have to put the team on his back to defeat New Orleans.
The Saints will be motivated after losing to the Cleveland Browns next week but so will the Steelers, as the defending Super Bowl Champion always has a large target on their back.
Allow Ben To Be Big
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Pittsburgh’s pass defense has been lacking over the past couple of weeks allowing Colt McCoy and Chad Henne to pass on them with relative ease.
Now matching up against one of the top quarterbacks in the league, Pittsburgh could have a tough time defending Drew Brees meaning New Orleans could put up points.
If this occurs, the Steelers will need to rely on Roethlisberger to carry them to a victory.
With only two games under his belt, Roethlisberger has thrown for 559 yards and five touchdowns while completing 64.8 percent of his passes and has an impressive 122.4 quarterback rating.
Roethlisberger showed improvement last week, throwing for over 300 yards.
He may need to do that and more against the Saints.
Expect to see a more wide open offense with use of the no huddle. There was a taste of it last week and this may be the first time that it is needed.
This does not mean that the Steelers should abandon the running game.
In fact, it should still be an integral part of their offense. It helps set up the play action pass in which the Roethlisberger to Mike Wallace connection is quickly developing into one of the best big play combinations in the league.
However, Pittsburgh will need to put up points and if they are to achieve this, it will have to be off the arm of Roethlisberger.
Ziggy in the Hood
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When the Steelers made Ziggy Hood their first round selection in 2009 they had big expectations for him to be a youthful presence on the defensive line.
Well into the second year of his career things have no exactly been on the fast track.
After an outstanding training camp, Hood has been nearly invisible on the field, which may be in part due to an ankle injury.
Of concern, though, is that he has not been able to beat out Nick Eason for playing time.
Hood’s development has been slow but this week it has to jump into overdrive.
The Steelers will be without the best 3-4 defensive end in the league, Aaron Smith, and have Brett Keisel injured as well.
Hood will need to not only step into the starting lineup, but also contribute as a run stuffer.
It is essential for Pittsburgh’s defense to take away the run from the other team. That is a given on a weekly basis.
When Smith went out last week, almost immediately Ricky Williams had success running the ball.
Pittsburgh cannot afford that as they move forward without Smith. Hood needs to rise to the occasion and do his best to fill the void left by Smith.
If Hood cannot step in, Pittsburgh’s defense may be in for a long day.
All Around the Worilds
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After tweaking his hamstring against the Miami Dolphins, LaMarr Woodley left the game and did not practice as of Wednesday.
In their base defense the Steelers slide Lawrence Timmons to outside linebacker and bring in Larry Foote to play on the inside.
While Timmons is athletic enough to play the outside, doing this weakens to positions as Timmons is a significant upgrade over Foote in the middle.
Enter rookie Jason Worilds.
The 2010 second round draft pick of the Steelers has one sack on the season and had his first significant play time last week in a pass rushing role.
Pittsburgh could really use him in the base defense so Timmons can stay in the middle, as he is playing at an All Pro level there.
Worilds displayed a good speed rush against Miami, earning several quarterback pressures and forced a bad pass on Miami’s final play which was intercepted by James Harrison.
But for Worilds, rushing the passer will not be enough.
Woodley is excellent against the run and Worilds would have to step up his play in this area if Woodley cannot play. Playing the left side without Smith in front of him will make this task all the more difficult.
The best case scenario is that Woodley will be in the starting lineup Sunday and Worilds can spell him on passing downs.
This way Worilds can focus solely on rushing the passer and continue to work on developing his moves rather than just beating a tackle with speed.
Given the talent the Saints have at quarterback it will be imperative that the Steelers get pressure in Brees’ face. If they don’t, Brees will pick them apart.
Worilds can be another disruptive force to send at Brees.
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Spotline Player: Offense
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Ben Roethlisberger will be in position to have his biggest game of the year Sunday night.
Matching up against one of the league’s best and last year’s Super Bowl Champion, Roethlisberger will be motivated and will want to shine on this national primetime game.
This game could be a shootout and which would fit into what Roethlisberger wants to do and that is throwing the ball all over the field.
With the deep threat in Wallace, the dependable Hines Ward and Heath Miller, and the newly emerging Emmanuel Sanders, Roethlisberger will have plenty of options to help carry the team.
Spotlight Player: Defense
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Though a lot will be expected from Ziggy Hood replacing Aaron Smith, one name that has not been mentioned in awhile is Troy Polamalu.
Polamalu was playing at a defensive player of the year level early in the season but has been relatively quiet recently.
By no means is he playing poorly, but rather he has taken on a different role.
Recently, Polamalu has been dropping back into coverage and teams have generally been throwing away from him.
Now with Smith out of the lineup and Woodley banged up, expect Polamalu to play more near the line to help defend against the run as well as to disrupt Brees.
If Polamalu has a big game the Steelers will hold the Saints offense in check.
Game Notes
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- Pittsburgh won the last meeting against the New Orleans 38-31 in 2006 at Heinz Field.
- The Steelers lost their last meeting against the Saints 32-29 at the Superdome in 2002.
- If the Steelers win, it will be Mike Tomlin’s first 6-1 start.
- Pittsburgh can extend their road record to 4-0 with a win.
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