I did the BRS breakdown and matchups. The Steelers look more formidable to me than did the Ravens.
- We do better against bruising RB's (Gore and Alexander) than we do shifty cutback types (McGahee). Parker is a quicker, shiftier, more explosive version of McGahee.
- Pittsburgh leads the NFL in rushing yardage, averaging nearly 200 yards a game. Much of this has to do with their O-line (which is the epitome of what Whiz hopes our O-line will eventually be - a physically dominant power-blocking unit).
- Roethlisberger (who hasn't had to throw all that deep or that often) has a 102.9 QB Rating.
- They're #1 or #2 in stopping the run (giving up less than 80 yards a game)
- Last week, they ran 16 minutes off the clock on their first 2 possessions.
- Their pass rushers have 12 sacks to their credit (For sake of comparison, ours has 8).
WHAT TO DO:
Unlike other teams we've played, the Steelers don't create much of a "choose between 2 poisons" situation for our OLB's and Adrian in the form of a good TE and a RB coming out of the backfield (Parker has only 5 catches in three games). Instead, they like to go with 2 wide receivers with their TE essentially becoming their 3rd wideout (Miller leads their receivers in catches). They either employ a 2nd TE as a blocker in a one-back scheme or use a FB as a lead blocker for Parker.
This should simplify the responsibilities for each guy on our defensive unit.
Hines Ward (knee) is listed as doubtful and, even if he does play, figures to be a bit limited leaving it up to Santonio Holmes, Cedric Wilson and Miller for our Back 7 to cover.
On run defense, we need to control two things: (1) the cutback lanes and (2) straight ahead power blasting by the Steeler O-line. Our Front 7 will have to exercise gap-discipline and protect the cutback lanes and outside contain. Watson (and hopefully Branch) will have to play "stout" and not take false first steps in order to negate the power blast.
Offensively, I'd like us to challenge Pittsburgh's run defense dominance - if for no other reason than to keep their pass rushers and defenders honest.
Whether it's Warner or Leinart, the one thing I liked a lot about our 2nd half pass offense last week is that we dictated to the Ravens rather than vice versa. (In other words, we should play our own game, trade on our own strengths, get our receivers involved and let the Steeler defense worry about us.
Finally, what it will all probably come down to is execution. We know (from their first 3 games) that the Steelers can execute close to flawlessly for an entire football game. We also know that the Cardinals have not put two halves of solid football together thus far.
Assuming for the moment that both teams match up equally in terms of talent, Pittsburgh holds the high ground, because their track record suggests they execute at a high level more consistently than we do. For us to beat them, we have to bring our "A" game for all 60-minutes, hope the breaks even out and let's see whose better.
