The Pittsburgh Steelers have just one touchdown through two weeks of the NFL season, yet they sit at 2-0. Since 2000, they have only been one of two teams to accomplish that feat, with the 2000 Detroit Lions being the other team in that basket.
This week Pittsburgh welcomes the 2-0 Los Angeles Chargers. The Chargers are second in the NFL in point differential after smashing the Las Vegas Raiders and Carolina Panthers. Because, the Steelers need to play at a higher level to win this week. Here are the keys to Pittsburgh winning this game.
Win the trenches
The Steelers need to win on the defensive and offensive lines to win this game. For the defense, the Chargers rush for 197.5 yards per game. Meanwhile, Justin Herbert has sliced opponents for 80 percent of his yardage this season, scoring three touchdowns and no interceptions while in a clean pocket. With his ankle injury, his mobility is in question, too. The Steelers should focus on slowing down this run game, but they can not let Herbert crack them from clean pockets, either.
On the offensive side of the football, Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack could destroy a game by themselves for Los Angeles. They are more power rushers than Denver’s speed rushers from a week ago. Pittsburgh needs to run the ball and protect Justin Fields, and stopping those two will go a long way in doing that.
This game feels like one of tendency-breaking; and this could be one of the critical areas to gain an edge since neither team has revealed a true weakness defensively yet.
Can the Pittsburgh Steelers Unlock Justin Fields?
The Chargers are not the Week 1 version of the Atlanta Falcons, nor are they the Denver Broncos. This looks like a top-10 defense, and the Steelers offense has consistently struggled to attack the middle of the field.
To Justin Fields’ credit, Fields has been game-managed perfectly so far. He is limiting negative plays and is not putting the football in harm’s way. But what is the ceiling of a quarterback that does not target a whole area of the field?
Fields has not been asked to shoulder the load just yet, which is a significant point when talking about how high the Steelers can go and how they can attack this Chargers defense. Fields will have to crack the offense out of its conservative shell at some point. They will not be able to do what they did in the first two games every single week.
Pittsburgh might look worse this week against the Chargers before figuring something out. However, Fields is likely going to have to make some ‘wow’ plays to win this game. That likely means cracking this offense out of its comfort zone. The question will be, when that happens, can Fields continue to his level of play?
Contain Justin Hebert
It was three seasons ago, but the last time the Steelers lost to the Los Angeles Chargers, Hebert put up over 400 yards of offense. The Steelers have a good enough run defense to be able to stifle this Chargers run game to a degree. However, Herbert has yet to be unleashed in the context of Roman’s scheme.
This is the Chargers’ trump card over the Steelers. The team iteration through two weeks plays like an offense with a limited quarterback, but that is far from the truth. On the other hand, the Steeler’s pass rush has won with little blitzing. Perhaps the Steelers could try to heat Herbert with a trump card of their own.
Either way, the Chargers’ weapons in the passing game are mediocre. The Steelers’ secondary should match what they have, but Herbert’s arm talent gives him a distinct edge to potentially attack the Pittsburgh defense. When that time comes, the Steelers can not let Herbert dominate the game.
