Following a week where both the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers lost, this Sunday’s matchup at Acrisure Stadium should carry a playoff-like atmosphere. The Bills are looking up at the AFC East-leading New England Patriots, while the Steelers hold the lead in the AFC North still thanks to the Baltimore Ravens losing on Thanksgiving night.
With the news that quarterback Aaron Rodgers is set to return in Week 13, the Bills will have to play smart defensive football if they hope to outlast a Steelers team looking to put some distance between them and the rest of their division rivals. To get us set for Sunday’s game, I spoke with Ryan Parish, deputy editor with Behind the Steel Curtain.
Parish and I chatted about a wide range of topics, including the additions of wide receiver DK Metcalf and Aaron Rodgers, whether James Harrison’s concerns about the Steelers are overblown, and the best way to attack Pittsburgh offensively and defensively.
1. After a solid start that saw Pittsburgh defeat both the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts, what’s behind Pittsburgh’s fall back to Earth?
Truthfully, I’m not sure the Steelers have played well enough at any point this year to call their struggles a fall. This team has been wildly inconsistent all year, and really for the last five or so years if we take the long view of things. The Steelers have talented players, but they consistently seem to be outschemed, outcoached, and outmanaged on game days. I saw a meme the other day that said being a Steelers fan is looking at the schedule and finding out if your season will start strong and then collapse to a wild card loss, or start awful and then be a slog to reach a wild card loss. If anything, losing to the Steelers should have you questioning the legitimacy of the Colts and Patriots’ status as contenders.
The Steelers are rarely able to play complementary football. The offense struggles to sustain drives and rarely uses the middle of the field. The defense has a fierce pass rush and a gifted secondary, but there are frequent miscommunications and a stubborn refusal from the coaching staff to adjust to schemes that have been unsuccessful all year, primarily a heavy usage of single high safety.
2. What has the addition of wide receiver DK Metcalf meant for the Steelers — and how is it that backup running back Kenneth Gainwell has as many receptions as Metcalf?
Metcalf has shone at times — how long ago that 80-yard touchdown against Minnesota feels — but the Steelers are still handicapped at quarterback. Aaron Rodgers is a shell of himself and so skittish of pressure that he’ll often leave clean pockets or get the ball out before plays have developed. Even more troubling, there have been times Metcalf was open over the middle and Rodgers, as well as Mason Rudolph, failed to pull the trigger. It’s unclear to Steelers fans if that’s because they aren’t seeing the field well or because Mike Tomlin has mandated that the middle of the field is a taboo place where turnovers happen. Either way, it’s made the Pittsburgh offense predictable and bland ever since Ben Roethlisberger’s arm gave out. The coach and quarterback’s lack of trust at anything more than 10 yards downfield, and OC Arthur Smith’s ineffectiveness at designing a passing attack is why you see a ton of checkdowns and a backup running back tied for the team lead in targets.
3. As for the elephant in the room, one Aaron Rodgers: What has Rodgers brought to the Steelers, and what do you expect out of him against the Bills?
For starters, will he even suit up this Sunday? That isn’t a given with his fractured left wrist that has already caused him to miss a game. Rodgers has a lot of knowledge, and he’s been highly effective when Pittsburgh’s reached the end zone. But other than getting the ball out incredibly quick, I’m not sure he’s given the Steelers much more than what they’ve already had for the past five years: a one-dimensional offense. The Steelers run the ball well, but the passing game is a lot of hitches, out routes, and throws to the flat. Passes further than the sticks are rarely attempted, and completed even less. Like Russell Wilson a year ago, Rodgers is quick to panic about the pass rush, often creating pressure for himself by fleeing a clean pocket or by speeding up his process into an inaccurate throw.
I expect the Steelers to find some early success running the ball. If they lead at halftime, they will inexplicably abandon it at halftime and only get back to it once the Bills have caught up or retaken the lead. If the Bills get up early, it’ll be a long day for the offense.
4. Is it true, what James Harrison said — that the Steelers’ are “undisciplined, poorly coached” with a “horrible defensive scheme” that’s constantly “out-coached” each week?
If you’ve made it this far, I think you can tell I agree with Deebo. The Steelers constantly shoot themselves in the foot with inopportune penalties, blown assignments, and schemes that make little sense. Last week, on a crucial third down late in the fourth quarter, the Steelers’ linebackers dropped into their zones behind the sticks, allowing the Bears to complete the ball right at the first down marker. Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin also abandoned the two split-safety look that he’d been deploying in recent weeks and finding success with to return to a single high safety scheme that has repeatedly gotten burned all season. Sure enough, the Bears went crazy, including a play where the Steelers ran Cover-3 against a four verts concept and got torched for a touchdown. When pressed about the play by a reporter questioning the Steelers scheme choices, Mike Tomlin laughed it off and told the reporter he wouldn’t talk schematics. It’s tough being a Steelers fan at the moment.
5. If you were game-planning to face Pittsburgh, what would you have discovered as the best way to attack them on defense, and conversely the most effective way to bottle up the Steelers’ offense?
Come with a heavy diet of Cover 3 beaters against zone, and matchup hunt against man. I’d put Patrick Queen in as many uncomfortable coverage assignments as you can muster, and then attack Darius Slay on the outside whenever he’s on the field. On defense, sell out to stop the run. There is little threat to the Steelers passing attack, especially if you can get them into second and long.
My thanks again to Ryan Parish for taking the time during a busy holiday week to chat Bills-Steelers! Be sure to head over to Behind the Steel Curtain to check out more of his work, and to dive into my responses from this week’s 5 Questions series.