Bell: Watt, Steelers Pass Rush Must Get Back to Dominating
The Pittsburgh Steelers should be well rested off their mini-bye following their less than ideal but slightly predictable loss in Cleveland on Thursday Night Football. As discussed on Steelers Afternoon Drive, historical data certainly doesn’t favor road teams playing on short weeks and Mike Tomlin’s squads have been no exception to that rule. With all that said, it’s difficult to really take much from a performance like that in the elements no less but it further highlighted one underlying concern about the teams ceiling. The Steelers defense hasn’t been very effective rushing the passer this season.
In that game, they were able to generate some pressure on Browns quarterback Jameis Winston, but only came away with 1 sack on the night. Granted, it was a strip sack from second-year edge rusher Nick Herbig, that was a game-shifting play in the fourth quarter. Perhaps most frustrating of all, the rush lane integrity broke down a couple times in the second half and allowed for some untimely conversions in some key spots. There has been a theme through the first 12 weeks of the season: opposing quarterbacks have had more time to process information and find open receivers.
Steelers are Getting Pressure, but…
So far, the Steelers defense ranks 8th in pressure rate, 20th in time to pressure and 22nd in sack rate according to Next Gen Stats. Pressures are good, especially quick ones in under 2.5 seconds because they can force inaccurate throws and lead to turnovers. Sacks, while not the end-all-be-all when it comes to stacking pass rushers, are obviously extremely important. Negative plays that get offenses off schedule and behind the chains, often kill drives by itself.
Those numbers certainly aren’t awful by any stretch of the imagination but this is Mike Tomlin’s Pittsburgh Steelers that we’re talking about. Everyone knows that this is a franchise synonymous with getting after quarterbacks and causing chaos but the results this season have been somewhat underwhelming based on how many resources they’ve allocated to this unit.
Per Over The Cap, they employ the leagues most expensive defense by a pretty significant margin, taking up $137M of their salary cap for the calendar year, with over half of that devoted to their interior defensive lineman and edge rushers. When comparing the investments to the results, things haven’t been going according to plan. We’re far enough into the season now where we have ample amount of film and data to properly evaluate things. So, this begs questions of whether or not the Steelers can ramp things up and get back to dominating in the trenches.
How the Steelers and T.J. Watt Can Get Back Their Pass Rushing Mojo
How can Pittsburgh get back to rushing the quarterback at an elite level? First things first, they need Alex Highsmith to get healthy. Due to multiple injuries, he’s missed five games this season and has played all of 169 pass rush snaps in the process because of it. The Steelers made the decision to pay multiple edge rushers top money because they were banking on his ability to continue to ascend and take advantage of reps where opposing offenses allocate extra attention in T.J. Watt’s direction. Highsmith has had strong performances when he’s been on the field but his lack of availability has certainly taken some venom out of their front. It sounds like he could potentially be available as soon as this coming weekend.
This isn’t meant to be a knock on the depth on the roster either. At the very least, Nick Herbig has shown the capacity to be an impact pass rusher off the edge and the numbers reflect that in limited playing time. His 21.6% pressure rate leads the entire team so far this season. Only further playing time will tell if he can sustain that but the traits flash every time we get the chance to see him rush the passer.
It’s no secret that the outside linebacker spot is and always will be the most important element of this defensive structure and in order to right the ship, they need their best player to find his groove. Statistically speaking, T.J. Watt is having his least impactful season as a rusher since arguably his rookie season. He’s on pace for 11.5 sacks, which would be his lowest total since his rookie campaign. The pressure numbers are jarringly shocking in comparison to the top players at this position around the league. As of this writing, his 8.9% pressure rate would be his lowest of the Next Gen Stats era.
Those numbers don’t tell the entire story of his impact and that’s where the necessary context is relevant in this case. Offensive coordinators have spent a ridiculous amount of resources chipping him in obvious pass rushing situations and while other elite talents deal with similar predicaments, no one faces these obstacles more than he does. Earlier this season, I wrote about different ways that the Steelers can help him out schematically by blitzing more, implementing more stunts along the front in effort to be less predictable an in turn, get the most of their best player.
The common rebuttal for these discussions always seem to come back to moving him around more, which is one way that other teams get their best player free but Watt has made it abundantly clear that he’s more comfortable and effective rushing from the left side. That tweak isn’t some quick fix that can be done at the snap of the fingers. However, Watt can help himself by being a more varied pass rusher by changing the way that he attacks offensive tackles.
Over the last several years, he’s put up astronomical numbers with most of that coming off speed rushers around the arc or by flashing his patented ghost move. You can’t blame him for simplifying his approach because it’s been so effective. After all, he won the Defensive Player of the Year and had been in the conversation for that award multiple times as well. But we have seen tackles sit on those moves even more this season and be able to take those avenues away from him. Browns right tackle Jack Conklin pretty much blanketed him on well over a dozen true pass set opportunities in Thursday Nights contest because Watt never really threatened him any other way beside trying win the outside track.
Even the great ones have to adjust their games with age. Now 30-years old, Watt will have to add some more curveballs into his repertoire if he wants to remain atop the NFL’s pass rush pecking order. While that will require a rewiring of some sort, Watt’s cross-chop was incredibly effective earlier in his career and because of how terrified tackles are of his ability to win up the arc, he should be able to able to access more inside counters off oversets far more frequently than most. There are different paths for him to take in order to maximize the few chances he gets each game to really win on island without having to defeat two players at once.
The interior defensive line plays a factor in this as well. Cam Heyward has turned back the clock this season and truthfully has been their best, most consistent player on either side of the ball. For a guy who is 35-years old and looked like a shell of himself last season from a physical standpoint, that’s an absurd feat. Both of their other interior rushers haven’t brought much to the table in terms of production. Ogunjobi’s game has always been hot and cold. Benton will have a couple quick wins every week but somehow has still only accrued one sack thus far in his NFL career.
But all things considered, this pass rush and the defense as a whole, is going to go how their edge rushers go. It’s really that simple. At 8-3, Pittsburgh has exceeded everyones’ expectations thus far and in order to continue to ascend up the AFC hierarchy and morph into a true contender come playoff time, they’re going to need this group to play at their absolute peak and there’s no denying that this hasn’t been the case thus far this season. It’s fair to acknowledge that without hitting the panic button. There’s ample time to hit their stride when it matters most.
“Earlier this season, I wrote about different ways that the Steelers can help him out schematically by blitzing more, implementing more stunts along the front in effort to be less predictable an in turn, get the most of their best player.”
YES…
We are not asking for all-out Dick LeBeau schematics but just a little more hidden blitzing strategies needed to conquer QBs like Burrow, Josh Allen and McHomes… The Steelers finally, once again, have the personnel (especially, on the back end) to successfully accommodate such techniques & stunts on a need by need basis…
This points, directly, to The Pittsburgh Steelers coaching staff…
The coaches have done a very good job of preparing this team to be good…
In my view, the two major changes left that need to be made for Championship-readiness is the one just mentioned and inserting Jaylen Warren as starter to assist with speeding up the start of games and tempo…
Getting Darnell more involved in the short offensive passing game and Payton more involved in the defensive passing game were the others — Mission accomplished…