Steelers Might Set Aside Blitz to Attack C.J. Stroud

PITTSBURGH — Houston Texans rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud has not played like a typical rookie in the first three games of his NFL career.

Through three games, the Ohio State product has yet to throw an interception and has completed 64.5% of his passes for a 98 passer rating that’s the 10th-best in the NFL. His 121 attempts without an interception are tied for the NFL high, alongside Justin Herbert.

And while the Houston offensive line has struggled — Stroud has been sacked 11 times — he has not had any trouble with extra pressure.

According to NFL Next Gen Stats, in Houston’s Week 3 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, Stroud was excellent when blitzed. He was pressured on eight of his 11 dropbacks against the blitz, but completed eight of 11 for 130 yards and two touchdowns, despite having just 2.51 seconds to throw on average.

“For a quarterback, if you don’t want to get hit, you’ve got to get rid of the ball,” Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans said on Wednesday. “He figured that out pretty quickly. I tell him all the time, ‘You’re going to get blitzed, being a young quarterback. They want to put the pressure on you.’

“He’s responded the proper way in figuring out where he needs to go with the ball when he is blitzed. If he continues to attack defenses that way, then maybe the blitzes will let up.”

The Steelers have blitzed 28% of the time, or the 13th-most in the NFL this season, according to Sports Info Solutions. but with Stroud succeeding in identifying free blitzers, while the Texans’ offensive line has been poor in general, this might be a better week to just send four more often.

The other thing the Steelers down lineman can focus on is getting their hands up in passing lanes if Stroud is identifying free rushers quickly and getting rid of the ball before they can impact play.

As it happens, that’s exactly what the Steelers defensive linemen and outside linebackers were working on at practice on Thursday, when head coach Mike Tomlin joined them for a moment, emphasizing the importance of that drill.

The Steelers’ defense is built on creating and applying pressure on the quarterback, and turning that pressure into splash plays that gets the offense the ball back — or scores on its own.

In order to keep that formula going against the Texans, getting home with a four-man rush might be the best course of action.