Good Tuesday to you Steelers’ fans.
The Los Angeles Rams come to town on Sunday following their bye week which has likely given their head coach Sean McVay extra time to prepare his offense for Keith Butler’s defense. Most will remember that McVay’s offense torched much of the NFL in 2018 only to run into a buzzsaw in the Super Bowl. While the Rams have not been quite as prolific this season they will still pose the biggest challenge the Steelers’ defense has seen in some time. McVay is very good at creating mismatches that his offense can take advantage of both through the air and on the ground. I don’t have to tell most of you that there are concerns that Butler isn’t up to this task. Covering Cooper Kupp in the slot will not be easy nor will it be easy to stop the Rams’ tight ends and running backs. Butler can absolutely ill-afford to fall asleep for even one play. The good news is that the pressure the Steelers have been getting is a huge asset here obviously. But the Rams have been very good at getting the ball out of Jared Goff’s hands. They rank 27th in sacks allowed so Butler has to get creative against the league’s fifth best passing offense.
Big Ben and Mason
I decided to take an in-depth look at the two quarterbacks through their first five career starts and found some really interesting numbers. Take a look.
Tweet of the Day… Isn’t this a rhetorical question?
Who is the biggest disappointment so far this season…. The @Browns or the @Bengals ?? And why?? pic.twitter.com/qMHh7ZMTSY
— DOM TIBERI (@DOMTIBERI) November 4, 2019
Tomlin Tuesday
Steelers’ Head Coach will provide his thoughts on the Rams and answer questions from the assembled press today at Noon ET. Being that it’s Tuesday means that the players are off today. We’ll have all the latest on Tomlin and what the players are up to later in the day.
The Fitzpatrick Factor
We’ve talked about this on our podcast but here’s a visual to hammer the point home about just how big of an impact Minkah Fitzpatrick has had on the Steelers’ secondary.
Minkah Fitzpatrick's play at safety has had a huge impact on the @steelers secondary since Week 3.@minkfitz_21 has aligned as a deep safety on 85% of snaps with the Steelers (22% with Dolphins) and has helped shut down opponents' deep passing attacks.#HereWeGo pic.twitter.com/9v5FFdO7DV
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) November 4, 2019
That in and of itself is worth the trade in my book.
Woulda Shoulda Coulda
I know its hard to believe but the currently 4-4 Steelers are literally three or four plays from being 7-1. A James Conner fumble in San Francisco, a JuJu Smith-Schuster fumble against the Ravens and the Seattle loss could have easily swung the Steelers’ way. That’s the NFL tough in a nutshell. Every single week games are decided but as little as one or two plays. As inconsistent as the offense has been the Steelers are still alive in the playoff race and are in no position to look back at what could have been.
Have a great day Steeler Nation!
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