When the Pittsburgh Steelers host the Green Bay Packers in Week 10 and the contest will be a showcase of organizations who are a combined 194 years old. In those years, both organizations have built reputations of being some of the most physical teams in the league. With names such as Joey Porter, James Harrison, Joe Greene, Jack Lambert, Reggie White, Charles Woodson, and LeRoy Butler (among others), the defensive figures stand tall within the franchises' DNA. It is that defensive DNA on which the reputations are built and where the pride thrives in the respective locker rooms.
In the 2023 edition of this matchup, it is hard to anticipate a high-scoring affair. Both offenses have been lethargic, mundane, and fairly unproductive units so far this season. As a result, the teams rely on their defense to make the big plays at the right times to win them games. For Steelers fans, this is nothing new, as some of the biggest moments of the season, if not in recent history, have been by the defense.
The Steelers have specifically made a name for themselves with their blitz scheme. Going back to the golden years of the recent generation with former Defensive Coordinator, Dick LeBeau, the Steelers’ zone blitz scheme was one that was exotic, difficult to diagnose as an offense, and was a major catalyst in the team’s two Super Bowl wins during the 2005 and 2008 seasons. LeBeau was able to create an entire blitz scheme that deployed every part of his storied 3-4 defense and put each of the 11 players in the best position to win every down.
Steelers Blitz Package Is The Packers' Focus
Since LeBeau’s retirement, the Steelers have seen their fair share of struggles recreating those historic defenses. Although it is incredibly difficult to replicate what the Steelers had, they haven’t been close to those defenses in a decade. In fact, they’re as close to those defenses now than ever before. But, amidst the Packers game, planning for their game against the Steelers, Green Bay's Offensive Coordinator, Adam Stenavich shared that it is obvious the Steelers defense isn’t what it used to be. He continued to reveal his thoughts with the media during the team’s preparation for their trip to Pittsburgh.
“It's not as crazy Dick LeBeau blitzes as they used to be,” he proclaimed. “They still bring a lot of pressure, but the one thing they really do is their edge rushers are elite and their interior rushers I think are underrated. Those guys do a really good job pushing the pocket and disrupting inside, so it's going to be all five guys across the board up front are going to get challenged. Our backs are going to get challenged.”
Although it can be said the Steelers defense isn’t what it used to be with LeBeau, there are a lot of commonalities between the units. There are elite players firing off the edge of the defensive line with veteran contributors lined up along the interior of the defensive front. There is a bit of a mix of veterans peppered in the linebacker corps, with a zone-friendly secondary on the back-end headlined by a premier safety. With the exception of Minkah Fitzpatrick missing his second consecutive game in Week 10, that description can be carried from the LeBeau squads of the 2000’s to today.
So far in 2023, the Steelers are third in their blitz rate, only behind the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants. Ironically enough, both of those teams’ defensive coordinators have spent time in the AFC North and clearly built on that experience. The Steelers blitz 38 percent of the time on defense. In other words, about one of every three plays, the Steelers send the blitz.
Further, in typical Steelers fashion, they’ve sent Chandon Sullivan out of his nickel spot on the defense to blitz nearly 20 percent of the time. We’ve already seen how physical rookie Joey Porter Jr. can be in both run and pass defense combined with Keanu Neal and Damontae Kazee loading up the box, so by sending Sullivan in those nickel packages, it is clear that strategy has caught the eyes of opposing offenses.
"Their linebackers are very physical players, so their whole defense in general, with how their DBs play, they really challenge you across the board and you have to beat them — they're not going to beat themselves. So, they do a really good job just being physical,” Stenavich continued.
In looking at the matchup this week, the Steelers blitz may be the difference-maker. Packers quarterback Jordan Love hasn’t seen much success against the blitz. In 2023, he has only completed 57 percent of passes against the blitz and is averaging only 6.2 yards per completion. When facing pressure, Love is an abysmal 43 percent in completing passes with an average of only 5.5 yards-per-completion.
Based off Stenavich’s comments, it seems as though the offense’s game plan has been centric around taking advantage of the Steelers 26th-ranked rush defense and alleviating the blitz pressure off of Love. In a game of proverbial chess, TJ Watt knows the Packers are looking to exploit their rush defense, and revealed that played into the defense’s game plan.
"We have to be able to handle whoever they have in there,” Watt told Teresa Varley. They aren't going to get away from the run. They are going to try and establish it.”
As we near closer to this Week 10 matchup, the chess match of the Steelers blitz versus the Packers trying to establish their rushing attack will be interesting to watch. It is as if both units know there are kinks in the other’s armor, it is simply a matter of being the first to exploit it. Whichever unit exploits the opposing weakness first, will be the deciding factor of the game.
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