I know Pittsburgh was a popular play among many last night, but they must have forgotten the fact that the Steelers are who they are and play a very predictable brand of football.
And that brand, defensively, involves a ton of blitzing.
That may have worked against Justin Fields and Joe Flacco and Dillon Gabriel and Carson Wentz.
But that wasn’t going to work against Jordan Love.
On Tuesday last week, I mentioned this could be a massive problem for the Steelers.
That’s because against the blitz, Love ranks:
#1 in success rate (57%)
#1 in accuracy
#2 in EPA per attempt (+0.36)
#7 in yards per attempt (8.7)
And the Packers make teams pay for blitzing:
#4 in first down rate
#6 in 15+ yard gains per attempt (24%)
#3 in third down conversion rate against the blitz (60%)
Love had played just two teams that blitz at an above average rate this year.
His performances?
+0.22 EPA per attempt, 47% success rate, and 9.4 yards per attempt with 27 points against the Commanders
+0.38 EPA per attempt, 44% success rate, and 8.5 yards per attempt with 27 points against the Lions
He had a perfect 4:0 touchdown to interception ratio in those games.
The Steelers blitz even MORE than both of those teams heading into Week 8.
So what did the Steelers do?
Did they adjust their defensive strategy and reduce their blitzing?
Of course not.
In fact, the Steelers actually blitzed at the HIGHEST RATE OF THE SEASON.
You cannot make this up.
What were the results?
When Love was blitzed, he delivered:
- 12.7 yards per attempt (#3)
- 3:0 TD:INT (#1)
- +0.82 EPA per attempt (#4)
- 153 passer rating (#2)
When the Steelers didn’t blitz him?
- 7.2 yards per attempt
- 0 TDs
- +0.26 EPA per attempt
- 97 passer rating
The Steelers are one of the most antiquated, predictable teams in the NFL.
The Tomlin strategy might work because he faces enough mediocre to bad quarterbacks who are bad against the blitz.
And Tomlin lets his opponents lose games rather than winning them for the Steelers with tactics, strategy, and ingenuity.
But almost every time they step up against a good QB, these predictable defensive strategies, which don’t adjust or adapt to opponent weaknesses, can be exploited.
