The Pittsburgh Steelers are now into the regular season, following the most unique offseason in the NFL since at least World War II. While it didn’t involve a player lockout, teams still did not have physical access to their players, though they were at least able to meet with them virtually.
Even training camp looked much different from the norm, and a big part of that was the fact that there will be no games along the way to prepare for. Their first football game of the year was to be the opener against the New York Giants.
As the season progresses, however, there will be a number of questions that arise on a daily basis, and we will do our best to try to raise attention to them as they come along, in an effort to both point them out and to create discussion
Questions like, how will the players who are in new positions this year going to perform? Will the rookies be able to contribute significantly? How will Ben Roethlisberger look—and the other quarterbacks as well? Now, we even have questions about whether or not players will be in quarantine.
These are the sorts of questions among many others that we have been exploring on a daily basis and will continue to do so. Football has become a year-round pastime and there is always a question to be asked, though there is rarely a concrete answer, as I’ve learned in my years of doing this.
Question: How much of a challenge will the Eagles’ defensive front be for the Steelers’ offense?
The Steelers are about to face arguably the toughest challenge they have dealt with so far this season. In actuality, that really isn’t far removed from the truth, considering the fact that two of their first three opponents remain winless and the other is 1-3.
The Eagles, at least, are 1-2-1, and so are just one game away from potentially reaching .500. it’s pitiful that this is by record so far the toughest opponent the Steelers have faced through four games (though they were supposed to play the undefeated Titans last week).
But what I was talking about specifically is the offense’s challenge of facing the Eagles’ defensive front, including Fletcher Cox, Javon Hargrave, Brandon Graham, and a host of quality depth. While Philadelphia’s offensive line will probably have even more trouble with the Steelers’ pass rush, Pittsburgh doesn’t have an easy assignment, either.
And they are still breaking in a new right tackle, with David DeCastro just a game back, returning from a knee injury. Chances are Ben Roethlisberger will be focused on getting the ball out of his hands quickly—which he has already been doing for most of the season to date.
The Steelers have faced some good defensive linemen so far, but their emphasis has been more on run-stopping. They lucked out of missing Von Miller, for example. The Eagles’ front is the most dynamic they’ll have seen, and they lead the league in sacks.
