The Pittsburgh Steelers wouldn’t have beaten the Cleveland Browns on Monday if it wasn’t for the performance of their defense. The offense had just one touchdown, and T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith saved the day by each scoring a defensive touchdown, Watt’s on a strip-sack by Highsmith. But the defense has a problem on their hands heading into Pittsburgh’s Sunday Night Football matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders, and that’s in coverage.
The Steelers cornerbacks haven’t been all that impressive to start the season. Patrick Peterson got cooked by 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk in Week One, and while he had a better Week Two, Levi Wallace was a mess covering Amari Cooper against Cleveland, allowing the wideout to get seven receptions for 90 yards, and in general Pittsburgh’s coverage was lacking. If it wasn’t for the pass rush getting home six times, Cleveland could’ve had a much better day through the air than they did.
The Las Vegas Raiders’ ground game led by RB Josh Jacobs gets most of the attention, but their wide receiver talent behind star WR Davante Adams shouldn’t be discounted. They added Jakobi Meyers from New England this offseason, and WR Hunter Renfrow is talented, and he put up 42 yards and a touchdown against Pittsburgh in their Week 16 matchup last season.
The loss of Cameron Sutton has hurt this secondary a lot early in the season, with Peterson not being reliable in man coverage and Wallace’s lack of speed really being a negative at this point in the season. The Steelers cannot let the Raiders wide receivers beat them on Sunday, and while Pittsburgh’s porous run defense has gotten a lot of the attention, they bottled up Jacobs to just 44 yards on 15 carries last season. I’m a little bit more worried about the coverage aspect heading into the Raiders matchup.
It doesn’t need to be said how talented Adams is, although Pittsburgh did a good job containing him last year. Meyers is someone who could pose problems as well, with nine receptions for 81 yards and two touchdowns against the Denver Broncos in Week One before exiting with a concussion that knocked him out for Week Two. He was a good receiver in New England, and torched Pittsburgh for nine receptions and 95 yards in the Patriots’ Week Two win against the Steelers last season.
It’s a good group of receivers, and while Jimmy Garoppolo isn’t a star by any means, he’s a capable NFL quarterback. If the Steelers struggle in coverage again, the Raiders could be the team that moves to 2-1 on Sunday.
