As we’ll do every week to get you ready for the upcoming game, our X factor of the week. Sometimes it’s a player, unit, concept, or scheme. Here’s our X factor for Sunday’s Week Four game against the Houston Texans.
X FACTOR: FS Minkah Fitzpatrick
I don’t know if there’s an obvious choice for X factor the way that there was last week with the Pittsburgh Steelers’ run game our choice against the Las Vegas Raiders. The ground game got better, and the Steelers won in part because of it.
This week, I’m going with Fitzpatrick. He quietly had an excellent game against the Raiders, a sure and steady tackler who didn’t make flashy plays but went about his business and got the job done. Sunday, he’ll face off against Texans’ rookie QB C.J. Stroud, who is off to a hot start and looks like the future of the franchise. Even beyond the stats, he’s played well, and the stats are impressive. Four touchdowns, no interceptions the last two weeks.
Any time we’re talking rookie quarterback, we’re talking about the safeties. Can they make a play? And when we’re talking a stud like Fitzpatrick, Pittsburgh may have the advantage. Just in the way Troy Polamalu was always the headline name any time the Steelers faced a rookie quarterback in the Dick LeBeau days. Fitzpatrick has an off-the-charts football IQ and with a Steelers pass rush that should be successful, there’s an opportunity to capitalize. Stroud hasn’t faced a safety like him so far. And Fitzpatrick is still looking for his first pick of the season.
I imagine Houston’s plan will be to give its tackles plenty of help, to get the ball out quick, and hopefully jumpstart a running game that’s sputtered so far. But there will be times when the Texans push the ball. They have a sound scheme and talented, underrated receivers in Nico Collins and rookie Tank Dell, and Robert Woods is their guy on third down.
Fitzpatrick has to play the chess match right back. Jump a route, bait the quarterback, know where the ball is going and get there in time. A couple big plays can push odds in Pittsburgh’s favor and extend its winning streak to three.
