Through the first three weeks for the regular season, the Pittsburgh Steelers have 13 sacks as a team. That leads the NFL with the Colts, Bills, and Cowboys all tied for second place with 12.
Blitzburgh appears to be back after the Steelers relinquished their grasp on the sack crown last season, having OLB T.J. Watt miss a good portion of the season due to injury while Philadelphia Eagles posted a ridiculous 70 sacks in 2022, blowing away the competition. Prior to that Pittsburgh led the league in sacks from 2017-2021, having players like Watt and OLB Bud Dupree rushing from the outside as well as DL Cameron Heyward, Stephon Tuitt, and Javon Hargrave creating havoc on the interior.
With Watt back fully healthy this season, it appears as if Pittsburgh in on pace to reclaim that top spot after missing out last season. The Steelers will have a chance to extend their lead in a big way come Sunday when they travel to Houston to take on a Texans team that is hurting on the offensive line.
The Texans entered the season already depleted along the offensive line, having LG Kenyon Green, C Juice Scruggs, backup C Scott Quessenberry, and RT Tytus Howard all get placed on IR. Starting LT Laremy Tunsil is projected to miss his third-straight game with a knee injury after being unavailable the first two weeks of the season. Backup OT Josh Jones, who was projected to start in place of Tunsil, is also expected to miss Sunday’s game with a hand injury.
Based off the numerous injuries up front, Houston is getting desperate. The Texans will be on their fourth and fifth tackles, their third center, and their second left guard, which just so happens to be former Steeler Kendrick Green. As Dave Bryan noted in an earlier piece, Green is expected to get the start again at left guard for the Texans after Houston traded for him at the end of the preseason, giving up a 2025 sixth-round draft choice for a player many though would have been cut from Pittsburgh’s roster. He’s slated to start beside either OT Austin Deculus or Geron Christian with rookie C Jarrett Patterson opposite of him. Veteran Shaq Mason is starting at right guard while George Fant looks to be the team’s right tackle.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that this is a bad matchup for a patchwork offensive line against a Steelers pass rush that is looking like a force, even without DL Cameron Heyward in the lineup. Watt currently leads the lead in sack with six and will get a chance to go up against Fant, who has started 63 career games but isn’t considered a high-end starter. Deculus is projected to be the starter at left tackle, a sixth-round pick in 2022 with five games played last season and no starts. Regardless of whether it’s him or Christian, who has been a journeyman during his career, OLB Alex Highsmith should be able to feast.
Mason should be able to hold his own, but the combination of Patterson and Green could struggle quite a bit against Pittsburgh’s interior pass rush of DL Larry Ogunjobi, DeMarvin Leal, and Keeanu Benton. Benton is coming off a productive game against Las Vegas, and facing Green this coming week could lead to another productive day on the stat sheet.
Things are shaping up quite well for Pittsburgh to have a great day in the sack department in Houston due to the Texans’ health situation. The Steelers still need to show up and play as the Texans won’t just roll over and die as QB C.J. Stroud referenced just the other day. Still, on paper, this matchup looks as enticing as you will see for Pittsburgh this season, being in prime position to capitalize to the tune of a dynamic performance.
