Sunday night’s matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Las Vegas Raiders was one of the stoppable force against the moveable object. The Steelers came into the game with the league’s worst rush defense while the Raiders were among the worst rushing offenses. Areas where both teams had to get better if they wanted to win. Ultimately, it was the Steelers’ run defense that proved stronger and came out on top, coinciding with the team’s 23-18 win.
Speaking to reporters during his Tuesday press conference, Tomlin explained why the run defense was better. And as usual with all things related to stopping the run, the success isn’t a secret.
“I just thought we were out of place less,” Tomlin said via the team’s YouTube channel. “Sometimes out of place means less means no open gaps, which was the case. But also sometimes out of place means not being in position to tackle and thus creating more broken tackles. If a guy gets to where he needs to be late or is not in the proper body position for whatever reason, those raise the potential for missed tackles.
“And so I just think we’re moving with greater fluidity to our areas of responsibility and we’re getting there with more frequency and so we’re minimizing missed tackles and open gaps. And that’s where you start.”
Las Vegas star running back Josh Jacobs was held in check for a third straight week, carrying the ball 17 times for just 62 yards. His longest run of the day was only 10 yards, and his only success came while running against light boxes when the Steelers were in sub-package and playing the pass late in the second half. Overall, Jacobs was bottled up and the Raiders struggled to stay on schedule. It put them in “and long” situations, second and long, third and long, and they went just 4-of-13 on third down.
The Steelers’ focus was on stopping the run and they did everything they could to take that element away. That meant being gap sound, as Tomlin said, but scheme also played a role. The Raiders used three-receiver sets, 11 personnel, 48 times Sunday night and the Steelers stayed in their base 3-4 defense 11 times. Las Vegas ran the ball just once against that front, gaining only two yards.
Point being, Pittsburgh was committed to stopping their run game by any means necessary. Instead, the Steelers banked on putting the ball in Jimmy Garoppolo’s hands and making him win the game. While Davante Adams had a monster night, 13 catches for 172 yards and two touchdowns, it was Garoppolo’s three interceptions that doomed the team. And a reminder to the Raiders that he’s their bridge guy, their Mitch Trubisky, as opposed to their long-term answer.
This Sunday, the Steelers will face a sputtering Houston Texans team trying to get its running game going. Lead back Dameon Pierce is averaging just 2.5 yards per carry with a long of 10 yards on 40 attempts. It’s the second-lowest average in football of anyone with that many attempts, only ahead of Jacobs. The difference is the Texans’ quarterback play looks stronger with rookie C.J. Stroud. He has yet to throw an interception this season and has thrown four touchdowns over the last two weeks, including a pair in Sunday’s upset win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
