The Pittsburgh Steelers went on a five-year run in which they posted 50 or more sacks in each season, from 2017-21. The only deviation was last season, which uncoincidentally was when superstar edge rusher T.J. Watt missed almost half the season and was not healthy when he returned.
He certainly looks healthy through two games this year, sharing the league lead of four sacks with the Minnesota Vikings’ Danielle Hunter. Now he is looking to take the sack show on the road, but it won’t be an easy task against QB Jimmy Garoppolo and the Las Vegas Raiders
“We got two dogs on the end, so we’re gonna see about that”, ILB Kwon Alexander said, via the team’s website, when a reporter pointed out the fact that the Raiders have not yet allowed a sack this season through two games, the only team that can make that claim. The Steelers have nine sacks, which is tied for the third-most in the league.
Pro Football Focus has given the Raiders its highest pass-blocking grade so far this season at 82.3, the only team 80 or above—the Steelers being dead last at 25.1, the only team below 40. That is noteworthy because Garoppolo actually has the ninth-longest time-to-throw among starters this season, averaging nearly three full seconds from snap to throw.
A long time to throw isn’t inherently negative, of course, though it does mean you have a greater chance of allowing the defense to reach you. Patrick Mahomes is averaging 3.01 seconds from snap to throw, for example. Jalen Hurts is averaging 3.25 seconds.
But they had better not get too comfortable because the Steelers’ pass rushers can get into the backfield in a hurry. We know all about T.J. Watt, but Alex Highsmith has the third-fastest time to pressure in the league so far through two games, averaging just 2.55 seconds from snap to pressure.
Only Jaelan Phillips of the Miami Dolphins and Josh Sweat of the Philadelphia Eagles have pressured at a faster pace. He edged out the Cleveland Browns’ Myles Garrett and the Dallas Cowboys’ Micah Parsons. And you know Watt can get home in a hurry, wherever he might rank. Highsmith’s strip sack against the Browns on Monday took 2.8 seconds and was the seventh-fastest sack recorded of the season so far, via the NFL’s Next Gen Stats.
What are the odds that the Raiders can keep the stat sheet clean three weeks in a row? Probably not great. It’s not easy to hold off allowing a sack for 180 minutes of football. And I think we can make the argument that that Raiders line in pass protection is punching a bit above its weight right now. They’re good, but they’re not that good.
