When you have one of the best defensive players in football on the defensive line, you know that your defense is going to be able to turn up the heat in their pursuit of the quarterback.
Both the Steelers and Rams have dominant defensive players on their front lines in OLB T.J. Watt and DT Aaron Donald, but for the sake of this week’s matchup against the Rams, we turn our direction to Donald and the Rams defense — and their ability to generate pressure versus Pittsburgh’s ability to keep QB Kenny Pickett clean in the pocket.
As noted in a previous post on the site, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive line has allowed a pressure rate of 43.1%, which is the third highest in the league while the Rams’ quarterback-pressure rate is 36.6%. However, when the Rams don’t get ample pressure on the quarterback, they end up not faring so well when it comes to the win/loss column.
According to Stathead, the Rams are 4-14 dating back to last season when they generate nine pressures or less in a game. That serves Pittsburgh well as the Steelers are 9-4 with Kenny Pickett as their starting quarterback when they allow less than 10 pressures in a game. That includes the loss to the Jets last season where Pickett played 31 snaps and excludes the loss to the Ravens last season when Pickett was knocked out of the game early in the first quarter due to a concussion.
The Steelers have allowed opposing defenses to go over 10 pressures twice thus far in 2023, giving up 11 pressures to the Browns on Monday Night Football and a whopping 24 pressures to the 49ers in a blowout loss. The Rams have exceeded 10 pressures three times in six games this season, winning all three of those contests, but losing all three when they didn’t reach that 10-pressure mark.
Based on those stats, the goal of this offense should be pretty simple: keep Donald and the rest of the Rams’ defense from pressuring Pickett in order to win this game. That’s easier said than done when facing a three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, but the rest of the defensive front doesn’t strike much fear when looking at the names on the depth chart. The Rams have had to completely overhaul their defense the last couple of years after their Super Bowl run, relying on guys like Michael Hoecht, Byron Young, and Jonah Williams to generate a consistent pass rush alongside Donald.
The Rams have been productive when it comes to generating pressures this season, but the Steelers have the makeup of a team that can compete with them up front. They are getting RG James Daniels back from injury as well as LT Dan Moore Jr., who looks to be taking back his starting job from Broderick Jones. Pittsburgh also has WR Diontae Johnson returning from a hamstring injury. That will give Pickett a receiver who can quickly separate from coverage underneath, giving him a checkdown option should the defense be getting to him quickly.
There are a lot of variables that go into winning a football game, but keeping your young quarterback clean is probably near the top of the list. If the Steelers want to come out of the bye week securing another win and moving to 4-2 on the year, they must properly protect Pickett and keep Los Angeles under 10 pressures in this contest.
