The Pittsburgh Steelers have a 12-4 record coming off bye weeks under Mike Tomlin, and the team hasn’t lost coming out of a bye week since 2016, a 21-14 loss on the road against the Baltimore Ravens. But Garrett Podell of CBS Sports thinks the Rams have the pieces to end that streak and send Pittsburgh home with a loss on Sunday.
Pittsburgh’s 12-4 record since Tomlin took over in 2017 is the best in the league, tied with the Baltimore Ravens who have an identical 12-4 mark in that time frame. Despite Mike Tomlin’s history of having his guys prepared and ready to go after the open week, the Rams weapons, namely QB Matthew Stafford and WRs Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua on offense, are going to be too much for Pittsburgh, Podell writes.
“That defense and Matthew Stafford marching the Rams’ offense up and down the field at SoFi Stadium while connecting with Cooper Kupp, who has consecutive games with 100 or more receiving yards since returning from a hamstring injury in Week 5, and rookie Puka Nacua, who is tied for the NFL lead in catches this season with 50 alongside Bengals wideout Ja’Marr Chase, should be enough to top Tomlin’s squad coming off a bye,” he said.
On defense, the big threat for Los Angeles is going to be defensive lineman Aaron Donald, while linebacker Ernest Jones has been really solid as well. They also feature rookie Byron Young, who has three sacks so far this season.
One key stat that Podell points out is that the Rams’ red zone defense is ranked eighth-best in the league, while the Steelers have the worst red zone offense in football. Not being able to turn good field position into six points has been an issue for the Steelers for much of the past two seasons, and it’s one that they may need to rectify against Los Angeles if they want to pull off the road victory.
The Rams’ offensive weapons should allow rookie Joey Porter Jr. to get more playing time and more snaps for Pittsburgh, and Porter’s performance against Puka Nacua or whoever he’s lined up against is going to be key, especially with both Patrick Peterson and Levi Wallace having their struggles this season.
It’s certainly not an unwinnable game for the Steelers, but it’s easy to see why Podell has the Rams ending Pittsburgh’s dominance post-bye week. It’s a tough trip to the West Coast, and the Rams have a lot of pieces who can make life difficult for the Steelers. We’ll see if Tomlin can help the Steelers overcome it and move to 13-4 after the bye during his tenure.
