Short week, not much time to prepare, and two teams that have been rather up and down this season under veteran head coaches that are defensive-minded.
Sounds like a great Thursday Night Football matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Tennessee Titans in Week Nine at Acrisure Stadium.
The Titans enter the matchup at 3-4 and are riding high after a thrilling performance in his first career start from rookie quarterback Will Levis in a 28-23 win over the Atlanta Falcons. The Steelers are licking their wounds and enter at 4-3 coming off of a 20-10 loss at home to the Jacksonville Jaguars, seeing star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick go down with a hamstring injury early on.
Conditions should be much better Thursday night on the North Shore than they were on Sunday against the Jaguars, which should make for an interesting game. There are big names on both sides of the football for both teams and as usually is the case in NFL matchups, it will come down to a few matchups and a handful of plays.
Let’s take a look at my four key matchups to watch in Thursday night’s Steelers-Titans tilt in primetime.
Steelers’ CB Joey Porter Jr. vs. Titans’ WR DeAndre Hopkins
Now a full-time starter moving forward, Steelers rookie cornerback Joey Porter Jr. gets a tough test on Thursday night against future Hall of Fame receiver DeAndre Hopkins. Hopkins is coming off of a three-touchdown game in the win over the Falcons, catching touchdowns of 16, 47, and 61 yards against the Falcons from rookie quarterback Will Levis.
The Titans have done a nice job of really getting Hopkins involved in recent weeks, and with Levis under center, there is more of an aggressive mindset at the position, which led to the explosive plays Hopkins put up in Week Eight. With veteran cornerback Levi Wallace still dealing with a foot injury and star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick out, Porter is going to need to step up and take on the matchup against Hopkins.
On the season, Porter is the fourth-highest grade rookie in the NFL from Pro Football Focus, has allowed just three receptions for 32 yards on 14 total targets, and has been quite the lockdown presence for the Steelers in recent weeks as he continues to get more work. They’ll need him to take that next step this week.
As for Hopkins, he grades out at a 79.8 overall from Pro Football Focus, is averaging a career-best 2.60 yards per route run, and has a career-high average depth of target at 15.5 yards. He has 31 receptions for 504 yards and three touchdowns, which all came last week. However, he’s averaging just 2.2 yards per separation as a router runner, which is one of the worst numbers in football. Porter has a real opportunity this week to clamp down on a veteran, let his physicality shine, and take away a key passing game weapon for the rookie quarterback.
Steelers’ OLB Alex Highsmith vs. Titans’ LT Andre Dillard
Entering the Week Eight matchup, Steelers outside linebacker Alex Highsmith has a real opportunity in front of him, matching up against Tennessee left tackle Andre Dillard. Previously, Dillard was benched by the Titans entering the Week Eight game against the Atlanta Falcons but then had to be reinserted back into the lineup due to injury.
Prior to his benching, Dillard had played every game of the season but had really struggled. He’s played 363 snaps this season and grades out at a 53.9 overall from Pro Football Focus, including a 46.4 in pass protection. He’s allowed 27 pressures on the season and seven sacks. By far, this has been his worst season, and with veteran Chris Hubbard not practicing Monday and Tuesday on a short week with a concussion and Nicholas Petit-Frere switching back to right tackle to replace Hubbard, Dillard is in line for another start.
That’s a huge opportunity for Highsmith, who is in the top 15 among EDGE rushers in the NFL in PFF grades. Highsmith has 2.5 sacks on the season, but his impact has been greater than just getting to the quarterback. Highsmith has a pick-6 this season, 28 total pressures, 35 tackles, three tackles for loss, and two forced fumbles. He’s a force screaming off the edge, and with teams putting so much emphasis on slowing down T.J. Watt opposite him, Highsmith is seeing a ton of 1-on-1 work and is going to have a huge game soon.
That could be Thursday night.
Steelers’ Interior OL vs. Titans’ DL Jeffery Simmons
There might not be a scarier matchup in the Thursday night matchup than Tennessee’s Jeffery Simmons against the interior of the Steelers’ offensive line featuring center Mason Cole and guards Isaac Seumalo and James Daniels.
Simmons has been an absolute force for years in the NFL, but the 2023 season might be his best to date. Simmons has 31 total pressures on the season, grades out at a 66.6 overall from PFF, which is very low considering his dominance, and has 27 tackles, 4.5 sacks, five tackles for loss, and one forced fumble.
He’s a tremendous combination of size, speed, and strength and gives fits to opposing offensive lines. He’ll get a tasty matchup Thursday night against Seumalo, Cole, and Daniels.
Combined, the trio has allowed 39 pressures and two sacks, and have really struggled in pass protection. Cole sits at 31.2 overall in pass protection, Daniels is 55.6 from PFF in pass pro, and Seumalo comes in at 64.5 overall. Not great!
It’s not just pass protection, either. The trio have had issues in the run game, too, and Simmons is a major force there. The Steelers are going to need to get multiple hats on Simmons on every snap to try and negate his impact.
Titans’ RB Derrick Henry vs. Steelers’ Run Defense
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin talked Wednesday in his Keys to the Game segment about not letting Titans’ star running back Derrick Henry control the game. He’s spot on.
Coming into Thursday’s matchup, Henry has 526 yards and three touchdowns on 120 carries on the season, averaging 4.4 yards per carry. Henry is coming off of his second 100-yard performance of the season, rushing for 101 yards in the 28-23 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. Henry has some strong stats, and the Titans are starting to get going on the ground.
As a team, the Titans are averaging 115.9 yards per game on the ground, good for 13th in the NFL. The Steelers, on the other hand, are allowing 137.1 yards per game on the ground, which is sixth-worst in the NFL to this point. Over the last few weeks, the Steelers have gotten consistently gashed on the ground, whether that’s been by a single running back or a committee approach from opponents.
They can’t afford to let that happen Thursday night with Henry. The Steelers have done a good job against him in the last two matchups, holding him to a combined 107 yards on 27 carries, games that the Steelers won in 2017 and 2020. Names like Montravius Adams, Keeanu Benton, Larry Ogunjobi, Kwon Alexander, Elandon Roberts, and Cole Holcomb are going to need to be at their best on Thursday night to slow down the future Hall of Fame running back.
Taking him away will make it all that more difficult on Levis, which should play right into the Steelers’ hands.
