The 8-7 Pittsburgh Steelers will play their 16th game of the 2023 regular season on Sunday afternoon, and this week, it will be a road contest against the 8-7 Seattle Seahawks. The Steelers will enter the game as slight road underdogs following their big home win last Saturday. Below are five key things that I believe the Steelers will need to do Sunday afternoon at Lumen Field to come away with their ninth win of the 2023 season.
Power Down Seahawks D-Line – And we mean that literally. As noted in our scouting report, Seattle’s defensive line likes to one-gap and shoot upfield, especially No. 90 DT Jarran Reed, who has seven sacks on the year. If there’s a way to counter that, it’s with gap and power schemes pulling guards and tackles. That’ll allow Pittsburgh to wall and seal off those penetrators and win out on the edges.
Through the first month of the season, the Steelers didn’t pull their guards on run plays. At all. Since then, they’ve gotten back to a power-based running game using wham blocks, short pulls, and dart schemes, along with the more traditional backside guard wrapping around. Pittsburgh has to run the ball to win. Seattle’s lowly run defense is ripe to attack.
Don’t Let D.K. T.K.O Secondary – Assuming WR D.K. Metcalf plays, battling a mid-week back injury, his performance against rookie CB Joey Porter Jr. will be one to watch. Two physical freaks relative to their position going at it. It’s reasonable to assume both will have their wins and losses.
The question is – who delivers the knockout blow? Who makes the big play on third down, in the red zone, late in the game? Will it be Metcalf “Moss’ing” Porter or breaking a tackle for a huge play? Or will Porter lock things down when the Steelers need him the most to help propel Pittsburgh to their ninth victory? It’s one of the top battles to watch. And it might end up being more physical than even the trench play.
12th Man Can’t Lead To 8th Loss – No question crowd noise is always a big factor when you’re playing in Seattle. And it’s not like the Steelers have handled being on the road all that well this year. Yes, they are 3-3, not terrible overall, but two of those were home-away-from-home games against the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Rams. Crowd noise was not really an issue.
But they’ve lost in noisy places like Cleveland and Indianapolis this year, at times admitting they struggled to adjust to their environment. With Seattle’s playoff hopes on the line, expect the Seahawks’ faithful, their 12th man, to be rocking and rolling Sunday afternoon. QB Mason Rudolph will have a big adjustment to make, going from a friendly home game to one of the loudest stadiums in the country. They have to communicate well, use non-verbal cues, and can’t be penalized because of noise-related issues.
On the season, Seattle is 5-2 at home compared to just 3-5 on the road. Home-field advantage is the real deal over there.
Rudolph Shines Past Christmas – All eyes on Rudolph. Last week’s start was excellent, but can he stack them? If not, everyone will write off his Bengals’ performance as a flash in the pan. Now under the microscope with expectations, the Seahawks have tape on him and a better idea of how he’ll look in this offense. It’s hard to say what kind of day Rudolph will have. But the Steelers need him to have a similar performance as last week. The numbers don’t have to be entirely replicated, but he has to be aggressive when it’s warranted and live to fight another day, just as he did in last Saturday’s win.
If Rudolph plays well and leads the Steelers to another victory, Mike Tomlin won’t be able to bench him for the Week 18 season finale. And Rudolph will open up the 2024 calendar year as the Steelers’ starting quarterback, not Kenny Pickett.
Dickson Drubs Steelers – We’re all about special teams around here. And Seattle has a clear advantage at punter. Michael Dickson is one of the best in the business. His net yardage average (his number after the punt return) is better than Pressley Harvin III’s gross average (where the ball is caught/downed before any return), an alarming sign.
Dickson can flip the field and pin a team deep. In what could be a close contest, field position is critical, and the Seahawks have a clear leg up. Harvin has especially struggled in recent weeks and weather/conditions can’t be blamed for that. Since Week 11, he’s averaging only 41.5 yards per boot.
