The Pittsburgh Steelers will play their second game of the 2024 regular season on the road on Sunday afternoon against the Denver Broncos and they’ll enter that contest listed as a slight favorite. Below are five key things that I believe the Steelers will need to do in that road game on Sunday to come away with their second win of the 2024 season.
Nix The Rookie’s Mobility Output – Last week in the Steelers road win against the Atlanta Falcons, the Pittsburgh Steelers faced a very immobile quarterback in veteran Kirk Cousins. Because of that, and not surprisingly, Cousins only rushed once in that game for zero yards and the Steelers’ defense sacked him twice. On Sunday against the Broncos, the Steelers’ defense will face a very mobile quarterback in Bo Nix, who registered 35 yards rushing and a late touchdown on his five attempts in Denver’s Week 1 road loss. Additionally, Nix rolled out quite a few times in that contest.
While the Steelers’ primary defensive goal on Sunday in Denver will be to stop the Broncos’ rushing attack, and thus force Nix into must-have passing downs, making sure the rookie quarterback doesn’t gash the unit with his scrambling ability and designed rollout pass plays needs to be up there as a necessity. In his debut last week, Nix was just 2-of-5 passing for 7 yards with an interception on attempts that included designed rollouts. That’s the sort of stat-line the Steelers defense really needs to duplicate on Sunday in Denver.
Fill The Gap – According to data from Fantasy Points, under Sean Payton, the Broncos have been a team for opposing offenses to attack on the ground. Week 1 started off no differently for the Broncos, as Seahawks’ RB Kenneth Walker exceeded 100 yards rushing last Sunday thanks to 2.25 yards before contact per attempt. Where Walker really had success was on gap concept runs, on which he gashed the Broncos for 64 yards on 10 carries including a 23-yard touchdown run in the 3rd quarter. There is a lot to chew on there. First, the Steelers will surely attempt to ruin the football on the Broncos defense on Sunday and you don’t need fancy stats to know that. However, the fact that the Seahawks had a lot of success via gap concept runs is something to certainly pay attention to.
The Steelers are mainly a zone-concept running team under new OC Arthur Smith. Even so, the Steelers did run nine total running plays that utilized either man or gap concepts against the Falcons in Week 1. Those nine runs produced 30 yards. While the Steelers figure to start a very inexperienced offensive line on Sunday in Denver, that unit still should be able to handle several gap concept runs mixed in. It will be disappointing if that doesn’t happen. The Steelers should have their guards on the move on Sunday and if that happens, don’t be surprised if one of the team’s three running backs, Najee Harris, Jaylen Warren, and Cordarrelle Patterson, register an explosive play of 20 yards or longer or two.
Be Surtain When Targeting George – We should be in for a great battle on Sunday between Steelers WR George Pickens and Broncos CB Patrick Surtain II. Last week against the Seahawks, Surtain’s defense limited Seattle WR DK Metcalf to just three receptions for 29 yards on four total targets. That was no easy task, but Surtain, who has quickly become one of the top cornerbacks in the NFL was more than up to it and you can bet he’ll be charged on Sunday with limiting Pickens like he did Metcalf.
The Steelers will almost certainly start QB Justin Fields on Sunday against the Broncos and while he’ll surely target Pickens at least a few times throughout the game, he better make sure to be certain with his decision-making and accuracy whenever he does. Any mistakes made by Fields when it comes to him targeting Pickens in Denver could easily result in a Surtain interception. The Steelers might consider utilizing Pickens out of the slot some on Sunday to see if Surtain follows him there. If Surtain travels inside to cover Pickens, perhaps if he does that, that will open up a few deep shots down the field to a few other wide receivers. The Steelers don’t need Pickens to have a huge game on Sunday to beat the Broncos. However, a big game from Surtain in the interception column would certainly help Denver’s chances of beating Pittsburgh.
Fields Day For Justin On The Hoof – Against the Falcons in Week 1, Field registered 57 rushing yards on 14 total runs with a long scamper of 12 yards. His ability to use his legs as part of designed runs and scrambling can and should be a big element of the Steelers’ offensive gameplan on Sunday in Denver against the Broncos. The Broncos sound like they plan on defending Fields on Sunday as if he were a running back. Even so, and assuming that is their plan, that’s easier said than done. Last week, the Broncos faced a veteran quarterback in Geno Smith, and they even allowed him to rush for 30 yards in that contest. Smith also registered a 34-yard touchdown run via a scramble up the middle in that game.
Last season, Fields had a great game against the Broncos as a member of the Chicago Bears. He completed 28 of his 35 total pass attempts for 335 yards with four touchdowns and one interception in that home loss by Chicago. While Fields also rushed for 25 yards on four carries in that 2023 home game against the Broncos, he was also sacked four times by the Denver defense. Getting sacked four times again on Sunday by the Denver defense certainly can’t happen, especially with it unlikely that Fields will be able to put up the passing stats that he did last season against the Broncos. If Fields can crack 70 yards rushing on Sunday against the Broncos, that might be enough to produce a Pittsburgh win. How he utilizes his running ability on Sunday in Denver could wind up playing a huge part in this week 2 contest.
Enough With The Negativity – This was a key I had for Week 1 and with the Steelers failing to achieve it, it’s worth listing again for Week 2. Against the Falcons in Week 1, the Steelers had eight offensive plays that resulted in lost yardage with two of those being sacks. On top of that, the team had four offensive penalties that set the unit back with two of those being false starts, both of which came on second downs. They also had an illegal shift on offense on a third-down play while getting close to the red zone. The failed fourth down and 1 sneak by Fields in the fourth quarter against the Falcons, which technically went for no gain, was also a key negative play for the Steelers offense in Week 1.
Sure, one of those four offensive penalties in Week 1 was a bogus pass interference call on Pickens, which sadly negated an explosive play. Those bad calls are unfortunately going to happen from time to time. What can’t happen, however, are those unforced penalties. Merely cutting out half of those combined lost yardage plays and penalties last week might have made the game a lot less close than it ended up being. This week on the road, the Steelers offense needs to be a lot cleaner overall with less negativity.
