The Pittsburgh Steelers will play their eighth game of the 2024 regular season on Monday night at home against the New York Giants. They’ll enter that contest as a significant favorite. Below are five key things that I believe the Steelers will need to do to come away with their sixth win of the season.
No Early Rust From Russ – In his 2024 debut last Sunday night, Steelers QB Russell Wilson got off to a slow start in the team’s first four possessions. Those first four possessions only produced one field goal and the first six resulted in just two field goals. If not for the late first-half interception by Beanie Bishop Jr., the team likely would have entered halftime down 15-6 at best.
While Wilson did rebound from his slow start in Week 7, which could be related to him knocking the proverbial rust off, faster starts by him moving forward are certainly needed. The Steelers’ offense has produced just 19 total points in first quarters of games this season and just one total touchdown, which came back in Week 2. Jumping on the Giants early Monday night could have rippling effects and Wilson having a hot start needs to be part of that. Settling for early field goals needs to come to an end.
Limit The Sexy From Dexy – The Giants have a premier game-wrecker up front in defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence as he leads the NFL in sacks with nine in just seven games played with six of those coming in the last three games. Handling Lawrence on Monday night won’t be easy and especially for backup C Ryan McCollum, who will be making his second consecutive start in place of injured starter Zach Frazier.
McCollum, however, should and will get plenty of help with Lawrence from guards Isaac Seumalo and Mason McCormick. Lawrence’s elite performance thus far this season was recently highlighted by Next Gen Stats. According to Next Gen Stats, Lawrence is facing a double-team rate of 63.3 percent this season. Not only is that the highest double-team rate any player has faced this season, but it is the highest mark any defender has seen dating back to at least 2018. A big game from Sexy Dexy on Monday night could wind up playing a big part in New York upsetting Pittsburgh at home. Lawrence is, however, dealing with a hip injury, so maybe that will help a tiny bit in handling him come Monday night.
Diminish Dashing Danny – Giants QB Daniel Jones is still one of the NFL’s most mobile quarterbacks and he enters the Week 8 game against the Steelers with 184 yards on 50 carries. The Giants will likely have a few designed runs for Jones on Monday night to go along with the times he’s forced to scramble for yardage after drop backs. To date, Jones has 70 career rushes that have gained 10 or more yards.
Steelers HC Mike Tomlin highlighted the running ability of Jones during his Tuesday press conference as something the Pittsburgh defense must be aware of ahead of this Week 8 contest.
“The design run has my attention, particularly because he’s coming off of an injury,” Tomlin said. “I don’t know that I expected to see as much design running from him and them in 2024 as I’ve seen. But he is a talented guy in that area. The QB draws and the QB counters and the zone-read keeps are a major component of what they do.”
Right To Have Heavy Right Run Focus – As usual, the Steelers will look to get their running game going early and often against a Giants defensive unit that has struggled at times against ground attacks. Not only has the Giants’ run defense struggled against the run overall, but they are also the worst in the NFL when it comes to yards per carry allowed on attempts to their left side, the opposing offense’s right side. On 60 rush attempts by opposing offenses to the right of center, the Giants have allowed 6.4 yards per carry.
Against 12 and 13 personnel groupings, something the Steelers use quite a bit of, the Giants’ defense has allowed 7.6 yards per rushing attempt this season, albeit just 10 total tries in total. Even so, the Steelers should attempt to run right with their heavier personnel groupings on Monday night, especially with there being questions this past week about the Giants’ tackling effort after the team’s Week 7 game.
Highsmithing The Left Tackle – Steelers OLB Alex Highsmith had a great first game back from his recent groin injury last Sunday night. With the Giants expected to give fellow OLB T.J. Watt his much-deserved attention on Monday night, Highsmith should have a tasty matchup against whomever plays left tackle. That should be either Joshua Ezeudu or Chris Hubbard. The two reportedly split reps last week in practice on that side due to starter Andrew Thomas going down with an injury a few weeks ago.
Ezeudu, who started in Week 7 at left tackle, allowed two sacks in the team’s loss and he’s allowed 10 for his career, according to Pro Football Focus. As for Hubbard, who started his NFL career with the Steelers as an undrafted free agent back in 2013, he’s yet to play any snaps so far this season. In short, Highsmith should have an opportunity to have a game-wrecking-type of Monday night that Watt usually produces, both as a pass rusher and run defender.
