The Cincinnati Bengals may be 4-7, but with a quarterback like Joe Burrow, they are one of the more dangerous teams with that record you’ll ever see. Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said as much when describing how the defense prepares for Joe Burrow.
“You’re gonna need man, zone, relatable zones, spot-drop zones, pressures,” Tomlin said in an interview with Steelers.com’s Bob Labriola. “When you play these continuity quarterbacks, the guys who know what it is they’re doing…you better carry enough defense. Because if not, they’ll come storming back at you late in the game regardless of what has transpired.”
Tomlin described how he learned the lesson of having a big menu on defense against Matt Stafford and the Detroit Lions one year. They carried a smaller menu of plays on defense, and it hurt them down the stretch in the second half.
Perhaps he was referring to the 27-point second quarter against Stafford and the Lions in 2013 or his 423-yard performance against the Steelers in 2017. The lessons learned still inform Tomlin’s preparation to this day against similarly experienced and elite quarterbacks.
“You can’t run out of schematics,” Tomlin said. “They’re producing points in the fourth quarter, they’re moving the ball, and it’s because regardless of what’s transpired, Joe is getting really comfortable with what it is that he’s seeing. And so for us, we’ve got to just carry enough defense. Our menu is probably a little bit bigger than it normally is in the effort to ward off that component of his attack.”
Joe Burrow is third in the NFL right now with 3,028 passing yards, which is barely one completion away from the top spot. His top receiver, Ja’Marr Chase, is the No. 1 receiver in the NFL right now with 1,056. They also have Tee Higgins, who is probably the best WR2 in the entire league.
Burrow has had a lot of success against the Steelers in the few games that he’s been available. He lost his first game against them as a rookie, but he’s gone 3-1 since then. In total, he’s 3-2 with 1,268 passing yards and 11 touchdowns to eight interceptions.
He is the best quarterback in the league right now when under pressure. The Steelers stick to their four-man rush a lot, but that hasn’t been getting home as of late. If they decide to start sending the blitz now, they will be contending with a quarterback who is elite at taking advantage of the defense being a man down in coverage.
According to Tomlin, we will likely see a little bit of everything to prevent Burrow from getting in a flow and keep him guessing.
