The Pittsburgh Steelers are set to face to Baltimore Ravens for the third time in nearly two months, this time to decide who advances in the playoffs — and who is going home. It’s been a tale of two games as Pittsburgh narrowly edged out Baltimore in the AFC North rivals’ first meeting, winning 18-16 thanks to Chris Boswell’s six field goals. However, the Ravens literally ran away with the second matchup, winning 34-17 as RB Derrick Henry gashed Pittsburgh for 162 yards on 24 carries (6.8 YPC).
The first time that Pittsburgh played Baltimore, Henry rushed for 65 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries as Pittsburgh managed to keep a lid on the league’s second-leading rusher. The defensive line did a much better job stopping the run in the first showing, controlling gaps and fighting off blocks to make plays near the line of scrimmage, leaving Henry with just one rush of 10+ yards on the day.
Henry had seven rushes of 10 or more yards against Pittsburgh in the rematch, and he took advantage of wide-open running lanes to get into the second level as Pittsburgh’s defensive linemen struggled to maintain their gaps and fight off blocks.
When you watch DTs Cameron Heyward and Keeanu Benton in Pittsburgh’s last matchup with Baltimore, you are left wanting more from them in the middle. Watch one of Henry’s explosive runs below where both Heyward and Benton struggle to fight off their blocks and collapse the hole up the middle. Henry squeezes through the gap and gets into the second level of the defense before he is tripped up from behind by Damontae Kazee after picking up first-down yardage.
Henry utilized the cutback to his advantage a lot in Pittsburgh’s second meeting with Baltimore, putting his foot in the ground to reverse direction and find open grass. Watch the clip below as both Heyward and Benton are displaced immediately after the snap. Benton stumbles to the ground and Heyward gets chipped by LT Ronnie Stanley while on his way to get a body on LB Payton Wilson, opening up a wide gap on the left side that Henry exploits.
Heyward was pretty active in the first matchup against Baltimore with six total tackles while Benton accounted for just one tackle in the Steelers’ two-point win. Not all the blame falls on their shoulders when it comes to linebackers and defensive backs not rallying to the ball, but both Heyward and Benton had moments on tape where they were in position to make the play. They either got off their block too late or stayed stuck on the block as Henry ran past them.
Take, for example, the two clips below. The first one shows Henry hitting the gap between Heyward and OLB Alex Highsmith and turning on the jets for a 44-yard run down the sideline. The second clip shows Henry starting his run to the left but then cutting back to his right. He bounces it past the face of Benton, who can’t quite get off his block in time to slow down Henry.
LB Patrick Queen is also at fault on the second run. He briefly froze as Henry was approaching, but Benton got knocked back into Queen as well giving ground to the blocker.
The Steelers need to improve plenty of things schematically to slow down Derrick Henry and the Ravens running game Saturday night, but the play of their interior defensive line must be better. That starts with Heyward and Benton. Better gap integrity as well as staying upright and fighting off blocks will be imperative for both this time around as the Steelers attempt to hold Henry in check like they did the first time the AFC North rivals met this season.
With Zay Flowers not likely to play in this matchup, slowing down Henry is even more vital to put the pressure on QB Lamar Jackson. If their defensive line plays better and keeps Henry from running free into the second level, the Steelers have a better chance at keeping the score down similar to the first matchup that they won.
