In the last two weeks, quarterbacks Joe Flacco and Jordan Love have done one thing very well against the Pittsburgh Steelers defense: get the ball out quickly.
In a 33-31 win over the Steelers on Thursday Night Football in Week 7, Flacco got the ball out in a season-best 2.54 seconds. That allowed him to hit guys quickly, create run-after-catch situations, and carve up the Steelers for 342 yards and three touchdowns.
The Packers and Love watched the film and did things in similar fashion to the Steelers. Love posted a season-best 2.49 seconds per throw and tied a franchise record with 20 straight completions in the Packers’ 35-25 win.
That quick passing game against the Steelers in recent weeks has negated a fearsome pass rush that is led by T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, Nick Herbig and Cameron Heyward. Pittsburgh didn’t have a single sack in the loss to the Packers.
For Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, the quick passing game against the defense is nothing new to Pittsburgh, and it requires no adjustments at this point.
“I think that’s been our life for a number of years. I think anytime you got dynamic rushers, I think that’s the first way that you work to minimize ’em,” Tomlin said Tuesday during his weekly press conference, according to video via the Steelers’ YouTube page. “I think that’s everyone’s agenda, to be quite honest with you, when they play us to run the ball in an effort to stay on schedule, to minimize one-dimensional long-yarded circumstances, and to get the ball out quickly.
“And so from that standpoint, it’s nothing new. It requires no quote unquote adjustments. Certainly, we can coach and play better.”
It is nothing new for the Steelers. They see it all the time, and they struggle with it. And yet, nothing changes. Why is that?
With how much they’ve invested in their pass rush, you’d think the Steelers would want to find a way to combat the quick passing game on the back end. And yet they haven’t found an answer for it, which has kept guys like Watt and Heyward from taking over games.
It’s hard to sack the quarterback when the ball is gone between 2 and 2.5 seconds each time.
“There’s a lot of answers to that, to be honest with you. None of it earth shattering or interesting,” Tomlin said when asked what the defense could do. “You change up schematics, you play man. You play bogus zones, all of which we do. We just hadn’t been doing it well enough to minimize what you discussed. And so we’re gonna keep working.”
The Steelers have played a lot of man coverage. They’ve tried zone coverage, too. They’ve tried to blitz. They have tried a lot, and they deserve some credit for that. But when it’s the same thing carving them up over and over again, they have to be able to find an answer.
They simply haven’t, and it’s not just this year, either. It’s been like this for at least the last half decade. When teams go quick in the passing game, they’re able to have a ton of success. It’s not about stopping the run; there has to be an answer to better defense the quick throws.
If there aren’t any adjustments, things will just keep rolling along like they are against the Steelers defense, and frustration will mount.
