When the Pittsburgh Steelers reshaped their secondary this offseason with the addition of veteran Darius Slay in free agency and then the splash trade for defensive back Jalen Ramsey to pair with cornerback Joey Porter Jr., they had one matchup in mind that they wanted to combat.
Now, they’ll get a chance to see that new-look secondary against the matchup they were worried about, that being the Cincinnati Bengals’ elite receiving corps with stars Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.
The Steelers are healthy in the secondary and will have all three of Ramsey, Porter and Slay available for the Thursday Night Football matchup, which gives Pittsburgh the opportunity to be creative and prove that it can truly match up with anyone man on man like head coach Mike Tomlin stated in the offseason.Â
For Slay, who appeared on The Richard Sherman Podcast Monday night, he’s looking forward to the matchup with the Bengals’ stars, though he’s not sure just yet what the plan will be from a coverage aspect.
“It’s gonna be a great matchup, man,” Slay said of the Bengals game, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “That’s the first thing Mike T told us when me and Ramsey got here, man, they got some dominant guys in the division that’s some receivers at this level. So, and he specifically said this game and this team, with Chase and them boys over there. So, it’s gonna be a great matchup, man.”
It should be a great matchup Thursday night at Paycor Stadium in primetime. The matchup lost some luster with star quarterback Joe Burrow getting injured early in the year and set to miss most of the season, but the addition of Joe Flacco last week should give the Bengals a bit of a boost.
In Flacco’s Bengals debut Sunday on the road against the Green Bay Packers, Chase showed signs of life in the passing game. He hauled in 10 receptions for 94 yards and a touchdown. Tee Higgins had some moments, too, with five receptions for 62 yards.
The Steelers are familiar with the Bengals, even with the new faces Pittsburgh has, and vice versa. Porter stated Monday that the Steelers are built for this type of matchup, and on paper they are.
What the plan is Thursday night from a coverage and responsibility aspect remains to be seen.
“Yeah, it’s up in the air right now ’cause we just had — it’s a Thursday game, we just got done playing so I just left work. We just did a little meeting, just a little walkthrough. So we ain’t really go down over the crazy report they gonna give us tomorrow,” Slay said Monday night. “But I know Jay [Ramsey] most likely that’s gonna be the ideal. That’s gonna probably gonna be the ideal. I know how Jay is. Jay wants his get back too ’cause he didn’t play the best way he could in that Super Bowl, and so he kinda wanted his get back.”
If the Steelers indicated anything during training camp, it’s that Ramsey will be the guy to handle the top matchup. That would mean he’ll match up against Chase, while Porter and Slay will deal with Higgins. Porter has matched up with Higgins in the past and had some significant struggles, but he’s learned from that trial-and-error period and is ready for another shot.
The Steelers made all those offseason moves in the secondary with this matchup in mind. Now, it’s here. They’d better be ready for it.
