While the Pittsburgh Steelers lost in Week 7, they have a chance to bounce back this week. However, that won’t be easy. They’ll play the Green Bay Packers, who are 4-1-1 and one of the best teams in the league. Former NFL head coach Tony Dungy recently shared what he believes will be the key to victory in that game.
“I’m gonna make one prediction,” Dungy said Wednesday on the Football Night in America podcast. “I said last week that the running backs were gonna determine it. I think Josh Jacobs and Jaylen Warren are gonna be a big factor. Whichever one gets going and takes that pressure off their quarterback, that’s the team I think is going to win.”
Last week, Dungy was correct with his Sunday Night Football prediction. The San Francisco 49ers outrushed the Atlanta Falcons by more than 100 yards, which helped them win.
This week, the Steelers and Packers could repeat that. Both teams will likely emphasize running the ball, although that could be for different reasons.
Despite their talent, the Steelers have been bad defensively this year. While it’s had solid performances, that unit hasn’t been consistent. It just got smacked around by the Cincinnati Bengals. That included allowing them to run for almost 150 yards. Previously, they had one of the worst rushing offenses in the league.
Therefore, the Packers could look to exploit that weakness. Jacobs is having a solid season, posting 414 rushing yards and eight touchdowns up to this point. Jacobs has faced the Steelers twice in his career, and they’ve done a good job limiting him. He’s got a total of 106 yards on 32 attempts and zero touchdowns in those two meetings.
Perhaps the Steelers will have similar success against Jacobs this week. However, they haven’t played against him as a member of the Packers yet. Maybe that will help Jacobs have more success against Pittsburgh.
Also, the Steelers’ run game has started to heat up in recent weeks. After a slow start, the Steelers have put up at least 100 rushing yards in each of their last three games, including Warren’s 127 yards last week.
The Packers’ run defense is ranked second in the league, though. That could make things tough for the Steelers this week. They want their offense to center around the run game. While they might struggle to do that this week, Aaron Rodgers is set to face his former team. That could give him some extra motivation, which could propel their pass game. However, getting Warren going would be a nice boost.
