Green Bay Packers v. Steelers: 5 Big Questions Heading into Week 4
By Paul Bretl
The 2-1 Green Bay Packers have a date on Sunday at Lambeau Field with the 1-2 Pittsburgh Steelers, who have lost their last two games after upsetting the Buffalo Bills in Week 1.
As part of my weekly preview for this matchup, I once again have my five big questions facing the Green Bay Packers this week.
Can the defensive front control the line of scrimmage?
Last week against the San Francisco 49ers, we saw this Green Bay Packers defensive front play quite well, tallying 22 pressures and holding the Niner running backs to only 3.2 yards per carry. This week, against a porous Pittsburgh offensive line, the Packers will have the same opportunity.
Through three games, the Steelers running backs are averaging just 3.2 yards per rush, which is the worst in football. In the passing game, Pittsburgh has relied heavily on quick passes to get the ball out of Ben Roethlisberger’s hands before the pass rush gets to him–he has the second-fastest average time to throw in football, according to PFF ($$).
This is one reason why the sack and pressure totals allowed by this offensive line unit don’t tell the entire story. However, by ESPN’s pass-block win rate metric, which measures the rate at which a lineman can hold his block for at least 2.5 seconds, this Pittsburgh offensive line unit ranks 27th.
Even without Za’Darius Smith and the team being short-handed along the interior with Tyler Lancaster on the reserve/COVID list, this is absolutely a matchup that the Green Bay Packers should be able to exploit.