Pittsburgh Secondary vs Green Bay Receivers
The weakest link for the Steelers versus the strongest link for the Packers provides a very intriguing match up. The Steelers have been very suspect at times this season when going against the upper echelon of wide outs and quarterbacks, and how well they play could be the deciding factor in the game. We all know about Troy Polamalu and how much of a disruption he can be around the line, but if he is forced to stay twenty to twenty five yards off the line of scrimmage, Aaron Rodgers could find some holes in the middle of the field and along the sidelines. It will be interesting to see how the twenty first ranked Steelers pass defense during the regular season handles the number fifth ranked Green Bay passing offense.
Advantage: Green Bay
The Steelers secondary rely far too heavily on the pass rush of the Defensive Line. If the Packers can keep Aaron Rodgers clean, the Steelers defense is in for a long Sunday evening.
Pittsburgh Offensive Line vs. Green Bay Defensive Line
Rumors have been swirling daily about the condition of Maurkice Pouncey's left ankle. The Pro-Bowl center has handled the leagues top defensive tackles and nose tackles well throughout the season and has been a key player in the Steelers running game. Green Bay Packers nose tackle B.J. Raji is a monster and could overwhelm backup center Doug Legursky. Though Legursky was thrown into the fire last week against the Jets and played well, Raji is on a different level in terms of skill level than last weeks opposition. The Steelers will have to plan their offense around how they will handle Raji if they're offense is going to be productive. I believe Bruce Arians will be more concerned about the match ups on the inside than he will be with the ones on the outside. The Steelers have already played and beat teams with better Outside Linebackers and Defensive Ends than the Packers, notably the Baltimore Ravens. Clay Matthews has played nearly every game at the Right Outside Linebacker which will be a huge disadvantage for the Packers. Even if he is able to get around Right Tackle Flozell Adams, Ben Roethlisberger will be able to see him coming.
Advantage: Even
B.J. Raji will make some plays on the inside to slow the Pittsburgh running game, but the Steelers will be able to neutralize the Packers up field rush to make some plays in the passing game.
Pittsburgh Defensive Line vs. Green Bay Offensive Line
The Steelers have made a name for having a dominating defense, and it all starts up front. The combination of James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley have been a nightmare for opposing Tackles and will continue to be in this game. Pro-Bowl Left Tackle Chad Clifton may be able to subdue Harrison, but rookie Right Tackle Bryan Bulaga is going to have his hands full with Woodley speed rushing off of the edge. The Packers will have to use Tight Ends and Running Backs to help in pass protection. Taking weapons out of Aaron Rodgers' arsenal is Pittsburgh's best bet in containing the Packers potent offense.
Advantage: Steelers
The Steelers have only allowed three players to rush for more than a hundred yards in the past five season and this game won't be any different. More defenders dropping back into pass defense will help the entire defense as a whole.
Final score: Pittsburgh 21 Green Bay 10
The Steelers defense is playing on an extremely high level and will continue to do so. The Packers offense will have its hands tied by the Steelers ability to stop the run, as well as put pressure on Aaron Rodgers. Ben Roethlisberger will use his ability to extend plays to find open Receivers down field for big plays. The Steelers will prove to be too much for the Packers in nearly all phases of the game.
Typical Steelers fan boy. Your method of breaking down the game here shows an even match up if not a slight advantage to the Packers, yet you predict a pretty dominating performance by the Steelers. Unbiased my ass.
ReplyDeleteI accept everyone's opinion. The good and the bad
ReplyDeleteThere are things you are forgetting Eric. You must count on at least one defensive touchdown by the Steelers and expect Bruce Arians to open up the playbook for the last game of the season. The Steelers have not one, but two college quarterbacks in their wide recieving corp. So, you may not expect the Pittsburgh offensive to be super impressive, but they'll find ways to score points and their defense is just plain nasty, so the Packers will have a touch time scoring. Therefore, although the particular matchups mentioned may favor the Packers, the Steelers just have a nack for finding a way to win in the playoffs. Don't forget that this Steelers team has experienced this stage before, and these Packers haven't. That is always a factor.
ReplyDeleteFind ways to win, not runaway with them. I have not at one point in my rebuttal said anything about the Steelers not having a chance at winning. Just that the spread, either way, is going to be much smaller.
ReplyDeleteOkay here's how I see it. Eric, you blasted Ben for his view on the outcome of game based on what he wrote. Did you read what he wrote? "If the Packers can keep Aaron Rodgers clean, the Steelers defense is in for a long Sunday evening." So yes, assuming Aaron Rodgers is protected spotlessly by his line, Packers have the edge here. That's what he's saying. You have to remember, though, that he also explained, "Pro-Bowl Left Tackle Chad Clifton may be able to subdue Harrison, but rookie Right Tackle Bryan Bulaga is going to have his hands full with Woodley speed rushing off of the edge." This implies that Aaron Rodgers will not have solid protection, thus, Ben's method of breaking it down does indeed give the Steelers a heavy edge, as well as a big win. He completely supports his methodology with the final score, if you read this as one article, not three pieces.
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ReplyDeleteA couple points of contention. I'm pretty sure the best rushing and passing defenses are based on yards allowed per game. The Steelers own the 12th best passing defense based on that number.
ReplyDeleteI'm also not convinced that the Packers are really that strong. They were beaten by Chicago, Washington, Miami, Atlanta, Detroit, and New England. Their best win was against Philadelphia during week 1 and that was before Mike Vick exploded onto the scene. They had 10 wins and only three of those wins came against decent teams: Philly (pre-Vick), NYJ (a 9-0 blowout lawl), and the 10-3 win over a very average Bears team.
Green Bay piled up their wins against a weak schedule: Buffalo (34-7), Detroit (28-26 OT), Minnesota (28-24), Dallas (45-7 leading to Wade Philips being fired), Minnesota again (31-3), San Francisco (34-16), and finally a 45-7 drubbing of a really inconsistent NY Giants team.
They beat a shaky Eagles team, a depleted team and inexperienced QB in Atlanta, and survived the juggernaut Bears team who almost came back with a JV quarterback.
I'm not saying the Steelers are going to blow the Packers out, but let's be real honest.. the Packers amassed defensive and offensive stats against some really weak opposition. The Steelers on the other hand had to play the much harder AFC north schedule and then throw in the AFC east and NFC south.
Oh and Legursky will handle Raji. He's stronger than Pouncey and the coaches say he's better at reading defenses than Pouncey is. With two weeks to prepare, I think Legursky will be able to handle calling the blocking schemes. What will suffer is the inside trap game. I think the Steelers will still be able to run the ball, as Green Bay was something like 18th in the league in rushing defense. Meanwhile Pittsburgh just came off of a game where they had a 100 yard rusher in the first half of a game against the #2 ranked rushing defense.
ReplyDeletePittsburgh will control the ball and the clock. The best way to neutralize Aaron Rogers is to keep his ass on the bench.