The Pittsburgh Steelers haven’t had an explosive offense, however their protection has been so good that they’ll afford to begin slowly. Their means to win low-scoring video games appears to be forcing opposing groups to deal with them like an explosive offense, although. Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator Gus Bradley is getting ready his unit like they’re going through a tremendous offense.
“I do assume that we acknowledge, it’s sort of like if you’re going through a high-powered offense,” Bradley mentioned Tuesday by way of Locked on Colts. “What are you able to do to maintain them off the sphere for the protection? I believe it’s the identical factor. We’ve acquired to create as many alternatives [as possible] for our offense.
“It could’t be, ‘Effectively, the offense solely had eight collection this recreation.’ We’ve acquired to attempt to discover a option to get off the sphere [and] give them a number of collection to offer them the most effective alternative to attain.”
For the Steelers, the most effective offense may be a very good protection. They haven’t been in a position to rating greater than 20 factors, however as a result of their protection is smothering opponents, any lead larger than one rating can really feel insurmountable. In opposition to the Los Angeles Chargers, they went up by 10 factors, and it felt just like the Chargers had no probability to win.
Bradley has been within the NFL since 2006, so he has expertise going towards a number of offenses. With the Colts, his protection has had middling outcomes to date this yr, however they might give the Steelers matches. They’ve a strong rotation alongside the line of defense, expertise at linebacker, and some playmakers within the secondary. They could be 1-2, however overlooking them could be a mistake.
The Steelers have additionally thrived in low-scoring video games to date this yr. They’ve allowed their protection to make impression performs whereas not turning the ball over on offense. If the Colts can win the turnover battle, they might make the Steelers uncomfortable. They haven’t actually been in that state of affairs but this yr, and it’s unclear how they’d react in that state of affairs.
Justin Fields had a very good exhibiting towards a formidable Chargers protection, so we’ll see if he can construct off that towards the Colts. Bradley appears intent on forcing Fields to make some errors, which implies defending the soccer ought to proceed as precedence primary. The Colts’ offense higher have that very same purpose in thoughts as a result of the Steelers’ protection will certainly wish to trigger extra mayhem this week.