The Pittsburgh Steelers will play their fourth sport of the 2024 common season on Sunday afternoon on the highway in opposition to the Indianapolis Colts. They’ll enter that contest listed as a slight favourite. Beneath are 5 key issues that I consider the Steelers might want to do in that highway sport on Sunday to come back away with their fourth consecutive win of the 2024 season.
Taylor-made To Be Queen For A Day – The Colts’ offense will possible lean closely on their working sport in opposition to the Steelers on Sunday. They’ve simply the working again to try this with in Jonathan Taylor, who has rushed for 261 yards and three touchdowns on 51 complete carries by the primary three video games of the 2024 common season. Taylor has already registered eight runs of 10 yards or longer on the season and as a staff, the Colts offense has registered 15, the third most within the NFL for 2024. The Colts will use Taylor within the passing sport, and he has 57 yards on three receptions and 6 complete targets in Indianapolis’ first three video games of 2024.
The Colts like to make use of fairly a little bit of 11 personnel on offense so meaning they’re working nicely with only one tight finish on the sphere and three huge receivers. The Colts’ use of 11 personnel in opposition to the Steelers’ protection will possible be countered with quite a lot of nickel sub-package personnel, which options one inside linebacker on the sphere in Patrick Queen, who figures to want to have a giant day within the tackling division. Queen will probably be tasked with getting off second-level blocks by the Colts offensive lineman after which, more often than not, discovering Taylor with the soccer. How the Steelers’ protection handles the Colts’ working sport on Sunday might go a great distance in figuring out which staff finally wins. An enormous sport by Queen inside 4 yards of the road of scrimmage will possible have to be part of doing simply that.
Footloose Fields On Lucas Oil Area – Via three video games, the Colts protection has allowed simply 62 yards on 11 rushes by opposing quarterbacks. Even so, probably the most cell quarterback the Colts protection has confronted to date has been Malik Willis of the Inexperienced Bay Packers, who registered 41 yards and a landing on six dashing makes an attempt in Week 2. On Sunday, Steelers QB Justin Fields, one of the vital cell quarterbacks within the NFL proper now, ought to have fairly a couple of designed runs on his plate to assault the Colts’ protection. To this point this season, Fields has run 28 occasions for 90 yards and a landing, a number of of these clearly being scrambles, as simply 11 of them had been both by design or a part of learn choices.
Fields admitted throughout his media session this previous week that he must get his legs going a little bit greater than he has to date this season. Whereas the designed quarterback run and read-option performs that Fields has been requested to run to date this season haven’t produced overly eye-popping outcomes, it doesn’t imply that Pittsburgh OC Arthur Smith must give up trying them. The Colts’ protection will probably be down a number of key defensive gamers on Sunday in opposition to the Steelers as a consequence of accidents, and thus, that unit ought to be primed to be run on in Indianapolis. Fields ought to be included within the working assault sport plan on Sunday, as he ought to have a chance to interrupt off a couple of huge performs because of his athletic means. On the very least, Fields shouldn’t be afraid to make use of his legs. He may simply exit Sunday’s sport in opposition to the Colts because the main rusher on each side of the soccer.
Come Up HerBig In opposition to Massive Raimann – The Steelers received’t have beginning OLB Alex Highsmith on Sunday in opposition to the Colts as he’ll miss the week 4 highway contest with a groin harm. With Highsmith out, second-year OLB Nick Herbig appears to be like to make the beginning in his place on Sunday. Herbig has been implausible on protection within the 20 common season video games that he has performed in to date, as he has registered 31 complete tackles, seven tackles for loss, 5 quarterback hits, 5 sacks, three compelled fumbles, and a fumble restoration in common season motion. Even so, Herbig has logged simply 244 defensive snaps in complete for his NFL profession. He might simply have no less than 50 extra defensive snaps to that complete on Sunday in opposition to the Colts in Indianapolis. Thus he ought to have a a lot bigger single-game pattern dimension to look at on account of Highsmith being sidelined.
Herbig, who ought to principally see taking part in time on the proper exterior linebacker on Sunday, ought to face off in opposition to Colts huge T Bernhard Raimann, who is kind of a bit in the course of the Week 4 contest. Raimann, who’s now in his third NFL season, has performed nicely at left deal with for the Colts within the staff’s first three video games, as he has solely allowed one sack and simply 4 complete pressures to this point. Herbig, briefly, wants to come back up huge on Sunday in opposition to Raimann, who just isn’t more likely to get a lot assist from a chipping tight finish or working again due to Steelers’ game-wrecking OLB T.J. Watt requiring such assistance on the opposite facet of the offensive line. If Herbig has a giant sport on Sunday, each in opposition to the run and the cross, the Steelers protection might wind up with yet one more super-dominant efficiency for a fourth consecutive contest and probably their greatest one this season.
Some Deep Photographs To Pickens From – The Colts ought to be anticipated to play quite a lot of single-high security on protection in opposition to the Steelers’ offense on Sunday, as that was their modus operandi by the primary three video games with DC Gus Bradley in cost on that facet of the soccer. Briefly, the Steelers ought to see quite a lot of cover-3 protection on Sunday with a little bit cover-1 and cover-2 combined in. General, opposing quarterbacks haven’t actually attacked the center of the sphere in opposition to the Colts by Week 3, particularly greater than 10 yards previous the road of scrimmage. So, it received’t be shocking to see Fields and the Steelers offense comply with swimsuit on Sunday as they’re more likely to assault by the air extra in the direction of the numbers on the sphere and outdoors of them. Whereas we aren’t more likely to see Fields and firm throw deep down the center of the sphere in opposition to the Colts on Sunday, we must always see Fields choose his spots with deep passes close to or exterior the numbers, particularly to WR George Pickens.
To this point this season, Fields has related on passes of 20 or extra yards to Pickens 3 times in three video games in relation to performs not worn out by penalties. These three to Pickens are the one ones that Fields has related on when speaking about air-yard throws of 20 or extra. The Colts protection, however, has allowed 5 accomplished deep throws of 20 or extra air yards by their first three video games. Three of these 5 had been allowed in Week 3 in opposition to the Chicago Bears. At any time when Fields sees Pickens singled up on the surface on Sunday, and particularly in press-man conditions, he ought to give his star huge receiver an opportunity to make a play deep down the sphere. Pickens may additionally deserve a deep shot or two exterior in opposition to zone as nicely on Sunday. The Steelers offense has solely registered six explosive passing performs of 20 yards or extra to date this season, with Pickens being on the receiving finish of three of them. Pickens wants to come back out of Sunday’s sport with no less than two extra of these, with no less than a kind of being a double or triple-explosive play.
Settle for Anthony’s Alms – Colts second-year QB Anthony Richardson has had fairly an fascinating begin to the 2024 common season, because it has actually been feast or famine for him in relation to his passing. For starters, Richardson, a first-round draft choose in 2023, has accomplished simply 49.3 % of his 73 complete cross makes an attempt by the primary three video games of the 2024 common season. As a part of that, Richardson has already thrown six interceptions. A couple of extra of his makes an attempt most likely might have been picked off within the Colts’ first three video games of 2024.
Richardson just isn’t afraid to throw deep down the sphere, and whereas his interception charge is excessive, he has accomplished seven of 18 cross makes an attempt thrown greater than 15 yards previous the road of scrimmage, with two of these leading to touchdowns. Even so, three of these deep throws had been intercepted. Richardson’s deep throws, no less than by the primary three video games of the 2024 common season, for probably the most half, have appeared to be both lackadaisical in nature or very off-target. Briefly, it’s not onerous to purpose that on Sunday in opposition to the Steelers, Richardson will supply up no less than a couple of turnover-worthy throws to the Pittsburgh protection. Assuming that occurs, the Steelers’ protection should reap the benefits of such items. As a staff, the Steelers have 4 interceptions coming into Week 4 by their protection, and they need to get a couple of alternatives so as to add to that quantity on Sunday in Indianapolis. The protection should settle for any and all items that Richardson presents up on Sunday to assist counteract a couple of deep throws that he’s more likely to join on in the course of the contest.
