The Pittsburgh Steelers will play their fifth sport of the 2024 common season on Sunday night time at house in opposition to the Dallas Cowboys. They’ll enter that contest listed as a slight favourite as soon as once more. Beneath are 5 key issues that I imagine the Steelers might want to do in that house sport on Sunday night time to return away with their fourth win of the 2024 season.
Preserve Your Choices Open – For those who watched the Cowboys Week 3 sport in opposition to the Baltimore Ravens then you definately noticed the Dallas protection get annihilated by the a number of read-option performs that had been run in opposition to them. In accordance with Fantasy Factors, the Ravens ran a model of the read-option 17 instances in opposition to the Cowboys in Week 3 for 122 yards with one landing. Clearly, the Ravens having QB Lamar Jackson and RB Derrick Henry make their offense excellent for such a play. Even so, the Cowboys reportedly had 25 read-options ran in opposition to them via Week 4 for 143 yards and a landing, based on Fantasy Factors. Steelers QB Justin Fields could be very able to operating the read-option. The Steelers have reportedly run it 14 instances thus far this season for 55 yards. Nonetheless, Fields has stored it on these read-options simply 5 instances for 10 yards and a landing.
The Cowboys will probably be with out two key defensive gamers on Sunday night time as each LB Micah Parsons and DE DeMarcus Lawrence are sidelined with accidents. Due to that, the Steelers offense ought to run the learn possibility early within the Sunday night time sport to see how the sting gamers on the Cowboys’ protection reply to it. On the very least, if the Dallas edge gamers try and defend in opposition to Fields holding the soccer, Harris, or whichever different operating again must be within the sport on the time, ought to have the ability to have success on the bottom and between the tackles. The Cowboys’ run protection hasn’t been notably good thus far this season and so some read-option performs from the Steelers offense ought to have the ability to make their mark Sunday night time.
Silence The Lamb – The Cowboys received’t have one among their vast receivers on Sunday night time as Brandin Cooks will miss the competition in opposition to the Steelers with a knee subject. Even so, the Cowboys will nonetheless have their high receiving goal for QB Dak Prescott to throw to in CeeDee Lamb, who enters Week 5 with 20 receptions for 316 yards and two touchdowns. 4 of these 20 receptions that Lamb has registered thus far this season have resulted in features of 20 yards or longer and two of these went for touchdowns as nicely. Lamb can also be used within the Dallas operating sport in addition to he has six carries for 33 yards on the season. The Cowboys have registered simply 4 runs of 10 yards or longer thus far this season and surprisingly lamb has three of these.
For his NFL profession thus far, the Cowboys are 12-2 in common season video games that Lamb has registered at the least eight catches in. Due to that, and since he’s so good at gaining yardage after the catch, holding his receptions on Sunday night time under eight would probably go a good distance in serving to the Steelers come out with the win. Steelers CB Joey Porter Jr. is prone to cowl Lamb fairly a bit on Sunday particularly each time he strains up on the skin. Nonetheless, Lamb will probably be moved round and that features lining up within the slot. 11 of his receptions for 161 yards and one landing have include Lamb lined up within the slot and that’s essential to notice. Will Porter comply with Lamb into the slot on Sunday night time? Most likely not typically, if any in any respect. We’ll actually see. Regardless of the protection plan for Lamb is, the Steelers’ protection higher be able to be up for the duty that Lamb presents as he can simply take over a sport.
100 Additional Wattage Underneath The Lights Wanted – Towards the Colts final Sunday, Steelers OLB T.J. Watt didn’t make enormous marks on the stat sheet as he was solely credited with two whole tackles in that contest with each being of the assisted selection Whereas Watt didn’t play dangerous in opposition to the Colts, he actually wasn’t allowed to get near the quarterback typically. Indianapolis did a wonderful job of giving further consideration to Watt final Sunday and even via using some holds that weren’t referred to as. You possibly can guess Watt will probably be trying to get again on observe in opposition to the Cowboys on Sunday night time and particularly in opposition to Dallas T Terence Steele, who has allowed two sacks thus far this season.
Watt is on the lookout for his one centesimal profession sack Sunday night time and the Steelers protection may actually use a type of attended game-wrecking performances from him. So far, Watt has 22.5 sacks in common season night time video games that begin after 7:00 p.m. ET. Since coming into the NFL in 2017, Watt leads all gamers with 99.5 sacks in 108 video games performed. With a half sack in opposition to the Cowboys on Sunday night time, Watt will surpass DeMarcus Ware (113 video games) because the second-fastest participant to succeed in 100 profession sacks since 1982, when the person sack grew to become an official statistic. Solely the late Reggie White (96 video games) reached the milestone in fewer video games. Watt may also change into the fourth participant since 1982 with at the least 100 sacks in his first eight profession seasons, becoming a member of White (124 sacks) and Ware (111) in addition to Jared Allen (105).
Higher Talk The Communication – By their first 4 video games of the 2024 common season, we’ve got witnessed a number of communication points from the Steelers on either side of the soccer. All the pieces from dangerous heart/quarterback exchanges on offense to not realizing what the protection was on protection. No less than two of those particular points occurred final Sunday in the course of the staff’s loss to the Indianapolis Colts. The blown protection communication on protection in Week 4 resulted in a landing on third down whereas the mistimed snap on offense late in that contest basically blew a professional likelihood to in the end win the sport.
Communication errors across the NFL actually aren’t unusual on a week-to-week foundation particularly relating to early-season video games. Even so, this 2024 Steelers staff, particularly relating to their offense, isn’t constructed with the flexibility to beat them incessantly. We should cease having the necessity to discuss dangerous heart/quarterback exchanges on a near-weekly foundation as we enter Week 5 as that battery has been in place now for 4 consecutive weeks. As for the protection, the quarterback of that unit, ILB Patrick Queen, is now coming into his fifth sport with the controls of that unit. He has to get higher and ensure the opposite 10 gamers on the sector with him know what the play is.
First Drive/Quarter Issues – By 4 common season video games performed the Steelers have produced all of 10 factors within the first quarter and 0 of their final two video games. The final time the Steelers had an opening-drive possession that resulted in a landing was in Week 16 of the 2023 common season in opposition to the Cincinnati Bengals. The staff was 3-0 final season in video games that they registered an opening-drive landing in.
The Cowboys have allowed two of their 4 opponents to attain opening-drive touchdowns of their first 4 video games. Of their different two video games, they allowed opening-drive discipline targets. That signifies that each opponent they’ve confronted thus far has come away with factors of some sort on opening drives in opposition to them. Even when it’s only a discipline objective, the Steelers offense wants to verify to maintain that Dallas streak alive on Sunday night time.
