One of these teams is coming off an incredible high after the Week One matchups while the other is trying to regroup despite somehow managing not to lose. The Chiefs are looking like a flashy, young team and could be 2018's version of last year's Rams. Patrick Mahomes was electrifying in just his second career start, throwing for 256 yards and 4 TD's while Tyreek Hill provided long scores on both offense and special teams. The Steelers, meanwhile, bungled their way to a tie with the Cleveland Browns, but it really had to feel like a loss. Pittsburgh turned the ball over 6 times, 5 of them provided by QB Ben Roethlisberger, overshadowing great performances from players like James Conner, Antonio Brown, Juju Smith-Schuster and the Steelers defense as a whole. Pittsburgh will be attempting to get their season back on track while the Chiefs try to keep the momentum going. There are several key factors that will impact which way the pendulum swings in this matchup.
Roethlisberger Vs. Rust
Week One's performance was surely one to forget for QB Ben Roethlisberger and Steelers fans are feeling some déjà vu. Ben had a sluggish start to last season as well, eventually culminating in a 5 interception game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week Five that had Roethlisberger jokingly questioning whether he "had it anymore." Fans are hoping it does not take him as long to turn things around but there are several things that need adjusting. Roethlisberger struggled with general decision-making against the Browns, highlighted by his throw into triple coverage to WR Antonio Brown that was intercepted by Browns rookie CB Denzel Ward. Ben also showed poor pocket awareness, bad timing with his receivers and inaccurate placement on some of his throws as well. But this is a prime week for him to turn things around as he gets to face a weak Kansas City secondary that lost cornerbacks Marcus Peters to the Rams after a questionable trade and Terrance Mitchell to free agency. The Chiefs were able to add Kendall Fuller in the Alex Smith trade, but little else was done to upgrade the cornerback situation. The Chiefs also brought back S Ron Parker after attempting to move on from him earlier in the offseason. Parker ultimately could not land a spot as a back-up on the Atlanta Falcons before getting scooped back up by the Chiefs and plugged back into their starting line-up at free safety. Talk about a job upgrade. It is definitely a lackluster crew for Roethlisberger to face as he tries to put the Browns game behind him. Not to mention starting TE Vance McDonald is looking likely to play this week after missing Week One with a foot injury and exciting rookie WR James Washington may receive more snaps this week if he proves to be more comfortable with the playbook. A Ben Roethisberger rebound game may very well be in the works here.
Tyreek Hill Vs. Artie Burns
I am not so sure the Steelers have a cornerback capable of handling the speed of Chiefs WR Tyreek Hill but CB Artie Burns may be their best option. Pittsburgh took Burns in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft in part because of his strong measurables. Despite looking extremely raw at the University of Miami, Burns lit up the combine, running a 4.46 40-yard dash at 6'0" and 193 lbs., which easily makes him the fastest corner on the Steelers. The intriguing part to this is whether Pittsburgh will use Burns as a true shadow corner against Hill (who supposedly ran a 4.29 at his 2016 West Alabama Pro Day) and follow the speedy wide receiver around the field. It is not a tactic that Pittsburgh usually employs but with CB Joe Haden questionable to play this week with a hamstring strain, second-year CB Cam Sutton may be forced to start opposite Burns. And neither the veteran Haden or Sutton could be considered "burners" capable of hanging vertically with a player like Hill. Tyreek was an exposive play machine in Week One against the Chargers, providing big catches of 58, 20, 30, 21 and 34 yards. Throw in a goal line touchdown and another score on a 91-yard punt return and you can see why containing Hill should be such a priority for the Steelers. That could push them to have Burns follow Hill all over the formation, which should be a huge test for Artie after having an extremely uneven (to put it mildly) first two seasons in the league. Burns was only targeted once in Week One against the Browns, not allowing a completion. Yet he still managed to put a blemish on his performance after getting into a tussle with WR Jarvis Landry, ripping off his own helmet in anger and incurring an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that would keep the Browns' drive alive en route to their first touchdown of the game. This is the season where Artie Burns is supposed to show strong growth and play like the first round pick that Pittsburgh used on him. Slowing down Hill would go a long way towards proving he has made that growth. The problem? Tyreek Hill may be the most explosive playmaker in the NFL right now.
James Conner Vs. Chiefs Run Defense
LeVeon who? Nah, just joking around, but James Conner did look highly impressive in Week One, amassing 192 yards from scrimmage against the Browns defense. And the best way to continue to replace LeVeon Bell? Do LeVeon Bell things. Bell has been a thorn in the Chiefs' side for much of the past couple years, putting together yardage totals of 191, 178, 166 and 137 in his last 4 matchups against Kansas City. The Chiefs did make one roster move to try and bolster their front seven this offseason, adding former Cowboys MLB Anthony Hitchens on a 5-year, $45 million contract. However, that did not result in better run defense against Los Angeles in Week One, allowing Chargers running backs Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekeler to rush for 103 total yards on just 20 carries (a 5.15 YPC average) and a whopping 189 yards to both backs through the air. Conner may not be as good of a receiver out of the backfield as LeVeon Bell, but it is an area of his game that the second year man has worked on throughout the offseason, and was able to put up 57 yards on 5 receptions in Week One. Throw in the 135 yards on the ground and you have an impressive 2018 debut game from Conner, despite a costly fumble that allowed the Browns to climb back into the game. If Conner can hold on to the football, he should have another strong game on the ground against a run defense that has traditionally struggled to contain Steeler running backs. Meanwhile for the Chiefs, getting their run defense back on track, shutting down Conner and putting the game on the shoulders of a rusty Ben Roethlisberger should be a priority this week.
Travis Kelce Vs. Steelers' Safeties
Chiefs TE Travis Kelce will be looking to shake off some rust himself this week after only snagging one pass for 6 yards in the season opener. Kelce's games against the Steelers have been largely uneven the past few seasons, with averages of 4.75 receptions for 52.5 yards and just 2 touchdowns in his last four games against Pittsburgh. Those numbers are not too incredibly far off from his career averages per game (4.74 catches for 60.1 yards), but you can pretty much toss those numbers out because the Steelers secondary, and the safeties in particular, are revamped this season. S Morgan Burnett was the big free agency acquisition this offseason and he appears to be splitting time at strong safety with 2018 first round pick S Terrell Edmunds. The only returning safety is Sean Davis, who, with the additions of Burnett and Edmunds, is transitioning from strong safety (a position he has held down for the past year and a half) to free safety. And thanks to the strong arm and deep passing skills of Patrick Mahomes, this week will provide a stiff test for Davis in his new center-fielding role. Using Davis as more of a deep zone safety as opposed to an in-the-box, man coverage on running backs and tight ends type of guy seemed to be a better fit for him as he excelled against the Browns. Davis made two excellent plays in deep zone coverage last Sunday, one on an interception that was called back due to a ticky-tack penalty on Edmunds and another massive break-up on a seam route to Browns TE David Njoku late in the contest. But it will be Burnett and Edmunds who are going to be tasked with slowing down Kelce in this one, with the rookie Edmunds likely to see the most reps against the Chiefs' star tight end. Edmunds spent most of last week's game covering David Njoku and performed well, but Njoku also had two pretty blatant drops that made Edmunds' game look better than it really was. This week should be a prime test for this new-look Steelers secondary.
How these different matchups run their course should ultimately decide the victor of this Week Two game. Ben Roethlisberger must not only shrug off a poor start to the year, but also prepare for a potential shoot-out with the strong-armed Mahomes, who threatens to make big plays happen vertically if the Steelers secondary cannot contain weapons like Hill, Kelce and Sammy Watkins. The Steelers should look to have James Conner tote the rock heavily again this week to take some pressure off of Ben, who is also nursing an elbow injury. Both of these teams should be looking to stuff the run on Sunday and put the game on the shoulders of the opposing quarterback. Will Roethlisberger rebound or will Mahomes shine and be victorious once again? One thing is for sure, it will be fun to find out. -DH.
Comments
Post a Comment