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Film Room: Blitzburgh Returns to Put Steelers Back in AFC North Race

The Pittsburgh Steelers returned to old ways against Lamar Jackson and AFC North rivalry Ravens.

Derrick Bell

The Pittsburgh Steelers defense hasn't quite lived up to their Blitzburgh mantra so far during the 2021 NFL season. 

Due to injuries and departures in free agency, the Steelers have turned to some new faces in the secondary, forcing Mike Tomlin and Keith Butler to be a little less aggressive in terms of harassing the quarterback with additional rushers. But that changed in Week 13 against the Baltimore Ravens as Pittsburgh turned up the heat on star quarterback Lamar Jackson.

The coaching staff deserves applause for having the gall to get aggressive against a the former MVP, but it wasn't necessarily their blueprint. The Miami Dolphins were really the first team this season to get super aggressive in their effort to combat the elusive Jackson.  

Miami blitzed Jackson on 22 of his drop backs, opting to play Cover 0 in the back end. Since that matchup, other teams seemed to have noticed that the Ravens passing attack struggles with these pressure looks. 

The Chicago Bears sent five or more blitzers on 28 of his drop backs the following week, while the Cleveland Browns had a smaller sample size of success blitzing him in Week 12.

During Week 13's matchup, the Steelers brought five or more rushers on 14 total drop backs. The results were staggering as Jackson completed just three of his eight pass attempts for a total of 35 passing yards and one interception. 

The Steelers were also able to rack up five sacks on the quarterback and forced a crucial red zone interception; one made possible by pressure up front as Jackson heaved an ill-advised pass in the direction of Minkah Fitzpatrick in the end zone.

This had to feel like a back-breaking type of mistake for the their AFC North rival after marching 75 yards down the field in 14 plays. It can't be understated how crucial this play was in terms of how the game unfolded. Watt's immediate presence in the quarterbacks vicinity forced a poor decision and kept points off the board.

The redeeming trait for Butler's defense in Pittsburgh has been their ability to get after the quarterback. The long-time linebackers coach is an excellent blitz designer who can scheme up pressure with the best of them. 

In this matchup, Butler chose to send slot blitzes off the edge and had some success containing Jackson within the pocket. Here, Arthur Maulet is going to come on a slot blitz, forcing Jackson to step up into the pocket into a crowd of defenders and Watt corrals him from behind.

On third and long, Butler would again go back to the slot blitz, but this time, it's Tre Norwood. Norwood is usually the corner they prefer in passing down situations as he's more capable in coverage than Maulet, who works best working downhill. 

Norwood comes off the slot unblocked and has a golden opportunity to register his first career sack but the slippery Jackson makes him miss. What he does accomplish is that he makes him step up into traffic full of black and gold. 

Heyward is able to finally get him down and the defense would once again get off of the field after a successful blitz attempt.

On a crucial third and long late in the third quarter, the Steelers elected to bring the house. 

Clearly a pressure look pre-snap, there's simply one to many rushers (7) for the amount of blockers (6). This look forces Jackson to bail out of the pocket. Despite breaking through an arm tackle from Cam Sutton, Jackson was unable to find anyone open down the field. Instead forcing a dangerous check down short of the first down marker which stalled the drive.

The Steelers offense had finally come alive and the game had tightened late in the fourth quarter following a second Ben Roethlisberger to Diontae Johnson touchdown hookup. 

With the game and the season on the line, they remained aggressive in the red zone. On first down, they would bring seven defenders once again. Jackson was able to promptly locate his hot read in Mark Andrews, usually his favorite target in these situations. However, it was an errant throw over the middle. 

While the Ravens offense would ultimately score a few plays later on a touchdown toss to Sammy Watkins, they were unsuccessful on the two-point conversion. The Steelers survived. A classic win that left everyone on the edge of their seats. 

The Steelers remained aggressive throughout the game and it made the world of difference. They successfully speed up the internal clock for Jackson and forced him into taking several sacks, many of which would end up killing drives. 

The pre-snap pressure looks force quarterbacks to identify where to go with the football before the play even begins, knowing his time to throw will be limited. 

The coaching staff deserves a lot of credit here, not just because of the outcome but because of the gutsy nature of the decision. The Steelers were without starting cornerback Joe Haden and chose to bench his previous replacement James Pierre. Former Seattle Seahawk and San Francisco 49er, Ahkello Witherspoon would get the start after struggling to get a helmet all season. Even Justin Layne made a surprise appearance on defense for the first time this season. This approach took guts.

Their strategy was wildly successful and the team is still hanging in the playoff hunt partially because of it. The Steelers have been the one team in the NFL that has had Jackson's number over the years, a trend that everyone in Pittsburgh is hoping continues. Now, we wait and see if Greg Roman can devise a plan in place to counter this blueprint before these two teams face off again in January for the regular season finale.

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Derrick Bell
DERRICK BELL

Derrick Bell is a University of Louisville grad who's covered the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2019. Prior to AllSteelers, Derrick contributed to Steel City Blitz. 

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