49ers’ Kittle needs to be main focus of Steelers’ defensive game plan

The Pittsburgh Steelers have struggles of defense this season. George Kittle is on the verge of a breakout, and a matchup with Pittsburgh may be exactly what he needs.

After and 0-2 start and an onslaught of injuries, the Steelers don’t get a break. They now have to travel out west to San Francisco to face a 49ers team that is 2-0 and on the rise.

Pittsburgh has struggled when traveling to the pacific time zone (2-7 under Mike Tomlin). Now they have to try to win a game without Ben Roethlisberger at the helm for the longest period of time in his career. It’s also worth mentioning that James Conner, while he maintains that he is playing on Sunday, probably won’t be full healthy Sunday afternoon.

As many unknowns the Steelers have on offense, my concern still lies with the defense. They have struggled mightily for six of the eight quarters of football they’ve played so far. They are still experiencing communication issues and blown coverages.

When these things happened in week one, it was easy to conclude that they were just struggling because it’s New England. They always struggle in Foxborough. The last time they held the Patriots to 20 points or less was the 2008 season against a Patriots team sans Tom Brady.

The same issues weren’t as prevalent in last week’s match up with Seattle, but they still struggled with communication in coverage in some key moments. Seattle’s tight end Will Dissly caught all five targets from Russell Wilson for 50 yards and two touchdowns.

It’s no secret that the Steelers have struggled against opposing tight ends for the better half of a decade now. And this week, they have to game plan for one of the league’s best tight ends in George Kittle. Kittle was ranked as the 2nd-best tight end by Pro Football Focus going into the 2019 season, only ranked behind Kansas City’s Travis Kelce.

The 49ers aren’t afraid to use play-action under Kyle Shanahan and George Kittle reaps the benefit of it quite often. He led all tight ends in 2018 with 457 receiving yards on play-action plays. Shanahan’s run schemes also involve quite a bit of misdirection and Kittle sells his blocks very well when they run play-action.

His greatest strength is his ability to run after the catch. Kittle is an amazing athlete for a tight end, who possesses strength and speed. He led the NFL with 870 yards-after-catch (YAC). His ability to run great routes and gain separation on linebackers and safeties give him multiple opportunities to rack up the yards after catch.

Here’s a great example of a combination of the ability to sell the play-action and run after the catch. Those couple of strengths shine here for an 85-yard touchdown catch-and-run.

GEORGE KITTLE JUST WENT 85 YARDS! 😯

📺: CBS #GoNiners https://t.co/C2FhgyOi5W

— NFL (@NFL) December 9, 2018

This is a classic Shanahan play-action concept on George Kittle’s 85 yard TD. Post with the deep over. And Kittle is moving here in the open field. #49ers @HawkeyeFootball @NFLMatchup pic.twitter.com/5YmkI4yuVp

— Matt Bowen (@MattBowen41) December 10, 2018

Kittle is also a great route-runner for his position. The 49ers also use him in a variety of ways and routes. He can be lined up at his normal spot, split out wide, or in the backfield.

The Steelers have played a lot of man coverage so far this season. With the recent addition of Minkah Fitzpatrick, it’s a pretty logical conclusion that the Steelers will focus on man coverage with Kittle.

Pittsburgh has been sliced and diced, especially by tight ends, when relying on zone coverage to cover the middle of the field. The Steeler defense has moved to more man coverage recently, and the addition of Fitzpatrick should help the Steelers maintain better control of that portion of the field. 

George Kittle is due for a breakout game here in 2019. He’s caught 11 passes for 108 yards so far, totaling 54 yards in each of their first two contests. Kittle also hasn’t found the end zone yet this season. It’s fair to say Kyle Shanahan may be trying to get him more involved this week.

The addition of Deebo Samuel adds a new wrinkle to the offense where they might not have to rely on Kittle nearly as much as they did a season ago. Samuel is very versatile and will give the Steelers’ defense plenty to prepare for.

Matt Breida and Raheem Mostert are coming off a huge week where they gained 204 of the 259 rushing yards San Francisco had in Cincinnati. The 49ers have a complex ground game that involves a lot of misdirection and moving pieces. This is also how they utilize play-action so well.

If the Steelers cannot neutralize Kittle, they have a very small chance of winning this game. The 49er running game obviously has to be accounted for, but Kittle should definitely be priority number one in coverage.

After all, this is the first time in a long time the Steelers have two cornerbacks on the outside they trust in man coverage. Joe Haden has helped bring some consistent play outside since coming to Pittsburgh and new-comer Steven Nelson has been the Steelers’ best player in coverage so far this season. Nelson was phenomenal in coverage on D.K. Metcalf against Seattle last week.

The Steelers are facing a must-win situation extremely early this season, and a loss this week drops the team to 0-3. It’s just about impossible to make the playoffs in the NFL when you start with three straight losses. The 2018 Houston Texans are the only team since the 2002 NFL realignment to make the playoffs after starting 0-3.

Pittsburgh has to be responsible on defense this week to give Mason Rudolph and the offense the best chance to win. Taking away George Kittle gives the defense the best chance to win.