Steelers vs Saints: 4 Things to Watch
The Pittsburgh Steelers were able to hit the reset button thanks to their bye week and welcome the New Orleans Saints in Week 10.
The Saints are working on a short week, having played the Baltimore Ravens on Monday Night Football while the Steelers are well rested. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has never beaten the Saints thus far in his career. What needs to happen in order for that to change on Sunday?
2-Man Challenges
Dennis Allen's Saints defense relies heavily on man coverage to neutralize opposing offenses. They play some variation of man coverage on 43% of their coverage snaps, most in the NFL according to Sports Info Solutions.
Part of this philosophy revolves around trusting their corners to win individual matchups outside but they've run into issues this season with Marshon Lattimore saddled with an injury since Week 5. In particular, Paulson Adebo has struggled this season in coverage, allowing 26 catches for 316 yards and three touchdowns already.
The Saints play a lot of 2-man with two deep safeties and their corners pressed at the line of scrimmage while playing in a trail technique. Spot and Smash concepts are particularly effective in taking advantage of the leverage presented by the defenders.
With this being a middle field open coverage, you can also work in bender routes that break in between the two deep safeties. An example of this can be found when Kenny Pickett found Pat Freiermuth over the middle of the field late on the final drive against Miami.
Pickett hasn't had a ton of success against this coverage to date, only completing six of his 16 pass attempts for 70 yards to date against 2-man meaning this is a matchup that could define the outcome of the game.
Chris Olave's Early Brilliance
The Saints organization made headlines back in April after trading up in the first round of the NFL Draft to select Chris Olave with the 11th pick. After an extremely productive career at Ohio State, Olave's been a quick study, finding a ton of success at the next level despite being just a rookie.
Olave leads the rookie receivers in both catches (43) and receiving yards (618) and has been a savior for an offense lacking many effective weapons on the perimeter. Veterans such as Michael Thomas and Jarvis Landry have been sidelined for much of the season with injuries but the rookie has filled in admirably in their absences.
Olave was considered to be NFL-ready thanks to his route-running prowess and ability to separate and make an impact at all three levels of the field.
Through the first half of the season, Olave has put on a route-running clinic against some of the more established cornerbacks that the league has to offer. The Steelers have really struggled to contain the opposing team's best wide receivers in man coverage this season. With the Saints' other receiving options being less than impressive, the Steelers need to cloud coverage toward Olave at all costs. If they're able to slow this impressive rookie down then the Saints passing attack becomes much less effective.
What Offensive Changes Will the bye week Bring?
Matt Canada's offense exits the bye week still ranked dead last in points per drive in the NFL but with two weeks off to prepare, it'll be interesting to see how much, if anything, changes to the Steelers offense.
There's no secret that Canada is very much coaching for his job down the stretch given how unsuccessful his tenure has been thus far. The bye week can occasionally be a great thing for struggling units, however. Chicago had a mini-bye week following a Thursday Night Football loss to Washington and rebounded from that by averaging over 30 points per game since.
Chicago made effective changes to highlight Justin Fields's strengths, mainly his mobility, and they've reaped the benefits because of it. The key will be whether or not Canada is capable of devising an offensive game plan around the strengths of his quarterback.
Pickett's struggled as a rookie, at least partially thanks to an unbelievable workload forced on him so far. One solution could be found in an improved running game and perhaps a heavier workload for Jaylen Warren coming out of the bye. While that switch alone isn't enough to cure all of their woes, finding balance on offense is a crucial task for Canada's group the rest of the way.
Slowing Down the Saints Impressive Run Game
Alvin Kamara was featured in our film room this week for the commendable job he's done this season as the featured weapon in an offense that lacks weapons in the passing game.
Behind Kamara, Taysom Hill and Mark Ingram, the Saints rank fourth in rushing success rate among NFL teams. While the ball carriers get most of the shine, their offensive line, particularly on the right side is impressive when you watch the film.
Despite being undersized, both Erik McCoy and Cesar Ruiz possess excellent movement skills for their positions and are constantly able to impact the game when they are allowed to get into space. McCoy seemed to shine more when the Saints featured their zone-blocking concepts while Ruiz has some fun highlights as a puller which was a strength of his coming out of college.
Their best player along the line is right tackle Ryan Ramczyk who's one of the best run blockers in the entire league. Despite not having elite length, he's one of the most technically sound tackles that you'll find and is a very good athlete in his own right which aids their running game on the edge.
With a journeyman quarterback in Andy Dalton, one they're obviously familiar with from his days in Cincinnati, it's important to make them one-dimensional and force Dalton to beat them with his arm. Baltimore laid this blueprint last week in their win against the Saints in primetime, holding New Orleans to 48 rushing yards on 3.2 yards per attempt.
If the Steelers can duplicate that game plan, they have an excellent shot to end their losing streak.
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