Steelers Plan to Stop Run, Utilize Blitzers, to Contain Deshaun Watson
PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers will stay home to face the 0-2 Houston Texans at Heinz Field in Week 3.
Despite the slow start for Houston, the Steelers aren't taking their Week 3 opponent lightly. Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson and running back David Johnson have shined bright regardless of record, leaving major roadblocks in an "easy win" for Pittsburgh.
The last time the Steelers played the Texans in 2017, they recorded seven sacks. At the time, Watson was out for the season with a torn ACL, leaving T.J. Yates to handle escaping the pass rush. A task that, fortunately, didn't go well for the Houston quarterback.
This time, it'll be different. Watson has 528 passing yards and two touchdowns through two weeks and has done everything he can to keep his team involved in games.
"You see what they have now," Steelers defensive end Cam Heyward said, reminiscing of their last meeting with the Texans. "I remember when I would go back to Georgia and hang out with my brothers, they would always tell about Deshaun [Watson] and say how good of a kid he was, and even a better player. We got our work cut out for us. He's able to fight for extra yards. He really is worthy of being one of the top quarterbacks in our league."
Through two games, the Steelers have accumulated 10 sacks from eight different players, 27 QB hits and 22 tackles for loss.
"It's a positive stat. It shows that it's not just one guy doing the work," Heyward said. "We like to do this as a collective unit. When one guy gets the sack or the pressure, it's usually because we have a lot of other guys doing their jobs. That's in the passing game, that's in the running game, we like to communicate a lot. Doing that allows us to play fast, have confidence in each other. But it's only been two weeks. I'm not going to get ahead of myself and think that we've accomplished anything. We need to be a defense on the rise. We have to continue to improve week in and week out."
This week, that task gets more difficult. Watson is the second-highest paid quarterback in the NFL for a reason. He's coming off back-to-back 26 touchdown seasons and led the Texans to a 10-5 record in 2019.
"We have a test on our hands with Watson, David Johnson," Heyward said. "They've got two first-round tackles out there. We've got to make sure we take the game to them."
Heyward said it won't be the Texans' passing attack that they'll focus on this week.
Johnson has 111 yards and a touchdown through two weeks of the regular season. Last week, the Steelers allowed Melvin Gordon to run for 70 yards on 19 carries, and will focus on bettering their rush defense in Week 3.
"Deshaun [Watson] will make you pay if you give him more time," Heyward said. "He's got some really good receivers in [Will] Fuller and Randall Cobb. We've got to make sure we take care of our business, take care of our rush lanes. But to get to that, you've got to stop the run."
And as for who will be attacking Watson when the Texans come to Heinz Field on Sunday, Heyward expects a mix of everyone.
"We'll blitz Minkah [Fitzpatrick] or Terrell [Edmunds] sometimes. You seen Terrell got the big sack at the end of the [Broncos] game," Heyward said. "But when we get to that, you can't just slide your o-line one way because we can be coming from so many different ways. Then it allows us to get one-on-ones in the pass rush games. That's what we can really make you pay."
Noah Strackbein is a Publisher with AllSteelers. Follow Noah on Twitter @NoahStrack, and AllSteelers @si_steelers.
