Three Keys to a Victory Over the Steelers

Among other things, the offensive line has to hold up and the defensive backs have to get people on the ground.

NASHVILLE – No one can say that all is lost if the Tennessee Titans (5-0) don’t beat the Pittsburgh Steelers (5-0) on Sunday.

No matter what happens, Tennessee will in first place and still will be off to its best start since 2008. It still will have one of the best records in the AFC and a well-earned reputation as a team that is in it right to the end.

However, with a win the Titans will be the AFC’s last unbeaten team and an undeniable Super Bowl contender. After all, every time unbeaten teams with at least five wins apiece have faced off, the winner ended up in the Super Bowl.

With that in mind, here are three keys to a Titans victory:

• Protect Ryan Tannehill: This is hardly an ideal time for the offensive line to break in a new starter, but that is exactly what is going to happen as Ty Sambrailo takes over for Taylor Lewan, who sustained a season-ending knee injury on Sunday.

Pittsburgh leads the NFL with 24 sacks even though it has played just five games while the majority of teams has played six. That amounts to 4.8 sacks per game. On top of that, the Steelers lead the NFL in quarterback hurries (34) and have hit the quarterback on a league-best 27.5 percent of pass plays. Four different players – two linebackers, one defensive lineman, one defensive back – have at least three sacks apiece.

Those numbers are not the product of one or two dominant performances either. Pittsburgh is the second team in NFL history with at least three sacks and one interception in each of the first five games. The only other team to do so was the 1985 New York Giants. Each of the last three weeks the Steelers have had at least five sacks, which is the longest active streak in the NFL and tied for the eighth longest in league history.

Tannehill has been sacked more than once in just one game this season (Houston). The offensive line, even a remade one, needs to make sure it stays that way.

• Get Guys to the Ground: In other words, tackle.

Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is sixth in the NFL with a 109.1 passer rating, which is not off Tannehill’s 113.6. However, Roethlisberger, at 38 years old, does not hold the ball and stand tall in the pocket the way he once did.

The average length of his pass completions is 4.94 yards, which is the lowest among the top 10 in passer rating. His receivers average 5.39 yards after the catch. That means that more than half the Steelers’ receiving yards have come with the ball in the pass catchers’ hands.

Rookie wide receiver Chase Claypool is eighth among qualifying leaders with an average of 8.47 yards after the catch. Running back James Conner is in the top 35 at 6.58 yards after the catch on average and three others are in the top 100.

Limit their yards after the catch and you will force them into second and third-and-long situations, which force Pittsburgh to do what it does not want to do – throw the ball down the field.

• Run the Ball: Tennessee does not have to string together big gains on the ground, few – if any – teams do against the Steelers. However, offensive coordinator Arthur Smith needs to stick with the run game even if it is not going particularly well, as he did earlier in the season.

This will accomplish several things.

First, the play-action is a prominent element of the Titans’ attack. Just shy of one-third of Tannehill’s pass attempts have come on play-action, which is not nearly as effective if the other team doesn’t believe you might actually run it.

Second, it will challenge the Steelers’ defense in a way it has not been challenged this year. No team has run the ball more than 26 times against Pittsburgh’s defense, and it is the only one in the NFL that has faced fewer than 100 handoffs this season.

Finally, it will keep the clock moving and limit the opportunities for the Steelers’ offense. Pittsburgh has had a time of possession advantage in four of five games, is second in the NFL in average time of possession and averages eight more offensive plays per game than its opponents (by comparison, the Titans’ advantage is 1.8 per game).

It is unrealistic to expect Derrick Henry will come close to matching what he did against the Texans. But he can’t be an afterthought.