1. Race to the QB

When it comes to pressuring opposing quarterbacks, the Pittsburgh Steelers aren’t elite. But when they’re successful on the pass rush, they are doing it quickly. Certainly moreso than their opponent Sunday.

While according to NFL Next Gen Stats the Steelers are generating pressure at a close to league-average rate (34.1% vs. 34.0% across the NFL), they are generating “quick pressures” better than all but five teams. Defined as pressuring a QB in fewer than 2.5 seconds, the Steelers’ quick pressure rate is 17.2%. That means for more than one-sixth of opponent passing plays, their defenders are disrupting opposing QBs before they reasonably can work through their progressions.

The Steelers’ average time to pressure is an NFL-best 2.54 seconds. Compare that to the defense for the Chicago Bears, the team the Steelers face at Soldier Field this weekend, whose average time to pressure is 2.88 seconds, the third worst in the league. Only one team averages fewer quick pressures per game (3.9). Overall, the Bears have the league’s sixth-worst pressure rate (30.1%).

The Steelers’ Nick Herbig ranks among the NFL leaders in generating quick pressures with 16 overall on a 6.5% rate of producing them.

2. Shutdown Joey?

The starters at the Steelers’ four other secondary spots have been altered repeatedly throughout the season, but aside from a three-game absence because of a hamstring injury, Joey Porter Jr. has been a constant at outside cornerback.

Some of the numbers suggest he has done a pretty good job, too.

Sports Info Solutions measures opponent completion percentage against NFL cornerbacks. Only four have a lower figure than Porter (40.6%).

Pro Football Focus ranks Porter’s figure for opponent passer rating against him (51.3) as third best among the 75 corners who have played the most defensive snaps this season. PFF also reports that only three cornerbacks have more of what it considers “forced incompletions” this season than Porter’s 10, and only seven have a better rate of snaps played in coverage vs. receptions allowed (17.1).

3. Yellow flags

The folks at In Game analyzed data from nflpenalties.com dating to 2014, looking at the number of penalties by referees over that span. Among its findings is that Carl Cheffers threw more flags than any lead official from 2014-24. His 2,401 flags thrown by far outpaces No. 2 Clete Blakeman (2,286).

But when it comes to breaking it down by team, Blakeman (98) has flagged the Steelers far more than Cheffers (80).

Sunday in Chicago, the Steelers don’t have to worry about either of those two. A crew led by John Hussey is officiating the game against the Bears. Hussey ranks seventh overall in flags thrown since 2014, fifth most against the Steelers.

Incidentally, the Raiders — be it in Oakland or Las Vegas — had more flags thrown on them from 2014-24 than any other NFL team (1,259).

4. Going jumbo

The Steelers are averaging 6.2 yards per play this season when in their “jumbo” personnel (deploying offensive lineman Spencer Anderson as an eligible receiver), according to Next Gen. That’s better efficiency than all but three of the other 28 teams that have deployed such a package at any point this season. The Steelers are coming off a game last week against the Cincinnati Bengals in which they went “jumbo” for 21.7% of their offensive snaps.

Interestingly, however, is that although in most instances Anderson is acting as a de facto extra tight end, when the Steelers go with more traditional multi-tight end looks they have not been as successful. The Steelers rank 28th in yards per play (4.3) when using two tight ends. Their yards per play when showing a three-tight end look (3.8) is also well below the NFL average (4.3).

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)