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Tim Benz: Steelers contained Baker Mayfield, but Cardinals' Kyler Murray presents new challenge | TribLIVE.com
Steelers/NFL

Tim Benz: Steelers contained Baker Mayfield, but Cardinals' Kyler Murray presents new challenge

Tim Benz
2033089_web1_AP_19335858200667
AP
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) runs for a touchdown past Los Angeles Rams outside linebacker Samson Ebukam on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz.

Here’s something you’ve probably heard a thousand times this week as the Steelers get ready to visit the Arizona Cardinals.

“Don’t sleep on the Cardinals. They can score some points.”

OK. But do they really?

The 3-8-1 Cardinals average 21.2 points per game. That’s good for just 20th in football. During their current five-game losing streak, they are averaging 18.8 points per game, as the Arizona “O” has been inconsistent, scoring under 10 points twice in that stretch, and 25, 26, and 27 points in the other three games.

“I think (the games) where they are scoring 27 is probably more them,” Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler said. “They’ll be ready for us. They are going to be at home. Hopefully we can keep them under 20. Our goal is to keep everybody under 17. But we’ll see what happens.”

Of course, that’s the right thing for Butler to say. But his defense is first in forcing turnovers, third in sacks, fifth in total yards allowed, sixth in points per game allowed and seventh in passing yards allowed per game.

I’ll take the Steelers defense in that matchup.

The wild card in the equation is how the Steelers do against the NFL’s 2019 No. 1 overall pick, rookie quarterback Kyler Murray.

“I’ve been proud of the way he has progressed,” Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury said. “His leadership and preparation have increased as the season has gone on, and that is what we wanted to see.”

Murray’s passing numbers are decent. He is completing 63.9% of his passes to the tune of 2,866 yards, 14 touchdowns and a passer rating of 88.4.

Those numbers all fall between 14th and 21st in the NFL among qualified QBs. He also has just six interceptions and hasn’t lost a fumble.

Where he has really excelled, though, is running the football. He leads the Cardinals in rushing yards with 446. Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson is the only quarterback with more rushing yards (977).

Yet Murray has been sacked 41 times, the most in football. So getting him to the ground is possible despite his elusiveness.

The challenge of facing a quarterback who can move is nothing new for Butler’s defense. Early in the season, the Steelers faced Jackson and Russell Wilson.

The results were mixed.

Wilson ran for only 22 yards. But he threw for 300, and 15 rushing yards came on a scramble near the end of the game that essentially sealed the victory.

Two weeks later, Jackson ran for 70 yards but not once over 9, and he was intercepted three times.

Over the last three weeks, the Steelers have seen the Browns’ Baker Mayfield twice and the Bengals’ Ryan Finley once. They can both move, as well, especially in the case of Mayfield, who escapes from the pocket with the intent to throw.

Murray runs by design.

“(Murray) runs a heckuvalot more than Baker Mayfield,” Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said. “This guy leads the Arizona Cardinals in rushing. He is a dangerous guy. Baker Mayfield extends plays. (Arizona has) designed runs. He extends plays. And he also gets chunks of yards via his legs.”

Between the loss to Cleveland in Week 10 and the victory over the Browns in Week 12, the Steelers did as much homework as they could on Mayfield to minimize the damage he could do with his feet.

“We evaluated what he really likes to do,” outside linebacker Bud Dupree said. “We watched our mistakes that we made. We came back to try to make the best of it by making rush lanes of our own.”

Primarily, that meant taking away Mayfield’s escape route to his right.

“When he escaped to my side (the offense’s left), he’s not really trying to throw the ball. He’s looking to run,” Dupree explained. “When he escapes to T.J. (Watt’s) side (the offense’s right) he can still make big plays and throw the ball. So we tried to not let him go that way. And if he escapes, he escapes to my side.”

This week, the Steelers think they have prepared well for Murray, too.

“With Kyler, he likes to escape into the ‘B gaps’ (between the guards and tackles),” defensive end Cam Heyward said. “It’s not usually east-west like Baker was. Baker was buying more time for comeback routes for his receivers.”

While players stressed that they think they’ve prepared well for Murray, his speed and athleticism could be an entirely different reality when they see it in person.

“It’s a challenge because of how we rush,” Tomlin continued. “We’re aggressive. But the reality is you have to go hard and smart when you have guys with the escapability of Murray. We are looking to strike that delicate balance of being aggressive and smart.”

But if Murray doesn’t go, the Cardinals offense won’t go either.

And sometimes the Cards offense doesn’t even go if Murray is in gear.

Ducks > Cardinals.

Steelers win 24-19.

Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.

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Categories: Sports | Steelers/NFL | Breakfast With Benz
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