Pittsburgh Steelers Preview: Will the Black and Gold Take Command?

The Pittsburgh Steelers are about to go down a rough road. With a record of 6-2 what lies ahead are some difficult games against some very outstanding teams. It begins this weekend with the Washington Commanders leaders of the NFC East and owners of a 7-2 record. The highlight of Washington’s squad has been the amazing play of rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels. At this point, the kid is a shoe in for rookie of the year.

The question heading into this game is which team is for real or are they both legitimate Super Bowl contenders? The home team Commanders really haven’t beaten a team with a winning record. They defeated the Jets, Dolphins, Patriots, Giants (twice), Bengals, Cardinals, Browns, Panthers, and the Bears. Sure, Cincinnati is a rather good team, and the Cardinals are in first place but neither of those teams are dominant. 

With those victories came their two losses to the Ravens and Buccaneers. The Steelers? They opened the season with a victory over the Atlanta Falcons who are now in first place. The Denver Broncos had a nice short spurt of winning and they too fell to the Black and Gold. Pittsburgh followed that up with a win over a tough Chargers team. A loss in Indianapolis came just before a loss came to Dallas in a game they could have and probably should have won. The remaining victories like Washington came against teams with losing records. 

For sure Mike Tomlin and his squad must not take this game lightly. The Commanders are dangerous and held their own in Baltimore despite losing. In his first year playing for the NFL, Jayden Daniels has been so impressive. His completion percentage of 71.5% is solid. With 1,945 yards passing thus far, he has also thrown nine touchdown passes and been intercepted only two times in 228 attempts. Washington’s running attack is a two-headed monster led by Brian Robinson Jr. with 461 yards on the ground and Daniels himself has added another 459 yards and a 5.6 yards per carry average. 

One scary thing about the Commanders’ running attack is the large chunks of yardage they gain with every carry. As mentioned, Daniels’ mark is at 5.6 per carry. Robinson has a 4.6 average. Austin Ekeler while gaining only 282 yards averages 5.6 each time. While Jeremy McNichols has had just 34 carries, he too is over the five mark with a per carry number of 5.4. Terry McLaurin is the top receiver with 598 yards through the air and averages 14.2 yards per reception. Tight End Zach Ertz is next with 350 yards. McLaurin has scored six times to lead all receivers. Washington’s defense is led by veteran Bobby Wagner. 

Offense vs. Offense

Pittsburgh’s defense will be up against the task of slowing down Washington’s run game and putting heavy pressure on Jayden Daniels and setting up some formations to try to confuse the young man. Pittsburgh has had some problems over the last few games slowing down running games, so this is another challenge. For the Steelers, Russell Wilson has had to consecutive solid games, so it remains to be seen if it was the opponent that made him look good or is he getting his groove on and returning to the All-Pro form he has shown in the past. He was gifted a new weapon this week in the Jets’ Mike Williams and Wilson already had a dangerous arsenal in George Pickens, Pat Freiermuth, Darnell Washington, Calvin Austin III, and Van Jefferson. 

Don’t count out Pittsburgh’s running game with a hard charging Najee Harris who has been running much harder lately as opposed to his season start. Jaylen Warren finally seems 100% healthy and that just means he’s dangerous. Cordarrelle Patterson is close to returning and he was lighting it up before getting injured. Russell Wilson has shown he’s not afraid to air it out and with the addition of the big sized Williams, which might create opportunity for Pickens by just having the 6’4” Williams on the field.

Advantage: Even

Defense vs. defense

In a word, this Pittsburgh defense is LOADED. On ESPN today, they put the Steelers in Super Bowl contention with Kansas City, Buffalo, Baltimore, and the Steelers. Mostly because of the defense. Now comes Preston Smith from Green Bay and an already dominant defense adds another player who loves to be around the quarterback. Cameron Sutton is also back from suspension, and this might just be the best all-around defense in the NFL. There are so many weapons and options with this unit defensive coordinator Teryl Austin could create all kinds of packages. Expect a heavy dose of quarterback pressure from the Black and Gold in this game and lots of confusion for the Commanders’ offense. 

Advantage: Steelers…big time.

Intangibles

I heard that the Commanders are going to hand out “towels” in their colors in an effort to drown out the expected droves of Steelers fans waving the Terrible Towel come Sunday. Like that will affect the play on the field. Whatever. Coming off a bye, the Steelers are 13-4 under Mike Tomlin dating back to 2017. Pittsburgh has also won seven consecutive games after a bye week. There are some new weapons on the Steelers, Mike Smith being one and the other is linebacker Preston Smith. Pittsburgh can set themselves up for a stranglehold on the AFC North with a win as they play the Ravens next after this game. The Commanders are the surprising leaders of the NFC East led by a rookie quarterback, Jayden Daniels. Mike Tomlin also has an impressive record when facing rookie signal callers winning 25 of 31 games in his career as Steelers head coach. 

Final score? I say Steelers 27-13.