5 reasons the Pittsburgh Steelers will win their Week 6 matchup vs. Browns
The Browns are going to have to rely on Baker Mayfield to win this game for them.
Baker had a tremendous rookie season. He had plenty of woes in 2019, but with a new coaching staff, he looks to be approaching a higher level. He has been getting a lot of help from the new system they have implemented in Cleveland and using the bootleg really does play to his strengths. He is mobile and can throw on the run very well.
The problem is that you really don’t want to be outside of the pocket against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The amount of speed that they have on the edge is frightening.
Drew Lock is faster than Baker Mayfield. We saw it on their 40 yard-dash times as Baker posted a 4.81 and Drew Lock posted a 4.70. Both are good speeds for a QB who likes to move around and allow their receivers time to get open. However, Dupree and TJ Watt are athletic freaks and once you leave the pocket, don’t expect to have much time to throw it. If Pittsburgh stops the run, without having to over-commit, and the secondary can stay in coverage on these play-action throws it will be a bad day for the Cleveland offense. This is Blitzburgh and they will be in Mayfield’s face most of the day.
Bootlegs take time to develop. while faking the handoff you are turned away from the play and lose valuable time to read the defense as you are starting to roll out. It doesn’t seem like much, but it is part of the reason why Baker Mayfield is taking the most time to throw in the NFL at 3.19 seconds. If these talented players off the edge don’t over commit, then the bootleg concepts are going to have a nightmare result for Cleveland.
The way to beat a pass rush as great is Pittsburgh is to get the ball out quickly. The Giants only gave up 3 sacks against the Steelers in Week 1 by focusing on getting the ball out on quick timing patterns. After T.J. Watt read one and picked it off, the Giants stopped with that concept and let Jones average time to throw go up to 2.72 seconds. That was when the sacks started coming. Per NextGenStats, Deshaun Watson and Carson Wents both average over 2.75 seconds to throw the ball so far this season. We sacked each of them 5 times. Jeff Driskel did well at getting the ball out quickly as his average time to throw in that game was 2.69. When he came in off the bench and played well against the Steelers this was a key reason why. His big plays came off of quick and well-timed throws. He still got sacked 6 times, but that was because if his first or second option wasn’t there, he would take the sack and avoid mistakes.
Baker is one of the more aggressive quarterbacks in the NFL. He isn’t afraid to take chances and with the amount of talent on his offense, it isn’t necessarily a bad thing. However, he is going to be pressured all game and if he takes too many chances, which I believe he will, then there will be more interceptions tallied for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He is going to have to go to an approach like Jeff Driskel’s and take the sack more often than not to avoid such mistakes and I don’t think he will.