There is a lot of talk about Myles Garrett dominating opposing offensive linemen in 2020, but his success will likely be limited this week.
Ben has been kept remarkably clean in the past few weeks. Ben is the most sacked quarterback in history since sacks became an official stat. This year has been a bit different for the Pittsburgh Steelers future Hall of Famer. Ben has only been sacked 6 times so far in 2020. This is rather surprising after having faced some of the most talented defensive lines in the league being the Eagles and the Broncos. The most impressive game of the season in this aspect was the Eagles game. It is rather shocking to think that the likes of Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham, Malik Jackson, and Javon Hargrave could only combine for a single sack on Ben Roethlisberger. Especially considering the plethora of injuries that the Steelers have dealt with on the offensive line.
The Steelers have played largely without David Decastro due to injury. Their top back up Stefen Wisniewski has been on IR, and their starting right tackle Zach Banner saw his season end in Week 1. With all of these injuries, the Steelers have still kept him relatively clean and that is largely in part of the schemes they have been using. They have utilized a lot of reverses paired with a lot of motion pre-play this season, doing it at a larger rate than we have seen in years past. They did it against the Eagles in a large fashion seeing one go for 56 yards via Ray-Ray McCloud and another going for a touchdown via Chase Claypool. They have been changing up their formations and the usage of their versatile backfield very well, this is helping the run game as they have rushed for over 100 yards in every game this season.
The biggest part of their schemes that is helping Ben stay on his feet, is the speed in which they are getting the ball out of his hands. Ben is tied for the least amount of time taken to throw the ball. At 2.37 seconds this is the quickest he has gotten the ball out since before 2016. NFL’s Next Gen stats only go back as far as 2016, but in each year posted, Ben has never averaged less than 2.5 seconds to throw. That’s even including the one full game he played in 2019. The simple fact is that Ben is getting the ball out really quick. I don’t care how great Myles Garrett is, if Ben is getting the ball out this fast while keeping his mistakes limited Garrett is going to be held in check. I don’t see him beating a double team and getting to Ben in under 2.4 seconds consistently.
The other interesting thing about Ben is the fact that he has thrown 10 touchdowns to a single interception. This is the best decision making I have seen from Ben in a long time. He is taking what defenses are giving him and if nothing is there then he is checking it down. He’s doing it at a league-leading speed too. The Browns are leading the league in turnovers generated, but they are going to have a hard time getting the ball from him.