3 reasons the Pittsburgh Steelers will win their Week 7 match up vs the Titans
The Titans had a pretty good defense in 2019. They have taken a step backward.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are facing another average, somewhat bad, defense. Pittsburgh reminded us of an important lesson last week. If you are a well-balanced offense, then you will beat an average defense. Pittsburgh is facing off against a defense that is allowing the 7th most total yards per game total in 2020. They have allowed the 5th most passing yards per game, and the 7th most rushing yards per game, per ESPN. The fact that they are just 16th in points allowed per game really comes down to controlling the time of possession and running the ball.
They are still waiting for Jadeveon Clowney to be the premier pass rusher they paid for coming into 2020. Without a consistent pass rush, or stars in the secondary they haven’t been able to stop teams from passing. What makes it even harder is that without a good run defense they are going to have a harder and harder time getting off the field and Pittsburgh is going to expose that this week. The one thing the Titans have going for them on defense is a league-leading turnover differential of +6. They have generated the same amount of turnovers this season as the Pittsburgh Steelers, at 9, while giving the ball away one less time.
For Randy Fichtner, this has to be a game he is going to enjoy scheming for. With all of the different things he has employed this season to run, and throw the ball, he has to be thinking that he can script nearly the entirety of this game. There shouldn’t be a facet of the game the Titans can defend against well in Week 7. The Steelers are getting Diontae Johnson back to add to their loaded receiving core. James Conner is averaging a career-high in yards per carry. The offensive line has surprisingly not missed a beat without Zach Banner or David DeCastro. The Steelers should be able to score when they want to in this game, although I expect them to take their time and methodically go down the field to chew up clock and keep Derrick Henry on the sidelines.