The New York Jets may not be the most talented team right now, but these are the biggest matchups the Pittsburgh Steelers must account for.
Despite my pre-game cries for the Pittsburgh Steelers to focus on slowing down Amari Cooper and Nick Chubb last week against the Browns, Cleveland’s best offensive players were able to feed. Teams simply cannot go into each week with the same game plan; they need to adjust according to the talent on the field.
For what it’s worth, I do think the Steelers did a good job accounting for All-Pro edge defender Myles Garrett last week. On Sunday, Pittsburgh will host the New York Jets in a pivotal game in hopes of avoiding falling to a dreaded 1-3 record. The Jets are a young team, but there are some big player matchups they shift their attention to and game plan around this week.
Garrett Wilson vs Steelers cornerbacks
I know that Garrett Wilson is just entering the fourth game of his NFL career, but this kid has ‘future star’ written all over him. We could see it from his days at Ohio State. Despite his youth, Wilson has immediately emerged as the top pass-catching option for the Jets.
While things could look a bit different with Zach Wilson at the helm as opposed to Joe Flacco, Wilson still stands to cut off the biggest piece of the pie in New York’s passing offense. He has earned 25 targets and two touchdowns over the past two weeks alone, so Teryl Austin better be game planning around stopping him.
Kevin Dotson vs Quinnen Williams
Kevin Dotson has been up and down early this season — which essentially describes him early in his NFL career. At moments, he can look like a physically-imposing guard who can dominate at the point of attack. Other times, he’s late off the snap or misses his assignment.
He needs to clean that this week as he has a tall task against DT Quinnen Williams. For my money, Williams has been one of the best interior defenders in the game early in the 2022 season. He can win easily with his quickness and array of pass rush moves. Williams currently has an 88.5 pass rush grade, via Pro Football Focus — good for 3rd in the NFL. Dotson better be up to the challenge.
Steelers pass rush vs Zach Wilson
Earlier this week, I posed the question of which Jets QB the Steelers would rather face this week between Zach Wilson and Joe Flacco. I can see it both ways, but it will be Wilson at the helm for the Jets this week. The 23-year-old is coming off a very shakey rookie season in which he recorded just 9 touchdowns and 11 interceptions en route to a 69.7 passer rating (28.2 QBR), via ESPN stats.
Still, Wilson has the mobility and arm to make defenses pay if they don’t get to him early. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh has been awful at generating consistent pressure the past two weeks without T.J. Watt. They need to find ways to get Wilson rattled early in this game.