It’s not lost on Pittsburgh Steelers fans how concerning the offensive line’s performance was in the season opener against the New York Jets. They struggled to create rushing lanes and struggled to protect 41-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Neither of those is a recipe for success, even if Pittsburgh did find a way to win, thanks in part to Rodgers and his four touchdown passes.
But carrying such a bad performance into Week 2 against the Seattle Seahawks isn’t something the Steelers can afford in their home opener. Seattle’s pass rush is much more formidable than many around the league will give it credit for.
Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive line weaknesses could be Seattle’s playground
In the Seahawks' 2025 debut, their defensive front terrorized Brock Purdy like no other NFL team has before. Purdy was pressured on 57.9% of his drop-backs last week. Of course, like Rodgers, to a degree, Purdy made the best of it. His game-winning touchdown was included in that 57.9%, after all.
Strangely, the Seahawks only got home for a sack once, and it came on a safety blitz from Julian Love, while Purdy’s back was to the defense in a play-action attempt.
Still, the insane pressure rate is enough to warrant some concern for the Steelers’ offense in Week 2. Rodgers was only pressured on 20.6% of his dropbacks last week and was still sacked four times. Rodgers is more mobile than most 41-year-olds, but he’s not as spry as he once was. If Seattle is bringing that kind of heat, especially through Broderick Jones, it could be a long day for Pittsburgh.
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As for Seattle, their lack of sacks on Purdy seems like more of an outlier than the standard expectation. The Seahawks had 45 sacks last season, which outpaced Pittsburgh, despite lacking the star power most teams in the top 12 of that stat employ. That said, Uchena Nwosu, their top pass rusher, could be ready to return from injury this week, giving a significant boost to their pass rush potential against the Steelers’ inexperienced offensive line.
All eyes will be on Jones at left tackle after he gave up three sacks last week, but Seattle’s pass rush is lethal and deep across the board. The Steelers cannot take it lightly. Thankfully, one of the offense’s biggest strengths is Rodgers himself, especially with his ability to get rid of the ball quickly. Rodgers was 15 of 18 when throwing the ball in under 2.5 seconds against the Jets.
Steelers fans shouldn’t forget where Seattle’s head coach, Mike Macdaniel, made his name. It was in Baltimore, and he’s had plenty of experience terrorizing Steelers quarterbacks over the years. Knowing the Steelers’ biggest weakness is the young offensive line, he’s going to give them all they can handle and then some to get his team a much-needed win.