A Winning Formula: Three Defensive Must-Dos for the Steelers vs. Jaguars
3. Steelers Must Force Trevor Lawrence to Commit 2+ Turnovers
While the Jaguars have every reason to lean on Etienne the entire game, they'll afford their excellent quarterback with plenty of opportunities to shine. The problem for Jacksonville is how much that plays into the hands of Pittsburgh.
Sure, a lot of fans are painting a target on Lawrence's back for his "little yellow towels" comment, but that isn't entirely what this is about. Although, it's certanly possible that that is just enough bullitin board material to envoke the curse of anyone who disrespects the Terrible Towel. We'll see.
To put things in a more analytic approach, though, Trevor Lawrence, for all his fame and accolades, turns the football over a lot. Just like many a playmaking quarterback before him, he sometimes doesn't know when to give up on a play and it is so often his undoing.
Only Josh Allen has more turnovers than Trevor Lawrence since he entered the league, Allen has 47 to Lawrence's 45. Granted, Lawrence has taken better care of the football this year, with just six, which is a bit better than the league average.
While he's thrown just three picks, he's fumbled six times already, which puts him on pace to put the ball on the turf even more than he did last year when he fumbled 12 times.
As I mentioned in the opening slide, turnovers aren't a stat that indicates whether Jacksonville will win or lose. Lawrence has just two games in which he didn't turn the ball over, and the Jags won one and lost the other. The only game he turned the ball over twice, the Jags won against the Bills.
The Steelers, however, have won every game they have forced at least three turnovers in. It seems like easy math if a team forces that many turnovers, but it's something Pittsburgh has managed to do in three games already this season. The Steelers are 1-1 in games with at least one turnover but fewer than three and 0-1 without a forced turnover.
Next. 4 burning questions Steelers desperately need to answer in Week 8 vs. Jaguars. 4 burning questions Steelers desperately need to answer in Week 8 vs. Jaguars. dark
It's been formulaic for the past few years, but the Steelers siphon so much momentum when they force turnovers. Getting them against a team that is prone to them would go a long way to helping the Steelers get to 5-2 and win a much-need conference game for potential playoff seeding.