The Steelers hope to trounce the hapless Giants this week and enter the bye week with an impressive 6-2 record. While no game in the NFL is ever easy, the Giants certainly don’t pose as big of a threat as some other teams. Their defense has been decent, but their offense in almost every aspect has been bad.
Daniel Jones has been his usual abysmal self this season, making a lot of mistakes without a lot of positives to counter them. The run game has had its moments, but it has failed to find any consistency and usually fades once this team is behind.
I’m keeping my focus player on defense again this week (shoutout to Beanie Bishop, who proved me right last week), as the offense should be able to stay steady against the Giants. I’m cheating this week, though, as I am highlighting two stars on defense, but both statistically haven’t been where you would want them to be.
Steelers need to get some production from the edge room
To be clear, both T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith have had really good seasons. Highsmith was dominant off the edge last week and had arguably his best game of the season. Watt has been his usual disruptive self. The issue is, and I say issue loosely, the sacks haven’t been there.
Watt has an uncharacteristically low 4.5 and Highsmith only has one right now. Again, both have been playing great, and their impact is still being felt, but there is such a focus on sacks from this position it would be nice to see both get some respect this week with a big game.
The Giants boast a mediocre pair of tackles to boot, and a poor offensive line overall. Star left tackle Andrew Thomas is injured, opening the door for Joshua Ezeudu to start. He hasn’t looked good. Jermaine Eluemunor has been better on the right side, but no one is mistaking him for an elite tackle right now either.
The interior of the Giants line also isn’t that strong, and they will have to be focused on stopping the stout interior of the Steelers defensive line, so there should be some one-on-one opportunities for both Highsmith and Watt to take advantage of. Jones's pocket awareness has never been that strong, so he could easily cause a few extra sacks on his own.
Ultimately, the way the edge rushers are playing, not having gaudy sack numbers isn’t the end of the world. That said, this week presents a great opportunity to pin their ears back and get after it. Assuming the Steelers can establish an early lead, they can go all in on rushing the quarterback. I’d love to see multiple sacks for both this week, and for Jones to play his miserable brand of football heavily under pressure.