Pittsburgh Steelers Week 15 Preview

By: Melo Williams 

The Pittsburgh Steelers (5-8) travel to Charlotte to face the Carolina Panthers (5-8) on Sunday in Week 15.

The Steelers will face the daunting task of beating a Panthers team starting to gel and facing a defense with playmakers that takes advantage of making big splash plays.

Pittsburgh will also play without quarterback Kenny Pickett, who will miss the game due to a concussion in Week 14 against the Baltimore Ravens. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin announced Saturday that Mitch Trubisky will start against the Carolina Panthers.

KEYS TO VICTORY:

PROTECT THE BALL

The Steelers must respect the Panther’s defense and not sleep on them despite what Carolina’s defensive stats say.

The Panthers have the 22nd-ranked third-down defense (40.6%) and are 17th in the red zone (55.6%), and 23rd in the league with 14 forced turnovers this season so far. The Panthers’ defense is 13th overall allowing 22.3 points per game.

In Week 14 against the Ravens, Mitch Trubisky threw three interceptions. Two of those interceptions were in the red zone. Mitch must do better protecting the ball.

SLOW PANTHERS RUN GAME

Carolina’s identity on offense this season has been running the ball. The Panthers are averaging 4.5 yards per carry and are 12th in rushing attempts with 361. Against the Seattle Seahawks, the Panthers rushed for 223 yards.

Since Christian McCaffrey was traded to the 49ers, the Panthers’ rushing attack has been spearheaded by Chuba Hubbard and D’Onta Foreman. Foreman has 147 carries, four touchdowns, and 4.3 yards per carry, while Hubbard has 55 carries, and two touchdowns on 4.5 yards per carry.

Mike Tomlin said the best way to stop the Panthers’ run game is to put them in a hole early.

Tomlin said, “They’ve leaned on it the last two weeks because they’ve had leads.” “Baltimore was in front of them and it kind of changed the perspective of that a little bit three weeks ago. So it’s important that we maintain control of the game, that we score points early, that we minimize their ability to get in that mode, if you will.”

The Steelers must do the things they can control to keep the Panthers’ offense on the sideline. Things like running the ball well themselves, getting first downs, and scoring the ball. To sum it all up, the Steelers must control the time of possession.

PUT DONALD IN THIRD DOWNS

The Panthers are bad on third downs, and Pittsburgh must take full advantage of what the numbers say.

When the Panthers have to drop back to pass in third and long situations, they are awful. On 73 third-down dropbacks, when the Panthers’ defense needed six yards or more, they converted only 13.7% of the time, which is last in the NFL.

In the last two games that Sam Darnold has played in, the Panthers have been horrible when passing on third downs needing six yards or more to convert the first down. So putting Darnold and the Panthers’ offense in third and long situations is the best option for a not-so-good Steelers defense to get off the field.

RUN THE BALL

I know it’s getting old saying it, but it’s so crucial for the Steelers to have a chance to win games.

The Steelers have been at their best when running the ball more than throwing it. Every since Najee Harris’s foot healed, the 2nd year running back has looked like the player the Steelers drafted with huge expectations.

In his team’s 16-14 loss to the Ravens in Week 14, Harris carried 12 times for 33 yards and a TD while adding two catches on three targets for 17 yards. He’ll look to pick up the pace this weekend against a Carolina defense that has allowed an average of 128.8 rushing yards per game to date.

CONCLUSION:
Steelers win 23-13

STEELERS STATS

Points Per Game 17.5
Points Allowed Per Game 22.5
Total Yards 334.2
Yards Passing 221.2
Yards Rushing 113.0
Yards Allowed 370.2
Pass Yards Allowed 254.4
Rush Yards Allowed 115.8

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