Tale of the tape
STEELERS | BROWNS | |
PPG Offence | 24.7 (10/32) | 27 (6/32) |
PPG Defence | 18.7(6/32) | 26.9 (28/32) |
Passing YPG offence | 210.9(20/32) | 226.8 (13/32) |
Passing YPG Defence | 222.5 (19/32) | 221 (20/32) |
Rushing YPG Offence | 1 33.1 (9/32) | 87.25 (30/32) |
Rushing YPG defence | 90.5 (4/32) | 128.6 (23/32) |
Three keys to victory for the steelers
Take what the defence gives you
A huge part of QB Russell Wilson's game has always been the deep ball and this season is no different - he’s averaging the 3rd most ‘air-yards completed per attempt’ in the league at 4.6. Wilson’s accuracy issues have the potential to be a fatal flaw this season as we previously looked into Win the seventh ? or is this ride beginning to grind to a halt? .In week 15 however his ‘air-yards completed per attempt’ dropped to 3.9 which is just a tick above league average, this resulted in his completion percentage jumping 13% and his bad throw percentage dropping 2% . If Russ can take a similar approach here, there is every reason to think that the Steelers receivers could take advantage in a similar manner to the Bengals game, particularly considering two of cleveland's top 3 CB’s feature in the top 7 of missed tackle percentage with Denzel Ward missing 30% of his tacklse which is 8% higher than any other defender in the league.
Answer Jameis’s prayers with black and gold vengeance!
Clevelands only real path to victory will rely on Jameis Winston’s arm which while entertaining, has not been conducive to a winning, despite the snow globe game.As we all know Jameis is famed for his aggressive throws for better or worse and this plays out over the season and the previous game with around 17% of his throws coming with a defender within a yard of the ball. Somehow over the last two week’s Winston’s bad throw percentage has dropped from 21% to 17% despite throwing four interceptions over that time frame, showing that defenses weren’t taking advantage of these bad throws, which Winston will inevitably throw. The Steelers are averaging over an interception a game though and a fumble a game as well - so they are primed to take advantage of any sloppiness coming from Jameis.
Stop Jerry Jeudy
One of the easiest ways to force Jameis into some of these poor decisions/throws would be to tailor a coverage plan towards stopping Jerry Jeudy who has been on absolute fire over the last few weeks. In his last 5 games he has averaged 123 yards per game which is the most in the league over that time span and has had 22% of Winston’s pass attempts come his way. Last time out he was 6/6 against the Steelers and this can’t be allowed to happen again.
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