Steelers vs. Cardinals, Week 14: How the Cardinals offense will try and move the ball against the Steelers defense

The Pittsburgh Steelers are gearing up for the Arizona Cardinals in Week 14 of the 2019 regular season. Entering the game with a 7-5 record, the Steelers prepare to travel to Pthe desert for the cross-conference matchup.

With this being an unfamiliar matchup for the Steelers, there are some faces many fans want to know more about. Sure, there are the big name players in the matchup, but what about all those other players who can make a difference?

So, I wanted to get a lowdown on what the Cardinals might have in store for the Steelers by talking with Revenge of the Birds, SB Nation’s Cardinals website, editor Seth Cox to pick his brain on the upcoming matchup.

In this first of many installments, I asked Seth what he thinks the Cardinals offense will do when they have the ball and trying to move the ball on the Steelers’ defense. Check out his response:

When the Cardinals have the ball you will see, at least I hope you will see, a diverse offense that has done a nice job of moving the ball, while not doing great at scoring touchdowns.

The Arizona Cardinals when they are playing well are able to run the ball with multiple backs (which includes their leading rusher and quarterback Kyler Murray) and really create huge running lanes.

That’s really the key to the Cardinals offense, as they don’t do a great job in pass protection and their receivers are not great. If they can run and force the defense to have to honor the run they are then able to be multiple in their passing game and not just have to take short throws.

All of this saying, if they play like they did against the 49ers twice and the Buccaneers their offense looks good. If they play like they did against the Rams last week, it’s like watching an inept high school offense and the Steelers won’t have to do much.

This is a matchup on paper which screams of dominance for the Steelers’ defense. The Steelers’ defense leads the NFL in sacks with 43, and the Cardinals have nearly surrendered that many sacks of Kyler Murray thus far in 2019.

Easy, right?

Wrong.

While Murray has been sacked a tremendous amount, he is also extremely elusive as a runner. This isn’t a situation where you try to contain someone like Baker Mayfield. No, Murray is a player like Lamar Jackson who has designed runs, and when the proverbial Red Sea parts he can take off and run for days.

In fact, Murray leads the Cardinals in rushing yards in 2019, which should tell you a lot about Murray as a runner, and the Arizona offense as a whole.

Ultimately, this is a matchup the Steelers should dominate, beating the second straight first round overall draft pick quarterback.

Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below, and be sure to keep tabs on BTSC for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they prepare for the Cardinals in Week 14.