Steelers vs. Cardinals, Week 14: How the Cardinals defense will try and stop the Steelers offense

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 the 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 second of many installments, I asked Seth what he thinks the Cardinals defense will do when they have to try and stop the Steelers’ offense. Check out his response:

Umm… just throw the football. No seriously, just throw the football and you’ll win.

If Chandler Jones can’t get to the quarterback then no one can. They have the worst pass defense in the NFL, by a lot, and Vance McDonald may put up career highs in catches, yards and touchdowns in this game.

The Cardinals pass defense is the worst I have ever seen in my life.

Opposing quarterbacks average: 71.4% completion 307.5 yards, 2.6 TDs, 0.5 INTs and a 112.5 quarterback rating.

They suck.

No, the above was not a joke. This is coming from a fan who cares enough about the Cardinals he is putting time into a site dedicated to the team. So, with that said, it looks as if the Steelers could have their way with the Cardinals’ defense.

But we’ve seen this song and dance before. A team who is extremely vulnerable in one specific area and the Steelers do one of two things:

1. Declare themselves to be so smart they don’t need to take advantage of the weakness.

or

2. Think the opposition will sell out to stop the weak part of their defense, and the Steelers plan to do the total opposite.

What is really interesting for me is how weak the Cardinals’ pass defense is, and the Steelers putting Devlin Hodges out at quarterback. Will Randy Fichtner actually trust Duck to go out and not just throw for first downs, but throw to win? Or will he deploy the typical run, run, pass offense we have all grown to hate so much?

Pittsburgh would be wise to still focus on offensive balance for multiple reasons, one of them being the ability to keep Chandler Jones from pinning his ears back and getting after the quarterback. Another will be to ease the pressure off a young quarterback. Hodges has been tremendous, but fans can’t forget he is still an inexperienced rookie.

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.