Slowing down Lamar Jackson is the Steelers key of the week

The Pittsburgh Steelers are limping their way into Week 13 action against the Baltimore Ravens. While we could pick just about any “don’t outplay yourself” cliche for the key of the week, the Steelers seriously need to contain Ravens’ quarterback Lamar Jackson. If the Pittsburgh Steelers cannot hold the former NFL MVP they will be in serious danger all game long and could be facing another blowout. On the bright side, the Steelers do have history on their side as they are one of the few teams to have contained Jackson on multiple occasions and have never let him run away with a game to date.

The problem for the Steelers right now is, they have been unable to stop anybody on the ground. The Baltimore Ravens are built on running the football, not just with their back’s but with their superstar quarterback as well. The Steelers are going to need to stop both Lamar’s arm and his running ability to win this game. This is extremely easier said than done. Even though the Steelers have done it in the past, I’m not sure they’ve ever been this undermanned against the Ravens in some time and have typically been at or near 100% health against Baltimore since Lamar has taken over at quarterback.

The biggest concern this week becomes the Steelers lack of depth on their defensive line. The last time the Steelers played the Ravens the front five featured: T.J. Watt, Bud Dupree, Stephon Tuitt, Tyson Alualu, and Cam Heyward. In this matchup only Heyward will be available for the Steelers. This is a huge worry for the team as the Steelers will be relying on, for lack of a better term, scrubs to slow down one of the best offensive players in the sport rather than All-Pro caliber athletes.

My best guess as to how the Steelers will need to limit Lamar Jackson’s ability, comes down to what we saw the Miami Dolphins due to Baltimore in there Thursday night victory over the Ravens. The Steelers will need to send creative blitzes and get home to the quarterback over and over again. They cannot let Lamar Jackson get comfortable in the pocket and they need to make his life miserable. They know they will not have the quality of players that can get home on one-on-one matchups so the Steelers will need to send blitzers all over the field and find ways to cover as much as possible.

This may be the Steelers biggest task of the 2021 season. But what do you think? Will the Pittsburgh Steelers be able to slow down Lamar Jackson enough without so many of their own stars, to win this game? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.