GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – A couple of National Football League Blue-Bloods are getting together at the confluence on Sunday. The Green Bay Packers (3-5) will meet the Pittsburgh Steelers (5-3) where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers flow into the Ohio. Kickoff is set for 12:00 CST at what’s now called Acrisure Stadium. The Packers of course are the NFL standard bearers with 13 World Championships in their more than century of competition. The Steelers have been around since the 1930’s, the lovable Rooney family franchise that graciously accepted the NFL-AFL merger move to the American Football Conference. That’s when the loyal Rooney stewards became the standard bearer for consistent excellence. Pittsburgh build a dynasty in the early AFC days, winning four Super Bowl trophies over six years, the unquestioned team of the 70’s. They’ve added two more, all with just three head coaches over the last 54 years, Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher and now 17 years in, Mike Tomlin. If Pittsburgh does drop out of contention or heaven forbid the playoffs, it never seems to take too long for them to be back. This year’s team follows the Steeler blueprints of the past. Opportunistic offense with a rugged, salty defense. They’ve struggled to put up points, the defense has yielded plenty of yards but few points because they turn over teams with the best of them.
It took only a couple of days for the luster of the Pack’s 4 game skid breaking victory against the Los Angeles Rams to subside. The longer the week went on, it appeared the grumpier Head Coach Matt LaFleur became. Another example of ‘just when you think things are turning’ occurred with Jaire Alexander. After missing out the Denver game and struggling for a couple of weeks with a bad back that cropped up after a collision with practice squad quarterback Alex McGough, Alexander appeared to be rounding into form last Sunday, diving for airborne passes when after one of them, landed hard on his shoulder. Alexander didn’t practice all week and was listed as doubtful on Friday’s final injury report. LaFleur became short the more he was asked about the Pro Bowl defensive back’s status this week. He has reason to be disappointed.
The champagne problem hangover has hit. It was a couple of weeks ago when the Packers were finally ready to bring Eric Stokes off the Physically Unable to Perform list. He was going to try and wriggle his way back into the secondary rotation of Alexander, Rasul Douglas and nickel back Keisean Nixon. Defensive Coordinator Joe Barry called it “a champagne problem”. Stokes lasted just a handful of snaps in his season debut before pulling a hamstring hard enough to land on injured reserve. He was joined there by starting safety Darnell Savage, then Rasul Douglas was traded to Buffalo. With Alexander hurting again, Barry may find it hard to raise a glass to his defensive back rotation this Sunday of rookie Carrington Valentine, practice squad call up Corey Ballentine and street free agent signed two weeks ago Robert Rochell.
Another key defensive player may not be ready. Quay Walker pulled a groin just before last week’s L.A. game and it hasn’t come around. He didn’t practice all week and joined Alexander on the doubtful list. The Packers are more protected there because Isaiah McDuffie has played well in place of both De’Vondre Campbell while he was away and for Walker last week.
Five players were declared questionable, four bigs and a safety. Kenny Clark has practiced all week through a painful shoulder injury from last Sunday. Josh Myers has a sore knee, Jon Runyan a stiff neck and Yosh Nijman has an aching back. Safety Rudy Ford missed last week with a calf but got back on the practice field.
The Packers lead the all-time series with the Steelers 19-16 but winning in Pittsburgh has been next to impossible. The last time Green Bay left western Pennsylvania happy was in 1970. Can they win back to back for the first time season?
When the Packers have the ball.
As if everyone needed another example of Aaron Jones’ value and importance to the overall offense. Finally cut loose against the Rams, Jones got back in the end zone and put up 99 yards on 24 touches. There weren’t any explosive plays but simply having him on the field seems to open up the rest of LaFleur’s playbook. There’s no question about the key to offensive productivity, holding up against the Pittsburgh pressure package, led by the dynamic T.J. Watt. Cooling the Steeler jets can be accomplished with Jones staying involved as the one playmaker everything else plays off of. Pittsburgh has struggled in run defense and having both Jones and Dillon available, even in the backfield together, makes life difficult. The Packers piled up a season high 187 rushing yards last week. Even approaching that could create explosive opportunities downfield. Deep balls might be a tall order because of the pass rush but under routes to a Jayden Reed or Luke Musgrave could be available. The offensive line has only one healthy starter right now in Zach Tom and he’s drawing Watt. A big workload awaits. The next step for the offense which showed signs of life last week, is creating big plays. The offense has produced 24 plays of 20 or more yards. Only three of those plays have gained 40 or more yards. Up until Emmanuel Wilson’s late 31 yard run against the Rams, Jordan Love had the three longest rushing plays. Dillon’s long rush is 15, for Jones, it’s 11. Chunk plays lead to points, they need a few.
When the Steelers have the ball.
Like Green Bay, the Steelers are capable of making plays but scoring points has been a grind. Kenny Pickett is in his second year as the Ben Roethlisberger heir apparent. The transition has had moments but not nearly enough. Against a thinned Packer secondary, Pickett may get chances downfield but they wild card might be running back Jaylen Warren. He’s second on the team with 29 receptions. The Packers haven’t had to defend a more than capable back as a receiver. They hope to neutralize Najee Harris especially after two solid efforts against the Minnesota and L.A. backs. There’s been so much said about the Steeler edge rushers impacting quarterbacks, it’s incumbent upon the likes of Rashan Gary, Preston Smith and Kingsley Enegbare to create some havoc for Pickett to consider. That will allow the back end to contest throws. An impressive +8 on the turnover table has Green Bay’s attention. Ball security is a must. Love has appeared to cool the interception problem but the Packers are coming off a game with the first two lost fumbles of the season.
The bottom line.
Up until the Alexander news, I really thought the Packers had a fighting chance this weekend. The Steelers just out-tough opponents but their 5-3 record doesn’t have the look of a serious deep playoff run team. Green Bay still should make some plays, they’ll need to better in the red zone than they were against the Rams when the plays and yards started to come. Just not sure the secondary will play as clean as they did at Lambeau.
I’ll take the Steelers, 22-17.
