Week 5’s Pittsburgh Steelers Z-Factor
What a great week, am I right?
There’s nothing quite like handing the Baltimore Ravens a double-digit loss in their own house. Now the Pittsburgh Steelers are sitting pretty atop the AFC North, with a 3-1 record (should be 4-0 but we’ll take 3-1).
Last week’s victory was thanks in large part to the most recent Z-Factor himself, running back Le’Veon Bell. Bell posted his best game of 2017 by far and eclipsed 100 yards rushing for the first time this season.
Now the 2-2 Jacksonville Jaguars come to town for a battle of division leaders. The Jaguars have been a pleasant surprise to their fans this season, I’ll admit, but they shouldn’t pose too much of a threat to a Steelers team at home.
Regardless of their early success, Jacksonville has the worst run defense in all of football right now. That sounds like a perfect opportunity for Le’Veon Bell to stage an encore performance. However, this week’s Z-Factor will be one of the men paving the way for Juice on Sunday: center Maurkice Pouncey.
Pouncey is arguably the best player at his position. Pittsburgh’s offense is going to be relying on big number 53 a whole lot on Sunday too.
The Jaguars, despite their run defense ranking, have a pretty fearsome front seven. Calais Campbell, who was signed away from the Arizona Cardinals, is a force coming off of the edge but can play multiple positions along the defensive line. Campbell already has 5.5 sacks for the 2017 season, and could matchup with Pouncey in certain schemes.
In 2016, the Jags signed highly-priced and highly-valued free agent Malik Jackson from the Denver Broncos. Jackson and Campbell will both be doing their best to penetrate the Steelers’ offensive line, and Maurkice Pouncey is going to be one of the key pieces responsible for stopping them.
Jacksonville also has very athletic pieces at the linebacker position. Telvin Smith mans the middle of their defense and is actually similar to the Steelers’ Ryan Shazier in a lot of ways. Myles Jack was once viewed as a top ten talent in the 2016 NFL draft, but slid down teams’ boards due to long-term injury concerns. The Jaguars took a chance on the linebacker/defensive back hybrid in the second round, and he has essentially earned a starting role for them this season. Look for Pouncey to get his hat on these two on Sunday in some second level blocking.
In order for Le’Veon to have a repeat performance, and possibly a bigger game, than he did against the Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh’s offense will rely on Pouncey this Sunday. With crowd noise a non-factor, expect the Steelers center to have a near-flawless game and be this week’s “Z-Factor”.
