Watch: Bud Dupree strip-sacks Baker Mayfield
Steel City Underground will pick a play of the game from each side of the ball each week of the Steelers 2019 season. Stay tuned as we hand-select the very best from the black and gold!
On Sunday, the Pittsburgh Steelers made a home stand against the Cleveland Browns that would put to rest doubts as to whether the foes on Lake Erie would be able to sweep them this season. The relationship between the two teams was already tumultuous due to the Week 11 meeting. In Week 13, the Steelers defense was locked in – and one of the biggest contributors to their success was the play of Bud Dupree.
Dupree entered the game with seven sacks, 44 tackles (34 solo), two passes defensed, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. After a nice outing against the Cincinnati Bengals, Dupree didn’t slow down when the Steelers hosted the Browns. In fact, of the five times the Steelers defense sacked Baker Mayfield in the game, Dupree was responsible for 1.5 sacks in the 20-13 win by Pittsburgh, including one strip-sack that was recovered by the Steelers.
With 4:57 left in the third quarter, Mayfield took the snap from the shotgun position. Double-teamed by both the tackle and guard, Dupree was able to swim through the protection as Mayfield moved to his left. Initially, Mayfield was able to move up and away from Dupree’s pressure but he ran into more Steelers defenders mixing it up with his offensive line – namely Vince Williams, T.J. Watt, and Cameron Heyward. As Mayfield hesitated, he was tackled from behind by Dupree and the ball was knocked loose. At some point, Heyward ran down the field with the ball after the play was whistled dead and possession was given to Pittsburgh.
In the game, Dupree added six tackles (four solo) and now carries a career-best total of 8.5 sacks (on pace for 11 this season). He has been a major contributor to the 43 total sacks that the Steelers have amassed through 13 weeks during the 2019-20 NFL regular season.
To be succinct, Dupree is playing at potentially the highest level he has in his entire NFL career this season.
