We wrote early in the season the Pittsburgh Steelers’ personality had changed. They were blitzing less and a less aggressive unit playing more zone than man coverage. In early October, we noted the Steelers’ zone coverage rate was up ten points from where it stood a year ago and eight points from 2019.
Monday night’s win over the Cleveland Browns was different. Pittsburgh got back to its roots. An aggressive, blitzing team that sacked QB Baker Mayfield nine times, the most they have ever sacked a Browns’ team in a single game. In the back end, they played more man coverage, so much so that CB Ahkello Witherspoon told reporters it’s the most man-coverage Pittsburgh has played all season long.