The s' offensive turnaround in Week 3 was broadly praised as a return to conventional, ground-and-pound soccer. Nonetheless, a better take a look at the scheme reveals that Jaylen Warren’s standout efficiency on the bottom was really created by early vertical pictures downfield.
Slightly than attempting to pressure the run into stacked defensive packing containers as they did in Week 2, Mike McCarthy’s recreation plan stretched the s' protection vertically from the opening kickoff. On the very first play, Pittsburgh related on a 30-yard go to Warren, adopted rapidly by downfield pictures of 38 and 17 yards to rookie receiver Roman Wilson and an 11-yard strike to DK Metcalf.
As beat reporter Alan Saunders identified on the “s” podcast, this aggressive passing method laid the mandatory groundwork for Warren to dominate later within the contest.
"Once they got here out towards the New England Patriots, it was run, run, go, punt," Saunders defined. "On this recreation, they established that they have been going to throw the ball down the sector. After which you possibly can't do each. You’ll be able to't load the field to cease Jaylen Warren and be fearful about getting beat excessive by the receivers."
As soon as Cincinnati’s safeties have been pressured to again off to respect the deep risk, wide-open lanes materialized for the working recreation. Warren capitalized on the additional house, constantly ripping off chunks of yardage to the left facet behind dominant blocking from Troy Fautanu, Mason McCormick, and Zach Frazier.
Host Christopher Carter agreed that establishing early vertical depth gave Pittsburgh a sustainable blueprint transferring ahead. By utilizing the passing recreation to open up working lanes somewhat than relying solely on brute pressure, the s confirmed {that a} balanced, aggressive offense is their finest path to long-term success.
This text initially appeared on Steelers Wire: e
