What Steeler fans are saying...

Opponent Discussion Thread (Week 10 vs. Rams)

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Please use this thread to post any info you wanted to share about this week's opponent including weaknesses, strengths, or info on lesser known players you think will have an impact. If you are a fan of the Rams, feel free to add in your two cents, and ask us about the Steelers.
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Aaron Donald might be the scariest person on the Steelers scouting report all season.
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How they handle him will go a long way to determining the outcome of this game.
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(Pressure Goff) + (Move down field quickly) +(Find open receivers) = less checkdowns and more touchdowns basically
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Goff will throw us the ball as long as we lock down their run and short pass game, which I think is very possible.
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Hardest match-up left on the schedule, Ravens included.

Steelers are going to struggle mightily against this defense. They're 4th best rush defense by DVOA, and they also limit running backs receiving efficiency almost as well. Rams defense is no slouch against the pass either (15th in DVOA and that's 3/4s of the year playing without Jalen Ramsey).

Only path to a win that I see is herculean defensive effort, and likely a ST or defensive score.
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Some random thoughts I’ve had about this game for a while now:

• ⁠Cooper Kupp is a nightmare for us. We are already giving up too many yards and first downs over the middle of the field. Kupp in the slot is going to create a problem.
• ⁠Small Hands Goff is going to be seeing ghosts by the 3rd quarter. I personally guarantee he gets strip sacked AT LEAST twice this game, and at least once by TJ. Save my comment and trash me if I’m wrong afterward. The Rams O-Line is basically @#$%& and Goff turns into a skittish deer under pressure.
• ⁠Ramsey will have an uneventful game. Despite being Kryptonite for Ben, he mostly excelled against us when Ben was forcing it to AB. Juju mossed his ass twice last year so I am not even worried about him. I am, though, worried about him if he drops off Juju and covers Johnson. He outsizes Johnson majorly.
• ⁠Gurley will have an uneventful game. 60 yards tops.
• ⁠Mason MUST be ready to throw. Rams run defense is Top 5 in the NFL. I sure as @#$%& hope they have a good scheme coming into the game Sunday. Oh, Rams also are great at neutralizing catches to running backs in the backfield. Not gonna fly this time.
• ⁠Brandon Cooks isn’t playing, which is great.
• ⁠This will be the first time our O-Line goes up against God Mode Aaron Donald. He obviously will create a problem, but I have faith our guys will know what to do. I expect double-teams and designed runs to go away from him.
• ⁠Despite the toughness of this matchup, I believe the Rams weaknesses play into our strengths. As long as Rudolph makes better decisions, and the O-Line does their job, I have faith we can take this one.
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Rams fan here, really respect the hell out of the Steelers, you guys are all class from Coach to GM to Owners especially.after this entire AB fiasco. Both our teams have been unfortunate with injuries, but you've guys been impressive with how you have managed anyways. This game could go either way, but it's extremely important to win this one for us, so expect the Rams to pull out all the stops. Good luck on sunday
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Good luck to you. I think it will be a great game. I see it being pretty low scoring because both defenses have been playing very well. Difference is going to be if Rudolph can get the ball down field and out of his hands before Donald destroys him.
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Also I, personally, am @#$%& terrified of Aaron Donald.

He's amazeballs. And I can only imagine if we had him and Minkah and TJ and Bush playing for us.
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Aaron Donald one day coming home and signing with the Steelers would be a dream come true. One can dream, right?
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Rams fan here. I'm excited to see how we play against you guys this week. This will probably be our only "cold" weather game this year. Goff doesn't play particularly well in low temps so I don't know if he'll have an amazing game, the running game might be key. What exites me most is our defense. Ramsey brought in alot of energy to that side of the ball and they're playing well. Clay Matthews should be back as well. Clay led the team in sacks (6) before getting hurt a month ago. Our pass rush should be 100% now with Donald, Matthews, and Fowler and they'll be taking on a true test against a stellar o-line in the Steelers.

As for our o-line.....let's just not talk about it, just don't hurt Jared I really like him.
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Really looking forward to the matchup. I expect the pressure on Goff to be a pretty big part of the game. Hopefully for you guys he’ll be able to hold onto the ball enough and avoid fumbling.

Mason isn’t always the best if he doesn’t have a good pocket for long enough, and he’s already had a concussion this season. If you don’t hurt Mason we won’t hurt Jared.
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Not gonna lie, I low-key live for Jared's audibles.
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I think this is gonna be our roughest game left on the schedule with the Rams coming off the bye and everything. Going to be interesting to see how our offense responds to the defense and if we can start getting more shots down the field.

I don't see this as a game we can win by playing dink and dunk tactics.

Defense is gonna need to be on it throughout the whole game. We start slow or have a flat half and we will get torched.
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I got a feeling Minkah gonna snatch a deep ball or two from Goff. Let's get this W boys!
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Rams fan here. I don't think I've watched a single Steelers game all year (I usually only watch the Rams game and then NFL Red Zone if I have time to watch anything else after/before). Would love to hear about any new impact players on your team that I should keep an eye out for, or if anyone here wants to discuss predictions/strategies/anything around the upcoming game. Based on the thread below it seems that everyone is (rightfully) talking about Donald's impact, but as amazing as he is we still have plenty of other fun guys to watch on our team. Looking forward to a great game this Sunday!
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Honestly the biggest threat to your offense is our strong line and Minkah Fitzpatrick, who is having a stellar season this year. If you can get passes down the middle quickly you could rack up some points, but it’s easier said than done. Our offense has been lackluster at times this season with Rudolph learning on the fly, but our losses are to top 5 teams and generally have been extremely close (bringing Ravens to overtime, barely losing to the 49ers), so we definitely shouldn’t be taken for granted as a free win for the Rams.
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Can't be too upset if the Steelers lose this one. Rams are favored by 3, and they're coming off a bye.

Mason needs the game of his life to win this. Our defense is improved, but I can see death by Cooper Kupp torching Hilton and Sutton all game off playaction.
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Really tough matchup this week. On the offensive side, I think we have some attackable matchups outside of Ramsey but we’ll see if mason is willing to take shots. We need Conner back, he would have put us in the end zone last game. Defensively we’re superior in the trenches and if we put pressure on Goff and stop the run game I like our chances. Kupp and Everett are not good matchups for us and if those guys get going it’s gonna be a long day.
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Don’t worry, Conner will play. Unless his injury is a lot worse than they think, there’s no way he’ll miss playing against Aaron Donald.
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Gonna have another game of very short throws. JuJu having Ramsey on him all game if they have him going deep often should make those short crossing routes open.

Connor and Edmund's could run a ton if Donald can be handled.
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Make it loud so mcvay has a harder time mind controlling goff from the sideline and we got this game in the bag.
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A lot of what I've seen work against their offense is disguising the coverage until the mic is cut off in the helmet for Goff, so that McVay can't adjust the play for him. I hope we see a lot of movement defensively before the snap.
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We need to shift our identity, this defense is good enough to lean on, even against great offenses. We don’t need Mason to play like Ben, simply because he can’t. He’s capable of being a quality game manager, but we need to shift to a run-focused O. We have a great line and a trio of backs who complement each other well. Unfortunately, I see none of this happening under Uncle Randy.
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Mason in the shotgun + designed quick throws are the only thing that is going to work for our offense. Take a page from the Patriots.

We're gonna need to score well over 30 points to win this one. Our inability to cover the soft spots in the field and their receivers is going to be hell on earth for our defense.
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Good thing we have a bad man named Decastro to help block Donald