Steelers Don't Take Success Against Jackson Lightly

In the 1980s and early 1990s, the Detroit Pistons had what they called the "Jordan Rules" to stop Michael Jordan of the Bulls from beating them.

They played physically with Jordan every chance they got, bumping him, muscling him off the ball whenever possible and beating him up when he attempted to perform one of his high-flying drives to the basket.

Early in his career, the Jordan Rules were effective. Jordan would get his points, but the Pistons, a good team in their own right, more than held their own against the Bulls. In fact, Jordan's record as a member of the Bulls against Detroit was 33-31 in the regular season and 10-12 in the postseason.

The Pistons eliminated the Bulls from the playoffs in three consecutive seasons – until they didn't – and Jordan and the Bulls finally beat the Pistons in the Eastern Conference finals in 1991.

We bring this up this week because thus far in Lamar Jackson's young career, the Steelers have had the two-time MVP's number. Jackson is now 1-4 in five career starts against the Steelers in his career. He's thrown just five touchdown passes and eight interceptions in those games, posting a passer rating of 66.7. He's also fumbled 7 times, losing 3, while being sacked 22 times.

Considering Jackson is 66-19 against the rest of the league with 153 touchdown passes and 40 interceptions with a passer rating of 104.1 against every other team in the league, it's a significant difference.

The Steelers don't take that for granted. They understand how dangerous Jackson is as a player. And because of that, they take the approach to defending Jackson to make sure they're physical with him when they can be within the rules of the game.

But they also understand that past success doesn't mean that it will happen every time. They have to be mindful of Jackson's ability to change games.

"Lamar is the most electric guy in the league right now," said Steelers defensive tackle Cam Heyward. "His shiftiness, the play extension, he's second to none in that regard. You've got an arm that's a canon. Each week, you just see a highlight from him. I don't think anyone compares."

The key might be the Steelers' ability to pressure Jackson with their four-man pass rush.

Jackson has been the best quarterback in the league when blitzed this season, completing 68.5 percent of his passes in those situations compared to 67.8 percent when he hasn't.

But when he's pressured, his completion percentage drops to 49.6 percent, compared to 76 percent when he is not pressured.

So, if he beats blitzes but struggles against pressure, you'd better be able to do so with four players. That is something the Steelers are certainly capable of doing.
A big part of that comes from T.J. Watt. Watt has 17 sacks in 15 career games against the Ravens. That is tied for the most by any current NFL player against a single opponent. The player with which Watt is tied for the most sacks against a single opponent? Himself against the Browns, against whom he also has 17 sacks in his career (He has 14 against the Bengals).

Watt also has 8.5 sacks in his career against Jackson, the most any player has sacked Jackson in his career. That has come in five games. The next-closest player is Cleveland's Myles Garrett, who has sacked Jackson 5.5 times – in 11 games.

So, if you pressure Jackson, keep him in the pocket and don't let him make big plays – which he is more apt to do when he escapes that pressure – you have a chance.

"We did a really good job in terms of eliminating a lot of really big plays," Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said of the first meeting with Baltimore this season. "Did a good job in terms of tackling. You have to be able to tackle against this group. One of the things they're really good at is yards after catch, yards after contact, and so I thought we did a really good job of that and that eliminated big plays. Made them have to drive the field, and so we felt pretty comfortable that if it was long drives, that those usually work in the defense's favor."

Will it work again against Jackson? That's what we'll find out Saturday.

Both teams will make adjustments. And the team that adjusts the best could be the one that walks away a winner.