Manning, Polamalu will match wits By Scouts, Inc.
Why To Watch
The Steelers get a second chance to slow the Colts' offense down after a 26-7 drubbing on Monday night in Week 12. This will be a game of contrasting styles with the Colts' high-powered offense against the Steelers' suffocation zone-blitz defense. The guessing game between Peyton Manning with his pre-snap audibles and the movement of SS Troy Polamalu, who is unpredictable on every play, should be fun to watch.
The questions in this game are simple: Can the Colts' defense stop the Steelers' run game and force Ben Roethlisberger to pass more than he wants to? Can the Colts offensive line give Manning enough pass protection to exploit a mediocre Pittsburgh coverage secondary? With both offenses being extremely creative, will we see this game turn on a gadget or trick play? Lots of stars and story lines make this must-watch football.
When the Steelers have the ball
Rushing: There are no secrets about what the Steelers want to do: pound the ball, control the clock and keep Manning as a spectator with limited offensive possessions. They want to run the ball at least 40 times with Willie Parker handling the outside load and Jerome Bettis handling the tough yards between the tackles and short-yardage and goal-line situations. Verron Haynes and Antwaan Randle El will also be involved in the run game. The Pittsburgh offensive line is finally healthy and has played its best football in recent weeks. It faces a Colts run defense that desperately needs defensive tackle Corey Simon back from an ankle injury as a first and second down run stopper, and he appears to be almost recovered.
The Colts' defense gave up an average of 96.5 yards on the ground in the first 13 games, but that number changed to 169.3 yards in the last three games -- although the Colts were resting some of their players late in the season with home-field advantage wrapped up. The Colts have a defensive line philosophy of "play the run on the way to the quarterback," and at times that can mean poor gap discipline that leads to big holes on the first level and puts a lot of pressure on the Colts' linebacker to stop the run. This is not a defense that eats up blockers and protects the linebackers, so it will have to take on blocks and shed to get to the ball. Pittsburgh RB Dan Kreider is an excellent "iso" blocker, and if he can get to the second level, he can be very effective on lead blocks. The Colts will counter with physical safeties Mike Doss and Bob Sanders to attack the box in run support.
Passing: Roethlisberger has become very efficient in his decision-making and has gone 17 quarters without an interception. Much of that is due to the fact that the Steelers have been able to run the ball and control the tempo of the game. He is much more effective on short touch passes than he is when the Steelers are coming from behind and the opposition is expecting pass. He will face a Colts Cover 2 defense that wants to rush four defenders and dump seven into coverage with a five under and two deep look, which really forces accurate throws into tight spots. The areas that Roethlisberger can attack are the intermediate perimeter zones -- over the corner and underneath the safety -- or the deep middle of the field between the two safeties.
Steelers rookie TE Heath Miller has the speed to really test this defense down the middle of the field between Doss and Sanders. Another challenge for the Colts will be what to do with their safeties if the Steelers are gouging them in the run game. Do they bring one up into the box in run support and switch to a Cover 1, which would give Roethlisberger good perimeter matchups with only one safety helping over the top? He will also have good opportunities for play-action with the safeties biting on the play fakes. To neutralize the Colts' aggressive front-four pass rush, the Steelers may use a lot of three- and five-step drops to get the ball out quickly or some shotgun formations to protect Roethlisberger. In all cases, this is probably going to be a short-to-intermediate passing game with quick hitches and crossing routes.
When the Colts have the ball
Rushing: The Colts will find it very tough to penetrate a Steelers defense that is third in the league versus the run and rarely gives up big plays. The Steelers' success is predicated on their three defensive linemen playing two-gap, read-and-react schemes and letting the linebackers flow to the ball and make plays. They also have a physical secondary led by SS Polamalu that will come up hard versus the run.
Without a traditional lead fullback in the Colts' offense, Edgerrin James is on his own in the run game. Although the Indianapolis stretch play should get outside of nose tackle Casey Hampton and inside linebackers James Farrior and Larry Foote, the Steelers still have good run force at outside linebacker with Joey Porter and Clark Haggans. Pittsburgh also plays good gap-control defense up front and is not as susceptible to counter and backside plays like most aggressive defenses.
The likely game plan for Manning and company is to spread the field with one-back, multi-receiver sets, which will slow down the attacking Pittsburgh linebackers and Polamalu. Even though it will be tough, the Colts will not abandon the run game.
Passing: This is where this game will be won or lost. It certainly looks like the high-powered Colts' passing game has a big advantage over a Pittsburgh pass defense that does not match up well in the secondary. Because of mediocre cover corners, Pittsburgh cannot afford to play man-to-man schemes. It will sit back in a lot of Cover 2 zone schemes but at times will switch to a Cover 1 or Cover 3 with FS Chris Hope as a center fielder and SS Polamalu either in run support or as a blitzer. Manning will have excellent zone holes available to him if he makes the right reads and his pass protection holds up versus the Steelers' zone blitz.
The Colts may use a spread formation with an empty backfield at times to spread out the Steelers and make their up-field attack players into less-aggressive pass defenders, which also negates the pass rush. The Colts may also use some no-huddle schemes to keep the Steelers' base personnel on the field without substituting their nickel package. The pre-snap drama will be a big part of this game. Manning will give the Steelers a variety of looks while trying to probe their defense, while Pittsburgh will try to confuse Manning with all sorts of blitz looks and defensive alignments. The first thing that Manning will do is to locate Polamalu before every snap. The Chargers had a lot of success moving guys around right before the snap, so expect the Steelers to try the same tactic.
Why To Watch
The Steelers get a second chance to slow the Colts' offense down after a 26-7 drubbing on Monday night in Week 12. This will be a game of contrasting styles with the Colts' high-powered offense against the Steelers' suffocation zone-blitz defense. The guessing game between Peyton Manning with his pre-snap audibles and the movement of SS Troy Polamalu, who is unpredictable on every play, should be fun to watch.
The questions in this game are simple: Can the Colts' defense stop the Steelers' run game and force Ben Roethlisberger to pass more than he wants to? Can the Colts offensive line give Manning enough pass protection to exploit a mediocre Pittsburgh coverage secondary? With both offenses being extremely creative, will we see this game turn on a gadget or trick play? Lots of stars and story lines make this must-watch football.
When the Steelers have the ball
Rushing: There are no secrets about what the Steelers want to do: pound the ball, control the clock and keep Manning as a spectator with limited offensive possessions. They want to run the ball at least 40 times with Willie Parker handling the outside load and Jerome Bettis handling the tough yards between the tackles and short-yardage and goal-line situations. Verron Haynes and Antwaan Randle El will also be involved in the run game. The Pittsburgh offensive line is finally healthy and has played its best football in recent weeks. It faces a Colts run defense that desperately needs defensive tackle Corey Simon back from an ankle injury as a first and second down run stopper, and he appears to be almost recovered.
The Colts' defense gave up an average of 96.5 yards on the ground in the first 13 games, but that number changed to 169.3 yards in the last three games -- although the Colts were resting some of their players late in the season with home-field advantage wrapped up. The Colts have a defensive line philosophy of "play the run on the way to the quarterback," and at times that can mean poor gap discipline that leads to big holes on the first level and puts a lot of pressure on the Colts' linebacker to stop the run. This is not a defense that eats up blockers and protects the linebackers, so it will have to take on blocks and shed to get to the ball. Pittsburgh RB Dan Kreider is an excellent "iso" blocker, and if he can get to the second level, he can be very effective on lead blocks. The Colts will counter with physical safeties Mike Doss and Bob Sanders to attack the box in run support.
Passing: Roethlisberger has become very efficient in his decision-making and has gone 17 quarters without an interception. Much of that is due to the fact that the Steelers have been able to run the ball and control the tempo of the game. He is much more effective on short touch passes than he is when the Steelers are coming from behind and the opposition is expecting pass. He will face a Colts Cover 2 defense that wants to rush four defenders and dump seven into coverage with a five under and two deep look, which really forces accurate throws into tight spots. The areas that Roethlisberger can attack are the intermediate perimeter zones -- over the corner and underneath the safety -- or the deep middle of the field between the two safeties.
Steelers rookie TE Heath Miller has the speed to really test this defense down the middle of the field between Doss and Sanders. Another challenge for the Colts will be what to do with their safeties if the Steelers are gouging them in the run game. Do they bring one up into the box in run support and switch to a Cover 1, which would give Roethlisberger good perimeter matchups with only one safety helping over the top? He will also have good opportunities for play-action with the safeties biting on the play fakes. To neutralize the Colts' aggressive front-four pass rush, the Steelers may use a lot of three- and five-step drops to get the ball out quickly or some shotgun formations to protect Roethlisberger. In all cases, this is probably going to be a short-to-intermediate passing game with quick hitches and crossing routes.
When the Colts have the ball
Rushing: The Colts will find it very tough to penetrate a Steelers defense that is third in the league versus the run and rarely gives up big plays. The Steelers' success is predicated on their three defensive linemen playing two-gap, read-and-react schemes and letting the linebackers flow to the ball and make plays. They also have a physical secondary led by SS Polamalu that will come up hard versus the run.
Without a traditional lead fullback in the Colts' offense, Edgerrin James is on his own in the run game. Although the Indianapolis stretch play should get outside of nose tackle Casey Hampton and inside linebackers James Farrior and Larry Foote, the Steelers still have good run force at outside linebacker with Joey Porter and Clark Haggans. Pittsburgh also plays good gap-control defense up front and is not as susceptible to counter and backside plays like most aggressive defenses.
The likely game plan for Manning and company is to spread the field with one-back, multi-receiver sets, which will slow down the attacking Pittsburgh linebackers and Polamalu. Even though it will be tough, the Colts will not abandon the run game.
Passing: This is where this game will be won or lost. It certainly looks like the high-powered Colts' passing game has a big advantage over a Pittsburgh pass defense that does not match up well in the secondary. Because of mediocre cover corners, Pittsburgh cannot afford to play man-to-man schemes. It will sit back in a lot of Cover 2 zone schemes but at times will switch to a Cover 1 or Cover 3 with FS Chris Hope as a center fielder and SS Polamalu either in run support or as a blitzer. Manning will have excellent zone holes available to him if he makes the right reads and his pass protection holds up versus the Steelers' zone blitz.
The Colts may use a spread formation with an empty backfield at times to spread out the Steelers and make their up-field attack players into less-aggressive pass defenders, which also negates the pass rush. The Colts may also use some no-huddle schemes to keep the Steelers' base personnel on the field without substituting their nickel package. The pre-snap drama will be a big part of this game. Manning will give the Steelers a variety of looks while trying to probe their defense, while Pittsburgh will try to confuse Manning with all sorts of blitz looks and defensive alignments. The first thing that Manning will do is to locate Polamalu before every snap. The Chargers had a lot of success moving guys around right before the snap, so expect the Steelers to try the same tactic.
