If the Pittsburgh Steelers hope to get past the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday it will take a supreme effort in all phases. Pittsburgh has a 1-4 record and the Chargers sit at 2-3. The Chargers also boast one of the most potent passing offenses in the league and two starter-quality running backs. Meanwhile, their defense is in the Top 10 in points allowed.
If the Steelers want to win this weekend, here are the three keys to victory.
Sustain offensive drives
Rookie Devlin Hodges is making his first NFL start and Pittsburgh will be minus a key running back and wide receiver. No problem, right? Despite being short-handed, the Steelers must find ways to hold onto the football, keep the Chargers offense off the field and turn those drives into points. We feel like we are repeating ourselves but getting James Conner going on the ground would sure help but maybe more important is getting tight end Vance McDonald going to keep the chains moving.
Turn turnovers into points
The Steelers are currently fourth in the league in turnover differential at +5. They have 12 turnovers on the season after having 15 all of last season. The problem has been despite creating turnovers the offense hasn’t been able to create touchdowns, even with short fields. Los Angeles is currently -2 in turnover differential and among the worst in the NFL.
Stuff the run
It would be easy to look at the Chargers only getting 89.8 rushing yards per game and feel like the Steelers don’t need to be overly concerned with the Los Angeles rushing attack. But with Austin Ekeler and Melvin Gordon on the roster, you can never discount the run game. Ekeler has 227 rushing yards on the season and Gordon should get more reps this week.
