C.J. Stroud's Success Vs. A Steelers' Weak Pass Defense
Transcript
00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 The problem with the Steelers though
00:06 is when they don't get pressure.
00:08 They have massive splits defensively in their secondary.
00:11 When they get pressure,
00:12 they're number four to number seven in that range
00:15 in basically every stat,
00:16 EPA success rate, completion rate, et cetera.
00:19 But when that pressure doesn't get home
00:21 and a quarterback is able to throw without pressure,
00:23 this pass defense drops to number 25 in EPA per attempt,
00:26 number 31 in success rate,
00:28 number 27 in yards per attempt.
00:30 This is the wheelhouse that CJ Stroud lives in.
00:33 He is not nearly as good,
00:35 nor are most rookies when they are being pressured.
00:37 But the few times that he has kept clean,
00:40 he is phenomenal.
00:41 In fact, across the entire NFL,
00:44 the only quarterback that's better than CJ Stroud
00:46 in EPA per play through three weeks
00:49 when not pressured is Tua.
00:50 And Tua has obviously just put up 70 points last week.
00:53 He's the quarterback everybody's talking about.
00:55 CJ Stroud is number two.
00:56 He's number two in rate of passing be on the sticks,
00:59 number four in third down conversion rate
01:01 when he's not pressured.
01:03 This Texans line is in shambles though.
01:05 They played with four backups last week.
01:07 I don't know how many backups
01:08 they'll have to play with this week.
01:09 It's probably close to three to four at least.
01:12 And that's going to be a problem here,
01:14 but there are going to be opportunities for him to shine,
01:17 to get against the Steelers defense
01:19 that stinks when you can't get pressure.
01:21 Stroud will have some success.
01:23 I also like this element with regard to the offense
01:26 that they are utilizing.
01:28 Their offensive play caller is a new play caller.
01:31 Of course, Bobby Sloa came from the 49ers.
01:33 He saw the 49ers game plan against the Steelers week one.
01:36 He started utilizing a lot more 21 personnel
01:39 with a fullback on the field during pass plays
01:42 last week in Jacksonville.
01:43 It opened up some more time for CJ Stroud to pass the ball.
01:47 Pay close attention when you're watching this game
01:49 to how many times the fullback is on the field
01:51 for the Houston Texans,
01:52 and how often they pass out of those groupings.
01:55 I think that the total is able to squeak over in this one.
01:59 (upbeat music)
02:02 [MUSIC]