Quarterback Matt Moore (8) will look to lead the Dolphins' offense against the Steelers — GETTY

Steelers

Carter's Classroom: Matt Moore is a pro

Jan 4, 2017 • 4:13 pm

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The Dolphins likely will be dependent on their backup quarterback, Matt Moore, to be the key factor in their game plan Sunday as they go for their second win over the Steelers this season.

Moore's three starts since the injury to Ryan Tannehill, who didn't practice Wednesday, have featured him throwing eight touchdowns and only three interceptions. We took a dive into the film from each of these games to get into what the Steelers' can expect from Moore:

TAKE AWAY TIMING PATTERNS:

Moore has been in the NFL since 2007, so the Steelers should not count on him making mistakes for lack of experience but rather for his own limitations. One of Moore's strengths is that he is a good quick passing quarterback when he determines his reads.

The below play is an example of what happens when the Bills employed a zero coverage look that tipped off Moore as to which matchups he could count on for the play. The Dolphins have a solid group of wide receivers headlined by Jarvis Landry, who's supported by Devante Parker and Kenny Stills.

Each are shifty and good in open space, as seen on this touchdown pass to Stills:

A solid counter to these types of plays would be to disguise coverage packages with different zone looks that can confuse Moore. The Steelers also should play tight press coverage to interrupt the timing of the routes being run.

MOVE FROM LAUNCH SPOT

However even if the Steelers manage to confuse Moore momentarily, they still will need to get after him in the pocket and make him uncomfortable. Moore is dangerous when given time to find open receivers, and his targets are tough to keep up with in a scramble drill:

Watch how Moore shuffles his feet the entire time. That's good on his part so that he can always set when he needs to throw, but if the pocket collapses around him, he will most likely have a hard time getting out of it with proper contain and could shuffle himself into sacks.

Moore is shifty, as well, while we won't highlight it here, he has had multiple touchdowns from being able to roll outside the pocket and score after a play has broken down. If the Steelers are to corral him, it will take consistent disciplined efforts from Bud Dupree and James Harrison.

READS THROUGH EYES

Moore can rotate between his reads, as he does in the below play, but he also stares down players too long sometimes:

While the result works out in his favor here, a collapsing pocket could have forced Moore's hand into throwing to the one receiver he looks at for most of the play.

Sometimes that happens even without pressure; watch as Moore's eyes are fooled by what he sees in the Bills' coverage:

The Bills come out in a sort of cover 4/cover 2 look, with two high safeties and two corners playing backed off. Moore recognizes the safety on his right-hand side of the field creeping to cover an underneath receiver, so he assumes the other safety would do the same and takes a shot deep to the middle of the field.

Corey White reads Moore's eyes and falls back to the middle of the end zone where the deep post route ends up. These are the zone schemes the Steelers' could use on Moore with to confuse him into making mistakes in key situations.

Mike Mitchell will be aided by Sean Davis this time around, so the Steelers' secondary should be in a much better shape than last time. Look for these types of splash play opportunities on third-and-long situations if the Steelers can force them.

That being said, nothing should be taken lightly about Moore. He's still a game manager but is one who can make plays even if breakdowns don't occur on defense. The Steelers' approach to him should be the same as most non-elite quarterbacks in that they should present zone coverage looks and call various blitz looks to confuse and disrupt Moore's mental process in the pocket.

Thursday: we revisit the classroom to review the Steelers' ground game against Ndamukong Suh and the Dolphins defense.

MATT SUNDAY GALLERY