Though the Jaguars are ranked as the best in the NFL in passing yards allowed and sacks produced with their pass rushers and elite cornerbacks, their run defense is also ranked as the league's worst.
After watching Le'Veon Bell carve up the Ravens last week for 144 yards, Todd Haley and the Steelers have to be looking at the opportunity in front of them as a chance for the running game to look the best it has all season.
We take a look into the film room to show how that can happen:
KEY MATCHUP:
Le'Veon Bell vs. Jaguars' Linebackers:
Looking at the Jaguars' roster on paper gives the impression that they should have a dominant front seven. Calais Campbell is an All-Pro-caliber defensive end and defensive tackle Malik Jackson is a Super Bowl champion with the Giants who can present a problem in the interior of the line.
They have athletic young linebackers in Telvin Smith and Myles Jack, combined with the experience and consistency of Paul Posluszny.
Despite those names being on their roster, the Jaguars have struggled against the run all season. The Jaguars' problems mirror those the Steelers had against the Bears in their Week 3 loss, in that both teams have problems cutting down running backs who look for cutback lanes.
If the Jaguars hope to stop Bell, they have to tighten up how they close down on gaps in the running game. Too often they allow offensive linemen to progress freely into the second level of the defense and open up space for running backs.
Watch here as Derrick Henry is able to get more than five yards into the defense before he's even touched on his way to a 17-yard touchdown. Notice how both the center and the tight end are able to progress to the linebackers who are not advancing, and that allows them to drive the defenders off the ball:
The running lanes have opened up against the Jaguars because of how much responsibility they place on their linebackers to cover gaps, and they have not been good in that regard.
When they aren't aggressive, they allow linemen to get to them, but when they are aggressive, they take bad angles or go too far and get sealed out of their gaps.
Take Jack on this 69-yard touchdown the Jaguars surrendered last week. Notice how far apart the Jaguars' defensive tackles are and how that allows the Jets' right guard to get a free shot at Jack. While that situation is unfortunate, Jack virtually takes himself out of the play by attacking horizontally and not going right to the line of scrimmage:
Jack has a tough responsibility here considering he faces a guard and has a lot of space to cover, but he needs to be able to close the space down and make sure the two meet as close to the line of scrimmage as possible.
But not only does Jack get contacted well off the line, he is also pushed way out of his gap.
That is a consistent theme with Jack, who is a key to their defense as he's the middle linebacker in their 4-3 defense. Watch how he approaches the line on this play and gets swallowed up by the Jets again, allowing for Bilal Powell to scamper freely into the Jaguars' secondary:
The Steelers have three very good interior offensive linemen in Maurkice Pouncey, David DeCastro and Ramon Foster. Each of them is good at accelerating to the second level and attacking linebackers, so this has to be a key to the Steelers' normal inside zone running plays.
If I'm Haley, I'm going to favor more inside runs to establish the ground game before I start calling outside zones and power runs that test the edge.
That's why I said this key matchup was between Bell and the linebackers, because if they aren't able to close down on the gaps, Bell will end up having a lot of space to use his quick feet and one-on-one moves to make Jaguar defenders miss.
But the other aspect of this is Bell in the Steelers' passing game. So far, Bell has not had the biggest impact this season as a receiver for the Steelers, but in the past that has been a strength that has destroyed opponents.
On film, the Jaguars' linebackers seem to have a problem with the attack angles they use to bring down receivers from out of the backfield. Watch how both Smith, No. 50, and Posluszny, No. 51, close in on the back, but fail to make the tackle:
Smith should have this running back dead to rights, but somehow attacks the completely wrong side of the back and allows for a short completion to become a big play.
This is one of those opportunities that the Steelers have to be looking at in their plan all week. They certainly have the calls in their playbook to take advantage of these weaknesses, and if the offense can finally put it all together, they can score points in bunches.
THREE OTHER MATCHUPS
Steelers' pass rush vs. Blake Bortles:
The Jaguars' starting quarterback, Blake Bortles, has not been the premier player that he was expected to be when he was selected early in the first round of the 2014 draft.
The Steelers have to be looking at the chance to disrupt his rhythm and completely neutralize any chance for the Jaguars' 30th-ranked passing attack to impact the game.
That starts with the Steelers' defensive line winning their one-on-one matchups with the Jaguars offensive line. Both Cam Heyward and Stephon Tuitt are adept pass rushers who are both physical and gifted in their rush techniques.
The Jaguars' offensive line is not an extremely talented bunch and will present opportunities for the Steelers' pass rush to advance from second in the league in sacks. (There's more about the No. 1 team below.)
Watch how Leonard Williams just dispatches their center, Brandon Linder, and puts Bortles into a chase that leads to a throw-away pass:
Probably the Jaguars' best offensive lineman is their rookie tackle Cam Robinson out of Alabama, but he needs time to develop. The Steelers should have favorable matchups at every spot of their front seven to win pass rushing battles.
Even if they don't get the sack, pressuring Bortles will force him to lose track of his primary reads and force him to make difficult and ill-advised throws.
Bortles is at his best when he identifies his target pre-snap and it ends up being the open man against the defense. If his predetermined target is open, Bortles can connect with him.
Look at his best plays this season and you see that's how he succeeds. This touchdown against the Ravens came when he saw an obvious Cover 2 defense and threw to Allen Hurns on a double move to the inside. But notice how his head focuses on Hurns at the onset of the play and never leaves:
The same thing happened when he connected with Mercedes Lewis on a 30-yard touchdown pass off of play-action:
If the pass rush can force Bortles to move around in the pocket and lose focus on his primary read, the Jaguars' passing attack will have a very rough time getting going and their offense will be one-dimensional.
That will be important, because the Jaguars have the league's No. 2 rushing attack, led by Leonard Fournette. If the Steelers can key in on that top-of-the-league rushing attack because they don't have to worry about Bortles, it will be an extra leg to getting the job done.
Steelers' offensive line vs. Jaguars' pass rush:
The Jaguars are the only defense in the NFL with more sacks than the Steelers, and that has to be something the Pittsburgh offensive line is looking to limit this week. The Jaguars have good rushers like Campbell, but they produce their best pass rush from confusing offensive lines and quarterbacks with their exotic alignments.
They line up their linebackers and defensive backs all around the line of scrimmage, much like the Steelers, in order to force offenses to consider multiple rushers as potential threats to their quarterback.
Watch here as safety Barry Church, a Pittsburgh native, lines up over the center, fakes as if he's going to drop into coverage, then rushes into the A-gap when the right guard overlooks him:
The Jaguars will look to crowd the line of scrimmage and provide one-on-one matchups for Campbell who leads the team with 5.5 sacks, Yannick Ngakoue who has 4 sacks and Dante Fowler Jr., who is their third overall pick from the 2015 NFL draft and has 3 sacks.
Keeping Ben Roethlisberger clean as he looks to attack the Jaguars' talented secondary will be vital to the Steelers' passing attack. If Roethlisberger gets rushed into some ill-advised passes, that could lead to turnovers.
Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant vs. Jalen Ramsey and A.J. Bouye:
While the Jaguars' pass rush is leading the league, their cornerbacks might be the most talented of their starters. Both Jalen Ramsey and A.J. Bouye are premier players at their position. Each has five or more passes defensed already this season.
Bouye was a big free agent signing after he played well for the Texans for four seasons as an undrafted player. He had 16 passes defensed in 2016 and currently leads the Jaguars with two interceptions.
But Ramsey is the future of this secondary and is looking like the future top cornerback of the NFL. Ramsey was the fifth overall pick of the 2016 NFL draft and so far is living up to the hype.
Not only is Ramsey an incredible athlete, but he has great instincts as a ballhawk and can combine how he plays his role in the defense with his understanding of what quarterbacks and receivers are trying to do.
His anticipation will force Roethlisberger to target receivers in the proper spots in order to avoid aggressive plays on the ball that Ramsey will surely make.
Watch how Ramsey reads the slant route by Mike Wallace, runs comfortably with it, then jumps underneath for the interception:
Ramsey and Bouye may be the best cornerback tandem the Steelers face all season, and that is saying something considering that they have already faced Xavier Rhodes and Trae Waynes of the Vikings and can look forward to facing Malcolm Butler and Stephon Gilmore of the Patriots later this season.
Antonio Brown is a sharp route runner who will force the Jaguars' cornerbacks to get physical, because if they try to play off-coverage, that will go right to Brown's strength as a receiver.
Martavis Bryant, on the other hand, may present the best opportunity for the Jaguars to intercept the ball. He has yet to look sharp in how he runs his routes this season and this talented duo could be able to read his tells.
Tipping off your route by not running it aggressively enough can lead to plays like how Ramsey intercepted Joe Flacco above. If Roethisberger and the Steelers' passing attack are to get going, it will require a lot more precision in their routes, timing and execution than what they have shown so far this season.
However, while the Steelers are going up against a talented pair in Bouye and Ramsey, the Jaguars have also not faced a receiver duo like Brown and Bryant. It will surely be a battle outside the numbers on Sunday.