At the beginning of the season many NFL fans looked at the Steelers' upcoming Sunday night matchup with the Packers at Heinz Field as a potential candidate for game of the year.
But with Aaron Rodgers out and Brett Hundley in at quarterback, the Packers' potential to be an NFC powerhouse plummeted, and the Steelers have become heavy favorites. With the ever-present narrative, however, of the danger of the Steelers losing to bad teams, Mike Tomlin is going to want his players coming out full steam ahead.
We take a look at why the Steelers need to send their blitz after Hundley early and often and how that may be the biggest factor in the Steelers winning on Sunday:
1. HUMBLE HUNDLEY
When Rodgers played this season, he had 13 touchdowns and only three interceptions in his six starts, while Hundley already has seven interceptions to only two touchdowns in his four starts.
If we're being fair, Hundley is basically learning via trial by fire, as he had only 22 regular-season snaps prior to this season. Landry Jones, by comparison, had 109 snaps in 2015 and 161 snaps in 2016.
Hundley has 309 snaps in 2017, but still doesn't look comfortable. His biggest plays come when he can extend a play with his legs and use his eyes to find receivers creating after their routes have been run out.
This is what the Steelers have to avoid, as one of his two touchdowns came when the Packers beat the Bears a few weeks ago. Watch how Hundley stares at a target to his left for four seconds before deciding to roll out of the pocket and assess the potential for other options.
When he rolls to his right, he sees Davante Adams, highlighted in yellow, improvises and finds open space in the end zone that allows for the touchdown pass:
Hundley is notorious for holding onto the ball and waiting for a receiver to break open. He is not a quarterback with a firm grasp on where his receivers are, how their routes best interact with various defenses, or the tendencies of his receiving options.
That also means that while he struggles to grasp the Packers' playbook, he probably doesn't have a good idea of how to plan against opposing defenses and the key plays they like to use. That's been evident this season as he's been sacked 17 times, with 14 of them coming in his four starts.
The Steelers need to rush with more than four this game and jump right into using their wide variety of blitz packages to confuse Hundley early. The Steelers' defense is at its best when it lines up with several blitzing options and can disguise where the rush is coming from.
The Bears did just that when they played the Packers at Soldier Field two weeks ago and sacked Hundley three times. Watch how they send Cre'Von LeBlanc on a a cornerback blitz and how Hundley freezes when his first read is taken away:
Hundley has to rely on his eyes after the snap and follow his receivers when he's going through his reads instead of putting an emphasis on seeing where the defense is protecting. That means if his first read isn't there, he won't know until that player has finished running his route.
So, if the Steelers' defense is in position at the start of the play, they will give their pass rush a good opportunity to get after Hundley. This is why they should throw various blitz packages at Hundley and force him to make good reads consistently rather than allowing him to get comfortable recognizing four-man rushes and hoping for a receiver to get open.
When the Steelers don't manage to put Hundley down, it will be vital to keep him in the pocket to take away his ability to extend plays and force him to make throws into unfavorable situations.
Watch how he reacted when the Ravens sent C.J. Mosley up the middle in the below play. Mosley isn't picked up because the Packers failed to identify him as a rusher. But when Hundley escapes, he realizes he cannot get outside the pocket when he sees linebacker Za'Darius Smith, No. 90, waiting for him on the edge. That forces him to chuck up a bad pass that floats right into the hands of Eric Weddle:
If the Steelers bring these elements to their game, Hundley will be confused and make mistakes. By taking away this element, they could end the game quickly.
2. DON'T HESITATE
The Packers' ground game is in disarray as they have both injury problems and a question as to who they want to be their running back moving forward.
Ty Montgomery, a receiver converted to running back, leads the team with 275 snaps at running back and 71 carries. But it's rookie running back Aaron Jones who leads the team in rushing yards with 370 on 70 carries.
The problem for the Packers is that neither has practiced this week, and Jones was charged for three violations based off an arrest on Oct. 1. If neither can go, the Packers will rely upon another rookie running back, Jamaal Williams.
What's important about the Packers' ground game isn't who is running the ball, but what schemes the offense uses. Look for the Packers to try to employ the pistol formation to give the illusion of Hundley as a running threat based off of option runs.
The goal is to freeze opposing linebackers and hope the running backs can hit their assigned holes and break off the occasional big play. Watch how they froze Bears' inside linebacker, Danny Trevatahan, highlighted in yellow, with this play as Montgomery runs for a 37-yard touchdown:
To nullify this, the Steelers must remain diligent in their gap integrity and not hesitate because of the potential threat of Hundley keeping the ball. This means both Ryan Shazier and Vince Williams will need to read their keys and pay attention to the Packers' guards rather than trying to peer into the backfield.
3. VILLANUEVA VS. NICK PERRY
While the Packers look like they'll be missing Clay Matthews at outside linebacker, they still have Nick Perry.
Perry has seven sacks, which is one-third of the team's total 21 sacks. While that sack total has the Packers ranked at 20th in the league, Perry is still a threat the Steelers must prepare for, namely left tackle Alejandro Villanueva.
Many of Perry's sacks are hustle plays. But when he locks in on his assignment he is dangerous, as Drew Brees found out below.
Watch how Perry bull-rushes Saints left tackle Terron Armstead and clears his path to Brees by getting his hands inside of Armstead:
Villanueva needs to use his hands and keep Perry from getting inside Villanueva's frame. Shutting down Perry will take away a key weapon for the Packers and might give Ben Roethlisberger all the time he needs to dissect a passing defense that has allowed 234.4 passing yards per game.
4. WATCH FOR HAHA CLINTON-DIX
The Packers' best athlete on defense might be their safety Haha Clinton-Dix. The 25-year-old safety has two interceptions and has shown impressive range in coverage.
Watch how he sticks with Danny Woodhead out of the backfield on his wheel route, not only covering Woodhead, but finding the ball to make the interception:
Packers' defensive coordinator Dom Capers will use Clinton-Dix all over the field to disguise his assignments. His range of coverage allows him to to match up with any receiving option and be a threat to attack a ball.
Roethlisberger will have to keep an eye on Clinton-Dix throughout the game and not make assumptions about his assignments. Watch for the Steelers to try to neutralize Clinton-Dix and isolate receivers in one-on-one coverage with the Packers cornerbacks.