The Steelers lead the NFL with 39 sacks and T.J. Watt is the first linebacker with 10 sacks in a season for the team since both Lamarr Woodley and James Harrison did it in 2010. But as the Steelers prepare to face Phillip Rivers, Tom Brady and Drew Brees in their final five regular season games, it will take innovation to continue their production in the pass rush.
Keith Butler will have to come up with even more with aggressive looks from dual threats in the interior gaps. Recent success has shown a blueprint to the potential of such a plan, and it could lead to more sacks for Vince Williams, Jon Bostic and L.J. Fort:
The top pass rushers that will draw attention from offensive lines are usually Cam Heyward, Stephon Tuitt, and now the team's leading sack man, Watt. Though Javon Hargrave has 5.5 sacks, he still hasn't become an assertive presence that will put offenses on high alert for a serious threat to their quarterback.
When offensive linemen focus on those players, it provides favorable matchup opportunities for other rushers, and including the Steelers' inside linebackers.
Williams had a big 2017 with eight sacks, but failed to get one in the first four games of this season. That slump has ended, as he has brought down the quarterback in each of his last four games, and five of his last six to bring his season total to 4.5.
Williams' success as a pass rusher comes from a heads-up style of play with active hands that take advantage of average blockers. Watch his sack from the Broncos game when he beat guard Elijah Wilkinson by slapping down his hands to ruin his leverage, allowing Williams to swim past him for a clear shot at Case Keenum:
The Steelers already have interior defensive linemen who total 14.5 sacks between Heyward, Tuitt and Hargrave, but their pressure opens up huge passing lanes and presents chances to confuse offensive lines. Let's look at the sack Williams shared with Bud Dupree on Joe Flacco.
Watch how the Steelers show blitz from Bostic on the right side of the line, then send Dupree and Williams on the left. The result of the fake blitz from Bostic gets Williams a favorable matchup with running back Javorious Allen, while all but the Ravens' left tackle slide to the right. The result gives Williams a good matchup and Dupree all the space to use his preferred speed style of rush:
Showing blitzes put offenses into a guessing game where they have to pick their poison. Wwhich rushers do they want to double-team or assign their best protectors, and which rushers get the favorable matchups against protecters with a lower pedigree. That's how Williams got his sack against Cam Newton, when the Panthers double-teamed both Tuitt and Heyward and left Williams alone against Christian McCaffrey.
McCaffrey gives up 28 pounds to Williams and tried to chop his legs, but Williams' textbook response of pushing McCaffrey down while he jumps over is the counter that puts Newton in his sights and ends the play:
But Williams' success means better teams such as the Patriots and Saints will be preparing for him. Which is why Butler has to prepare new looks that might not have as much tape to study against. That involve using other rushers up the middle, including Fort.
Fort only has one sack, but it came in a moment that highlights just how overlooked he could be. Watch how the entire left side of the Falcons' line followed Heyward on his twist to the other side, opening up a huge lane for Fort to use his quickness to get to Matt Ryan:
But Fort does have talent to win isolated matchups and not just run through open space. Watch how he puts on a serious spin move in the hole to get free in A-gap and force a hurried throw from Keenum that ends up incomplete. He uses his inside foot to plant and pivot, while using his hand to wrap around and clear the body of Wilkinson, rendering his hands useless and creating his clear path:
Fort only has 126 snaps this season and primarily plays on passing downs. That's where both he and Williams can be the most dangerous. While offenses will naturally be concerned with Heyward and Tuitt off the line, Watt on the edge and the occasional pressures from Dupree and Mike Hilton, Williams and Fort present a prime opportunity to catch easier matchups.
After the Steelers' win over the Panthers, Dupree told me Butler had he and Watt switching between who would rush on a given play to keep offensive lines guessing.
Forcing that kind of guesswork requires opponents to increase communication, which is why if the Steelers include the mixing of rushes between Fort and Williams on top of Watt and Dupree, it will add an extra layer to the Steelers' already effective pass rush.
The more communication an offensive line has to use, the more likely they'll miss assignments or fail to get the matchups they planned. While having two inside linebackers on the field might lower the usage of an extra safety such as Morgan Burnett, the ends might justify the means if quarterbacks have less opportunities with clean pockets to attack the Steelers' secondary.