In a 2024 season that has gone out of its way to throw roadblocks in front of the Pittsburgh Steelers, having a second straight home primetime game ahead of the bye week is an opportunity the team cannot afford to waste. A victory over the New York Giants would be the sixth in eight weeks to start the campaign, which is impressive and a huge advantage heading into the teeth of the schedule.
Steelers Want An Impressive Sixth Win
The goal heading into the 2024 campaign for the Pittsburgh Steelers was to stockpile as many wins as possible in the first eight games. While every game in the NFL is competitive, there is a stark contrast between the first half of Pittsburgh’s season and the games following the Week 9 bye. At 5-2, the Steelers have already put together more success than many would have expected, considering the slow offensive starts, season-ending injuries, and a lack of receiver depth. The aim is still to continue stacking wins, and getting six in eight games would set the Steelers up well when the gauntlet begins in Week 10.
The New York Giants (2-5) have struggled throughout the 2024 campaign. With the eighth-worst rushing offense in the NFL (101.6 yards per game), the loss of Saquon Barkley proved to be far too much for New York to overcome. Daniel Jones hasn’t found the form that got him a lucrative extension (four years, $160 million) in March of 2023, being sacked 22 times with only six passing touchdowns. The bright spot has been the defense, especially Defensive Lineman Dexter Lawrence, who led the NFL in sacks (nine) entering Week 8. A one-dimensional New York Giants team may not be enough to challenge the Steelers for four quarters.
Expectations Are Higher
Mike Tomlin’s gutsy call to switch quarterbacks despite being 4-2 with a share of the division lead paid off as Russell Wilson shook off some early rust against the New York Jets along the way to a 37-15 Week 7 win. Justin Fields had done admirably with a 4-2 record as the starter for Pittsburgh, but something was missing, and Tomlin believed Wilson could provide that. With a week of preparation as the starter, Wilson will have his second straight primetime game in black and gold on Monday Night Football.
Expectations have risen from Week 7, though. Wilson can’t show the same sluggish start as he did against the Jets. Any remaining rust should have been shaken off with his starting reps in practice, so a score on the opening drive would be a big sign that stability is returning to the offense. Just because the Giants don’t have a dangerous offense doesn’t mean the Pittsburgh Steelers can afford to warm into the game, especially with the kind of matchups looming after the bye week. Eliminating slow starts will go a long way toward the Pittsburgh Steelers keeping pace against top contenders in the league, and Wilson has that chance in Week 8.
Watt Having Different Impacts
TJ Watt has had what some believe to be a low-end start to the season, with 4.5 sacks in the first seven games of 2024. The problem with that perspective is that it only considers statistics instead of the circumstances and the other ways the former Defensive Player of the Year has contributed to the Steelers’ top-10 defense. While injuries are never an excuse in the NFL, they force teams to alter strategies or adjust to compensate for sidelined players. Watt, Alex Highsmith, and Nick Herbig entered 2024 as the revolving door of pass rushers, but injuries have often kept the trio from playing together.
Losing Herbig removed a speedy option for Defensive Coordinator Teryl Austin, but Highsmith put more onto Watt’s shoulders. A drastically under-appreciated strength of Highsmith’s game is his run defense. During the three games the outside linebacker missed, opposing offenses could run anywhere Watt wasn’t, and Pittsburgh would lose the battle at the line of scrimmage. Teams are investing two and three-man blocks or chips on Watt to take him out of as many plays as possible. While he would love to get the numbers himself, whenever many people are focused on him, it means his teammates can get free.
Defense Has Secondary Strength
Coming into Week 8, the Pittsburgh Steelers were the eighth-ranked defense (298.4 yards/game) in the NFL, and for good reason. A passing defense ranked 22nd in the league (217.3 yards/game) skews the curve a bit, but the second-best defense in rushing (81.1 yards/game) and scoring (14.4 points/game) evens that up a bit. The blueprint has been proven for Pittsburgh to put its defense in the best position to win: Shutting down the opponents’ passing attack. In two losses, Pittsburgh allowed an average of 347 yards through the air but clamped down with 192 passing yards on average when the team wins.
Joey Porter Jr. has had some growing pains in his sophomore season, but it isn’t entirely on him to lock down passing weapons. Donte Jackson and DeShon Elliott have been consistent impact players in the secondary, with Jackson leading the team by snagging three interceptions so far. In Pittsburgh’s recent defensive past, if Watt and the front seven didn’t make it to the quarterback, the secondary was hard-pressed to handle the moment. In 2024, though, the defense has a multi-layered approach that has the team back in the top third of the NFL, and the defensive backs are a huge part of that improvement.
Continued Receiving Woes
Having Wilson under center brought that extra veteran level that Fields hasn’t played long enough to achieve. However, the lesson for the 2024 Pittsburgh Steelers is to rediscover what a legitimate, functional, creative NFL offense looks like, as well as a competent offensive coordinator. Arthur Smith isn’t lighting the league on fire, but scoring 37 points against a Jets defense that was a top-NFL unit in Wilson’s first start of 2024 showed significant growth. A genuine, consistent concern as the season progresses is the lack of contributing receivers behind George Pickens.
Wilson spread the ball around more than Fields could, taking advantage of Pickens’ remarkable deep ball skills. However, the gap between the starting receiver and everyone else in the position group is becoming more apparent by the week. Two receivers caught touchdowns against the Jets, with Van Jefferson and Pickens pulling in their first scores of the 2024 season. Three of the top five players in receiving for Pittsburgh aren’t wide receivers (Pat Freiermuth, Najee Harris, Darnell Washington). Even with a veteran quarterback, Pittsburgh will be handcuffed on offense unless they upgrade the position immediately.
Steelers Want To Keep Running
The Jets’ defensive front was one of the biggest challenges that Pittsburgh’s offensive line had faced to that point in the season. The result was that Wilson got sacked only once, he had 264 yards passing, and, more importantly, Harris put together his second consecutive 100-yard performance of 2024. Season-ending injuries and struggles at tackle put a great deal of pressure on the depth players such as rookie Mason McCormick or center Ryan McCollum. Both linemen have exceeded expectations and are holding their own despite being thrown into the fire due to injuries.
Harris has a different, revitalized energy in the last two games, resulting in back-to-back victories and rushing success for the Pittsburgh Steelers. After limping through the early part of the season, Jaylen Warren will be the closest to healthy he has been in 2024 against the Giants. Considering the power and agility that Harris has been moving with, getting Warren back will only increase the efficiency that the rushing attack has shown despite offensive line injuries. Even with Lawrence commanding New York’s defensive line, it will be an uphill battle for the Giants to contain Pittsburgh’s running game on Monday night.
Steelers Look To Avoid Primetime Trap
Pittsburgh’s Sunday Night Football win over the Jets in Week 7 seemed to make people focus on the downfall of Aaron Rodgers and company rather than what it meant for the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, with another opportunity in primetime to showcase what this black and gold team is capable of, the New York Giants will be going up against a team with plenty to prove. Wilson got to brush the rust off and should hit the ground running rather than the frustrating starts Pittsburgh has turned in during most games in 2024. Expectations are higher now, and with 6-2 within reach, the Pittsburgh Steelers need to seize the moment.
Pittsburgh’s matchups against the Las Vegas Raiders and the Jets could have been seen as trap games in one way or another. Tomlin has tended to play down to opponents in those situations, but the 2024 Pittsburgh Steelers are fighting to shrug off the past with two convincing wins. At 2-5, the New York Giants present another potential trap game for a confident Pittsburgh team coming off a Sunday Night victory. Week 10 starts the dreaded juggernaut of games that includes every single AFC North clash as well as a slew of NFL contenders, so Week 8 is the last chance to overpower a supposed lesser opponent for quite a while.
Final Notes and Prediction
Herbig, Cordarrelle Patterson, and Roman Wilson will all miss the Monday Night Football game against the Giants. Fields popped up on the injury report with a hamstring injury suffered late in the week, which will most likely keep him from backing up Wilson. Montravius Adams will be missed after being placed on Injured Reserve, so it is up to the remainder of the defensive line to step up during his absence.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are set up perfectly to not only come away from the Monday night game with a win but to do so in a dominant fashion. If Pittsburgh’s offensive line can continue its impressive run of holding down the fort, the Steelers’ offense could reach new levels of success. Pittsburgh Steelers 34 – New York Giants 10
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