3 - Can the defense stop the new-look Steelers offense?
Following Matt Canada’s firing, Eddie Faulkner is getting his chance as the Steelers offensive coordinator. And if you didn’t keep tabs on the Steelers big win last week against the Cincinnati Bengals, know that quarterback Kenny Pickett had one of his better outings of the season, completing a remarkable 72.7 percent of his passes with 278 passing yards, which were season highs.
However, the Steelers offense still only mustered 16 points despite putting up 421 total yards and 37:17 in time of possession. This implies the Steelers are rolling with a ball-control approach, meaning the Arizona Cardinals must get stops on third down.
Last week, Pittsburgh faced third down 17 times and converted eight of those attempts. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, they are giving up the highest number of third down conversions in football at 47.0 percent. The next team on the list, the Chicago Bears, is operating at nearly one whole percentage point under Arizona, so this will be no simple task on Sunday.
(Statistics and information provided by Pro-Football-Reference)