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Cameron DaSilva
7 hours ago
After two straight wins and a week off to follow, the Los Angeles Rams are ready to return to the field in Week 10. They’ll take on a Steelers team that’s lacking its starting quarterback, but one that also boasts one of the better defenses in the league through nine weeks.
The Rams offense will have to be sharp in Pittsburgh on Sunday if they are to come away with a win, given the way the Steelers defense has played in recent weeks. Sean McVay knows the Steelers are good on that side of the ball, calling this matchup “a great challenge” for the Rams.
Here’s what he said about Pittsburgh’s defense Monday during his press conference.
“They do a great job. I want to say other than New England, they’ve taken it away as much as anybody in the league,” McVay said. “They’re very opportunistic. You look at the acquisition of Minkah Fitzpatrick – has been a big add for them. They’re physical, they’ve always had that identity, they’re a tough, hard-nosed football team. They play physical on all three levels of defense. They do a great job of aggressively mixing it up. They’ll come after you, they can play sound coverage on the backend. It’s going to be a great challenge, especially playing in that atmosphere where you know it’s going to be a great crowd in Pittsburgh. They’re coming in rolling, so they’re feeling good about themselves. We’ve got a little bit of a streak. Hopefully we’ll be feeling healthy and play good football on Sunday.”
The Steelers rank fifth in the NFL with 29 sacks and have allowed a passer rating of just 89.3 – only 0.1 worse than the Rams. Teams are only averaging 3.9 yards per carry against the Steelers this season, too, which also ranks eighth in the NFL. Their four rushing touchdowns allowed are the fourth-fewest, playing great defense in the red zone and near the goal line.
Rob Havenstein and Andrew Whitworth will need to be on top of their game Sunday with T.J. Watt and Bud Dupree lining up on the edges, having combined for 13.5 sacks this season. Minkah Fitzpatrick has made a big impact in the secondary, picking off three passes in his last two games alone.
So while the Steelers may not be the same team they have been on offense, the defense poses a major threat to the Rams.
Sean McVay breaks down what makes Steelers defense 'a great challenge'
The Steelers have played well on defense this season.
theramswire.usatoday.com
