Offensively, the Houston Texans have one household name: Deshaun Watson. His dual-threat playmaking ability easily makes him one of the more difficult players to defend in the league. As with stopping Saquon Barkley in Week 1, the Steelers will need to be hyperfocused on containing Watson.
The Steelers have not yet had to face the elusive Deshaun. The last time the Pittsburgh matched up against Houston, the rookie Watson was on injured reserve.
Though the Texans are winless, Watson could pose a problem to the blitz-happy Pittsburgh defense. The offensive line is highly suspect (most quarterback pressures allowed with 57), so Deshaun will want to high-tail it out of there as quickly and often as possible to avoid the blitz.
Pittsburgh will want to show more five-man rushes or hold back a linebacker and spy Watson to matchup one-on-one if he escapes the pocket.
In early goings, Watson has only managed 44 yards on the ground and one score, but in his four-year career, he’s contributed 1,277 and 15 touchdowns with his feet.
The only mobile quarterback the Steelers have been pitted against this season is the New York Giants’ Daniel Jones. He rushed for 22 yards on four attempts. His rookie season rushing total was 279 and three scores.
Here are some of the best dual-threat quarterbacks the Steelers have faced in recent history and what the outcome was:
Lamar Jackson
When Jackson first came into the league, he was a better runner than passer. Honing his skills as in the air game, he’s becoming one of the best throwers and has quickly developed into the true dual-threat quarterback. Hands down, Jackson remains the best open-field runner in the game.
The Steelers only had to contend with him for one game in 2019, as the Ravens sat their starters in preparation for the playoffs in their final tilt of the season. Jackson put up 70 rushing yards on Pittsburgh in Week 5, which is mild compared to the five 100+ yard games he compiled his rookie year. Pittsburgh pressured him 19 times with five sacks, four hits and 10 hurries.
And, oh yeah, Lamar also snagged seven touchdowns on the ground in ’19 (none versus the Steelers).
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Pro Football Focus slapped the Steelers with their lowest pass-rush grades of ’19 versus Lamar and this guy…
Kyler Murray
Murray totaled for 544 yards and four scores on the ground in 2019. 446 of those yards were in the weeks leading up to the late-season matchup versus Pittsburgh. Cause for concern, right? The Steelers defense made it their focus and limited Murray to the second-least rush yards of his season with a total of two.
On Murray, 19 total pressures were generated. He was sacked four times, hit twice and hurried 13 times.
The second-year QB is the opposite of Jackson in that he’s been running the ball far more often through two weeks than he averaged in ’19. And it shows. Murray has 21 runs for 158 yards and three touchdowns so far. Broken down, that’s 10.5 per game, 7.5 yards per attempt, 79 yards per game, and 1.5 touchdowns per game.
Thankfully the Steelers don’t have to deal with that in the 2020 regular season.
Josh Allen
Allen was another mobile QB the Steelers faced in Week 14. Though he did run one in for a score, they contained him to 28 yards. Prior to the Pittsburgh contest, Allen had posted 439 yards on the ground and eight touchdowns.
The Steelers generated 15 total pressures on Allen with two sacks, three hits and 10 hurries.
Josh has recorded 76 rushing yards and a touchdown in two weeks. The Steelers have to deal with the Bills and Allen in Week 14.
Russell Wilson
The Steelers faced Wilson and the Seahawks the dreaded Week 2 (a.k.a. Ben elbow game). The defense was all over Russell. 19 total pressures were generated — five times sacked, three times hit and11 times hurried. He averaged 21 yards on the ground in ’19 (342 total), and Pittsburgh’s defense allowed 22. Wilson’s rush yards have declined from what they once where, perhaps in an effort to stave off injury.
Dak Prescott
Prescott didn’t even threaten to run against the Steelers in 2016; in fact, it was the only matchup in which the rookie didn’t post any rushing yards.
For his career, Dak has rushed for 1,269 yards and an astounding 24 touchdowns.
We’ll see how things play out with Prescott on Nov. 8 after the Week 8 bye.
Stats courtesy of Pro Football Focus and Pro Football Reference