They have knocked Drew Lock from the game with a strained rotator cuff and sent Baker Mayfield to the sideline with one too many shots to the ribs.
They have harassed young and veteran quarterbacks alike into throwing momentum-changing interceptions, from Daniel Jones to Deshaun Watson to Carson Wentz to, of course, Mayfield.
On defense, the Pittsburgh Steelers have gotten off to a 5-0 start by sacking the quarterback an NFL-high 24 times and gathering the second-most interceptions with eight.
That formula for success, however, will be tested this week by Tennessee’s Ryan Tannehill. In guiding the Titans to an identical 5-0 record, Tannehill has managed to keep his backside clean and the ball away from players wearing different colored uniforms better than any other NFL quarterback.
“He’s having a great time, and they are winning,” defensive end Stephon Tuitt said Thursday. “He’s making great passes, doing great reads. He’s got a good back. You can tell he’s having a general good time, and he’s on a good team. You can see him radiate in that success because of that.
“It’s going to be our job to separate them from that flow that they’ve got going and have a great defensive performance down there.”
Easier said than done. By minimizing his mistakes, the 32-year-old Tannehill has combined with NFL rushing leader Derrick Henry to keep the Titans offense humming despite the coronavirus outbreak that shut down the Titans facility for nearly two weeks and caused the Steelers game to be postponed from Week 4 until Sunday.
Playing in his eighth NFL season and second in Tennessee, Tannehill has a 13-2 touchdown-to-interception ratio. His touchdown passes rank fifth among all passer, he is sixth in completion percentage and third in passer rating. In addition, he’s getting rid of the ball better than any of his peers as evidenced by the NFL-low five sacks Tannehill has taken.
By comparison, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who also is off to a hot start, has been sacked eight times.
And, similar to the way Roethlisberger has spread the ball among Steelers receivers this year, Tannehill has gotten all of his pass catchers regular targets. Five Titans players have been 15 and 21 receptions and six have between 176 and 234 receiving yards.
“This guy is making great decisions,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “He’s taking care of the ball. He’s spreading the ball around to a variety of eligibles, not only wide receivers but the utilization of the tight end and the running back position is very good. It makes him a tough nut to crack.”
The same could be said for the Steelers defense, which has allowed the fewest yards and second-fewest points this season in addition to its prolific numbers in sacks and interceptions. Tannehill will enter the game without Pro Bowl left tackle Taylor Lewan, who sustained a season-ending ACL tear in his right knee last Sunday against the Houston Texans.
“It’s definitely going to be a challenge for us to protect up front,” Tannehill told Titans reporters earlier this week. “We’re going to have to anchor down up there and really do our jobs in order to have the time to get the ball off.”
Henry has made Tannehill’s job easier by rushing for an NFL-leading 588 yards this season, including 212 in the 42-36 overtime win against the Texans. He also took a short pass 53 yards to set up his game-winning touchdown run off a direct snap.
Henry’s presence has helped Tannehill take advantage of play-action passes for much of his time in Tennessee. He was one of the league’s top play-action passers lasts season after wrestling the starting job away from Marcus Mariota, and he is averaging a healthy 10.5 yards per attempt on play-action passes this year. And Tannehill isn’t afraid to tuck the ball and run as evidenced by his 5.1-yards-per-carry on 15 attempts.
“When you’ve got a running back that gets 200 yards a game, It’s easy to be fooled and bite on the run,” outside linebacker Bud Dupree said. “It will make the guys covering stop their feet and think they’ve got to play the run and then the receivers will run right by them and give Tannehill a great opportunity to make a good read off that.”
Tannehill changed it up in the 42-36 victory against Houston, completing 22 of 25 passes for 222 yards and three touchdowns on passes that did not involve play-action. It’s another aspect of his game that has gotten the Steelers’ attention.
“He’s done a great job of quarterbacking that team,” defensive coordinator Keith Butler said. “It’s not just Henry. It’s the quarterback, too. He’s someone who is going to be tough for us to stop.”
Joe Rutter is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joe by email at jrutter@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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