ClutchPoints
Sunday Night Football in Week 10 of the NFL season should be a fascinating clash between two AFC playoff contenders who have gotten to this point in different ways.
The 6-3 Los Angeles Chargers started the season red-hot thanks to an MVP-level tear from Justin Herbert at quarterback. However, the offense has cooled off and the offensive line has dealt with injury after injury, forcing the Chargers into a 3-3 record in their last six games.
The Steelers seemed like they were starting to slide a bit after a 4-1 start to the season, buoyed mostly by the offense in a turn of events from recent years. The defense struggled mightily, but turned things around in a big way in a Week 9 upset of the AFC-leading Indianapolis Colts. That win steadied the ship for Mike Tomlin and company, who currently sit at 5-3.
Now, the two teams will square off in prime time with playoff positioning, and big stakes in each of their respective division races, on the line. When the Chargers have the ball, the Steelers could have a major advantage. Here’s why.
The biggest change in this Chargers offense over the course of the season, and the thing that has hurt them the most, is the deterioration in the pass protection. Los Angeles lost star left tackle Rashawn Slater to a season-ending knee injury during the preseason, but didn’t seem to miss a beat without him.
A big reason for that is the presence of Joe Alt, who moved over from right tackle to left tackle after Slater’s injury. Alt is arguably the best tackle in football, and he proved it over the first few games of the season. However, when Alt went down with an ankle sprain during a loss to the New York Giants, things fell apart quickly.
Alt recently returned before going down again, with an injury to the same ankle, in last Sunday’s loss to the Tennessee Titans that will end his season. Now, the Chargers are back to square one on the offensive line and even added New Orleans Saints castoff Trevor Penning at the trade deadline.
That is going to be a big problem against a Steelers defense that has a lot of talent on the defensive line and got after Daniel Jones to the tune of 18 pressures and five sacks in Week 9. Cameron Heyward and TJ Watt are still very effective, and it looks like Alex Highsmith is trending toward playing in this game after returning to practice on Thursday.
That is bad news for Herbert, who has been under siege for much of the season and is now without his cornerstone left tackle. The star quarterback has been pressured 165 times this season, which is an astonishing 30 more than Cam Ward of the Tennessee Titans in second place.
Herbert and the Chargers have not had a bye yet, so those numbers could be a bit inflated...
