Add this to the pile of things I didn’t expect to hear this season.
Is the Washington-Pittsburgh game a possible Super Bowl preview?
Yes, that was the subject of a Friday morning national radio show.
Give the Commanders (7-2) some credit. They followed up a Hail Mary win over the Chicago Bears with a road win at the New York Giants. As discussed many times, division wins are gold. Road division wins are platinum.
Before the season started, some pundits had Mike Tomlin finally having a sub-500 season, but culture means something.
The Steelers (6-2) are on a three-game winning streak and are just ahead of the Baltimore Ravens in the division.
Pittsburgh is coming off a bye.
Both teams reloaded the roster for the stretch run. The Commanders acquired defensive back Marshon Lattimore (ruled out), while the Steelers picked up wide receiver Mike Williams and edge-rusher Preston Smith.
Keys:
Contain Pat Freiermuth: Yes. You read that correctly. Freiermuth’s targets have dipped in the last four games, but working in the middle of the field could be one of Pittsburgh’s advantages. It’s up to Russell Wilson to see it, which is another discussion in and of itself. Pittsburgh is going to test Washington’s safeties deep. It’s what Wilson wants to do, but Freiermuth could be the ultimate difference-maker on Sunday.
Contain Najee on First Down: One way to mute Pittsburgh’s offense is to get them behind the chains. As we saw in Denver last season, Wilson is risky with his decision-making, which could lead to turnovers. None of that has a chance of happening if the Steelers can weaponize Najee Harris. If Harris gets 4+ yards a pop, that will open the play-action part of the playbook for Wilson, and they could spell trouble for Washington.
Commanding the Running Game: No matter who is in the backfield, Washington must have a strong running game. The Giants had success against a Pittsburgh stout run defense, but the Steelers have had two weeks to see what went wrong. The danger for the Commanders is that the lack of a running game will lead to turnovers. Jayden Daniels has been excellent at not turning the ball over but getting behind the chains against the Steelers, and all of that will come to an end.
