Kansas City Chiefs: Behind Enemy Lines With Still Curtain

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Pittsburgh Steelers JuJu Smith-Schuster (Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Final Questions

What do you consider the biggest battles in this game?

DD: I’m going to be watching the battle between TJ Watt and Mitchell Schwartz. I believe this will dictate a lot of how the game will go. With Watt coming off a four-sack performance and essentially being the edge-setter on the strong side, the success of the Chiefs offense could very well playoff Schwartz’s ability to handle Watt. I think we can both agree that this game will be won through the air, so who will be able to have a bigger impact on their team? Pittsburgh’s secondary vs. Tyreek Hill will be a fun one to watch (maybe for those in red and not black and gold if all goes as it should) as Hill has to be one of the most dangerous players in the NFL. Mahomes will be thrown a lot of different looks defensively, but if Hill gets the ball in space, Heinz Field might get a good look at Cheetah chuckin’ up the deuces on his way to the end zone.

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How has Pittsburgh changed this season, outside of Bell?

DD: The thing about the Steelers is that they really don’t like change. They like to keep players in-house and keep things black and white. However, some notable changes have taken place. On offense, new offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner now has the reins to the offense after the Steelers waved goodbye to Todd Haley in the offseason. We haven’t seen it yet, but expect more up-tempo offense as the season goes along. We also saw a limited amount of screen passes (I believe only one) and draw plays, a staple of Haley’s offense. On defense, I mentioned the different personnel groupings with three safeties, as the team has transitioned to a more safety-oriented defense. In the off-season, the team moved Sean Davis to free safety to play more to his natural ball instincts, and also switched Bud Dupree and TJ Watt at their outside linebacker positions. Dupree, now playing as the Right Outside Linebacker, is expected to see an increase in pass-rush production as Watt will now anchor the Left side in favor of his run-stopping abilities. Overall, I would say play-calling has changed the most offense, while the pieces to the puzzle on defense are primarily the big changes we’ve seen one week into the season.

Pittsburgh likes to control the ball at the LOS. They like to run the ball and control the game. How do you think they will do if they are forced into a shootout?

DD: After his performance in Cleveland, a lot of people will shy away from their confidence in Roethlisberger. Ben will be playing at home, in good weather, and a full game now under his belt. The familiarity with Conner as a starter now has a week under his belt, too. Given his weapons in Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster to go along with Jesse James/James Washington, there’s no excuse for Ben not to be able to go blow-for-blow with Mahomes if needed. Right now, I do favor Kansas City’s offense over Pittsburgh simply due to Andy Reid’s offensive prowess, but I do think the Steelers would be able to hang with the Chiefs if it turned into that kind of game.

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Thanks again to Donnie Druin for taking the time to sit down and answer some questions with us this week. We spent a lot of time discussing this game which could have enormous implications for both sides.

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