Pittsburgh Steelers

Chiefs scouting report: How defense can beat Steelers

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

The Kansas City Chiefs must follow this formula to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers.

On Tuesday, I sat down and watched the tape of the Philadelphia Eagles absolutely taking apart the Pittsburgh Steelers last weekend. For those unaware, Philadelphia won 34-3.

The score was indicative of the beating that this game was. The Eagles rolled up 426 yards while only allowing 251. Philadelphia also won the turnover battle (2-0) and kept Ben Roethlisberger to 4.6 yards per attempt.

Looking at the tape, it’s easy to see how the Eagles did it. They mostly dropped seven into coverage, using twists and stunts up front to get pressure on Roethlisberger. Early on, the Eagles only got tepid pressure, but with the score getting out of hand, the line pinned its ears back and got four sacks.

The Chiefs should follow this method. Much like the Eagles, Kansas City has an excellent defensive line with Dontari Poe, Allen Baliey and Jaye Howard. This would be a great game to introduce Chris Jones to the rest of the NFL. He’s a pass-rusher more than anything else at this juncture. Let him hunt. With Tamba Hali coming off the edge, the Chiefs have hope of getting home a time or two against Roethlisberger. It’s not about the sacks in this game, it’s about the pressures.

Last week, Kansas City put on a clinic in its secondary against a very good receivers group. The same has to happen this time around. Defensive coordinator Bob Sutton would be wise to use nickel personnel, giving Roethlisberger a see of white jerseys to look at.