Steelers Run Defense Too Dominant.

The Pittsburgh Steelers ranked first in the NFL in stopping the run during the regular season and they match up favorably against a Packers rushing attack which ranked 24^th in the league.  The Steelers are lead in tackling by one of the league’s best linebacking corps.  Three of the Steelers linebackers have triple digit tackles this season on their way to paralyzing opponent’s rushing offense.

Then they employ the greatest run stopping safety football has to offer in Troy Polamalu, who some would argue is the most Impactful defender in the game.  Paired with Polamalu at safety is Ryan Clark who accumulated 90 tackles this season.

Green Bay may have a difficult time handling such active defenders especially since they have had trouble running against even the weakest teams in the league.  The Packers as a team averaged just over 100 yards a game on the ground and amassed only 11 rushing touchdowns.

The team’s leading rusher, Brandon Jackson, recorded just over seven hundred yards and averaged a disappointing 3.6 yards per carry. The teams second leading rusher throughout the season was quarterback Aaron Rodgers.  But as the packers move into the playoff their rushing seems to have come out of nowhere averaging twenty more yards a game than they did in the regular season.  This is largely due to their leading rusher this post season, who literally came out of nowhere.

James Starks was a sixth round draft pick out of Buffalo who was not even activated until November but in his playoff debut he wowed audiences across the nation.  He rushed for 123 yards averaging more than five yards per carry against the eagles in the first round.

In an innovative inverted wishbone formation the packers had their way with the Eagles’ defense.  The formation allows the Packers to not establish a strong side on offense, and also gives them a backside fullback to fill holes which allows a guard or center to pull while not leaving a backside end or tackle unattended.  This furthers the Packers advantage rushing because while these centers and guards pull they occupy second level defenders with their big bodies.

We have seen this formation less often in the Packers last two Games but we have seen moderate effectiveness from Starks.  Further the inverted wishbone is not likely to have success against the Steelers because of the prowess of their linebackers and safeties, who facing such a formation can load the box.

The only chance the packers have of successfully running the ball is to spread the Steelers defense and force pass rush specialists James Harrison and Lamar Woodley into coverage which will eventually make the Steelers run a Nickel.  The lack of depth at the cornerback position for Pittsburgh is a liability in run support and is the only small chink in the Steelers’ rush defense armor. 

Ultimately the Packers won’t be able to run with any sort of success  because of the dominance of the Steelers rush defense but if they hope to have any chance of winning they will have to at least make the run a threat or Aaron Rodgers may spend most of his first Super Bowl starring at the ceiling of Jerry World.