Aaron Rodgers and the Packers will try to win their third game in a row when they host the Steelers on Sunday. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:25 p.m. Eastern.
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Pittsburgh’s defense gave up three passing touchdowns to Joe Burrow in a 24-10 loss to the Bengals. Mason Crosby hit a 51-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Packers past the 49ers, 30-28.
Who: Pittsburgh Steelers (1-2) at Green Bay Packers (2-1).
When: Sunday, Oct. 3, 2021.
Time: 4:25 p.m. Eastern.
Where: Lambeau Field, Green Bay (81,441).
TV: CBS.
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Latest line: Packers -6.5.
Announcers: Jim Nantz, Tony Romo and Tracy Wolfson.
Read some of what Will Graves of the Associated Press wrote about the Steelers trying to reestablish their defensive swagger after losing back-to-back games.
Cam Heyward is tired of listening to critics pile on Ben Roethlisberger and the rest of the Pittsburgh Steelers offense.
Last time the longtime defensive end checked, the entire team was 1-2. That includes a defense that failed to get a sack for the first time in more than four years in a 24-10 home loss to Cincinnati last Sunday.
Yes, starting outside linebackers T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith sat out with a groin injury. Yes, they were replaced by a rotation that included veteran Melvin Ingram — signed in July — and relative unknowns Jamir Jones and Derrek Tuszka. Yes, the defensive line is missing injured starters Tyson Alualu and Stephon Tuitt.
In a place where “the standard is the standard” might as well be taped over every locker, Heyward allows it’s not fair to expect Jones — a rookie who was waived on Monday — to replace an All-Pro such as Watt.
Still ...
“It is fair to win the game,” Heyward said Thursday. “It’s fair to be the best person you can be on Sunday. We’re not asking anybody to replicate what someone else does. But we’re asking them to just help us get a ‘W.’”
Something that’s happened just once through three weeks, with a visit to Green Bay to take on Aaron Rodgers and the Packers (2-1) looming on Sunday.
While Roethlisberger and an offense featuring four rookie starters as well as a first-year offensive coordinator are all in the midst of some very public growing pains, the defense has lost a bit of the swagger that’s become its signature under longtime defensive coordinator Keith Butler.
Not only did the Steelers fail to take down Burrow, they also failed to get a single hit on the second-year quarterback. His white No. 9 jersey was as pristine when he took the final snap as it was when he took the first. In between, Burrow lit up Pittsburgh for three touchdown passes.
The absence of Watt and Highsmith on the edge forced Butler to alter his game plan a bit and take fewer chances by design. The Steelers are also calling fewer blitzes than they have in recent years.
They didn’t have to in the season opener when Watt and Heyward harassed Buffalo star Josh Allen all afternoon in what became a 23-16 upset that is running the risk of looking like an anomaly. They didn’t against the Bengals perhaps because they didn’t want to expose a secondary that’s still in a bit of flux with second-year man James Pierre taking over on the outside for veteran Steven Nelson, who was cut in the spring in a salary-cap move.
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