The last time Matt LaFleur’s Green Bay Packers faced off against Mike Tomlin’s Pittsburgh Steelers, the Packers lost 23-19 to a Kenny Pickett-led team that only threw for 119 passing yards on the day.
In part, that was because the Pittsburgh defense held quarterback Jordan Love to just a 71.8 passer rating and forced him to throw two interceptions in the game.
Now, according to LaFleur, the Steelers’ defense is even better than it was in 2023. Here’s what he had to say about the Pittsburgh defense on Wednesday:
“You can definitely see, there’s some similarities between two years ago. I think they’ve upgraded some of the talent. They still got the front, which is phenomenal. It’s one of the best in football, but they’ve upgraded in some areas.
I think they’ve gotten much more aggressive with their scheme. A lot more man coverage than we saw a few years ago. So, it’ll be interesting to see how they try to attack us. They’re very competitive, and they’ve really feasted on sacks and takeaways.
You see it in every game. There’s a lot of carnage in the backfield, and they do a great job of getting the ball out, whether it’s through interceptions or forcing fumbles. Their style of play is as good as it gets in this league.”
Turnovers can be an issue, considering that Aaron Rodgers is on the other sideline. You can’t bank on him coughing up the football, considering he has the lowest interception rate in the history of the sport among qualifying passers.
Hopefully, the Packers can take care of the football. With that being said, if the team is seeing a lot of pressures and man coverage, they’re going to have to rely on hitting a couple of deep shots just to avoid going three and out.
