Why the Steelers should blitz Bengals QB Joe Burrow and play man coverage ... seriously

It sounds counterintuitive, but attacking Joe Burrow's Bengals by blitzing and dropping in man is working

Sep 24, 2026 at 10:38 am ET • 3 min read

The Cincinnati Bengals' (2-0) Pro Bowl passing game trio of quarterback Joe Burrow, wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase and wide receiver Tee Higgins is as high flying as it gets in the NFL today. 

Burrow possesses the highest career completion percentage in league history at 68.5%, minimum 1,000 career pass attempts, and the duo of Chase and Higgins have combined for the most catches (859), receiving yards (11,611) and receiving touchdowns (95) of any duo in the NFL since they became teammates in 2021. 

So how will the Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1) keep up? Their offense ranks bottom-three in the NFL in scoring offense (11.5 points per game, 31st), total offense (249.5 total yards per game, 30th) and third-down offense (20% third-down conversion rate, 31st) with all three of those figures being the worst through two games of any season in head coach Mike McCarthy's or quarterback Aaron Rodgers' respective careers. The answer: play so counterintuitively defensively that it overwhelms the Bengals' high-flying offense.

What would that look like in practice? Steelers defensive coordinator Patrick Graham opting to heavily blitz Burrow and play man coverage at a high rate. I'm sure you, the reader, just spit out whatever liquid you may be drinking right now because that sounds like a crazy thing to do against Burrow and Co. However, it might tilt the playing field more in Pittsburgh's favor if the Steelers choose to do both of those things. 

Burrow has been blitzed on 37% of his dropbacks in 2026, the 10th-highest rate in the league this season and the highest rate of his career. Even though his average time to throw of 2.67 seconds is the fastest of his career and the third-fastest in the NFL this season, Burrow is averaging a career-low 6.4 air yards per pass attempt while being hit on 20.5% of his dropbacks, the highest rate of his career per the NFL's Next Gen Stats. Versus the blitz in 2026, Burrow possesses the third-lowest expected points added (EPA) per dropback in the league (-0.58), which also ranks as a personal career-low. Only Rodgers (-0.59) and Falcons fill-in Cooper Rush (-0.95) have a lower EPA per dropback against the blitz than Burrow this season. 

These blitzes should target the left side of the offensive line where left tackle Orlando Brown is located because his quarterback pressure rate allowed of 13% in 13 career games against the Steelers, including the playoffs, is his highest rate against any opponent, minimum 100 pass blocks, which includes a 15.1% in six games as a Bengal, per the NFL's Next Gen Stats. Pittsburgh edge rusher Alex Highsmith has also owned Brown at times with 24 quarterback pressures vs. Brown, including 16 quick pressures, which stands as the fourth-most quick pressures by any pass rusher versus a single blocker since 2018, via the NFL's Next Gen Stats. Bengals right tackle Amarius Mims is having a great year, but three-time NFL sacks leader T.J. Watt will keep him busy on the right side in addition to any blitzers Graham could send that direction.

So why man coverage? Well, Chase has been targeted just once on 13 routes against man coverage in 2026, and he doesn't have a catch against it, per the NFL's Next Gen Stats. Now, the defensive backs from the Buccaneers and the Texans, particularly Houston, are stout. It would be a lot easier to employ this strategy if the Steelers had Joey Porter Jr. available, and not in a contract standoff, in addition to Jamel Dean and Jalen Ramsey. Last season, Porter led the NFL in passer rating against as the primary defender in coverage (with a minimum of 60 pass attempts) with a 49.1 rating. No other corner allowed a sub-50 passer rating against. 

Playing man coverage does perhaps wall off Chase, especially if a double team is applied, but it does lead to the Steelers picking their poison and potentially opening the door for a big Higgins game. The Bengals' No. 2 option has been targeted on 58.3% of his routes run versus man coverage, the second-highest target rate among wide receivers with at least 10 routes vs. man coverage, per the NFL's Next Gen Stats. Higgins has caught 5 of 7 of those targets for 105 yards.

Time for Graham and his Steelers defense to take a page out of former DC Brian Flores' playbook and blitz Burrow at will. It's the only way Pittsburgh's geriatric offense will be able to keep pace with Cincinnati's three musketeers of Burrow, Chase and Higgins.