The Pittsburgh Steelers are gearing up for the 2024 regular season, and with it being the team’s sixth game fans’ hopes remain high heading into the second quarter of the season. The hope is there is a winning performance on the horizon on Sunday in Week 8 when the team hosts the New York Giants on Monday Night Football.

What exactly do the Steelers need to do to on offense to claim their sixth victory of 2024? Let’s break it down…

Defense

Put the game in the air

The Steelers sport one of the league’s best run defenses heading into Week 8, and they do so allowing just 81 yards per game, ranking 3rd in the league. When you look at the Giants offense, they are a team who struggles to gain traction on the ground, averaging 101.6 on the ground. This ranks 25th in the league. The way to winning this game on defense is to make the Giants one-dimensional by not allowing them to get their run game going. If you look at the Steelers’ two losses this season, both the Colts and Cowboys were able to get their run game going, which opened up the rest of the offense.

Harass the QB

If the Steelers are successful with the above key, it will be time to pin their ears back and get after Daniel Jones. The Giants offensive line has struggled at times this season, surrendering 22 sacks through seven games. That mark alone ranks them 3rd in the league for sacks surrendered. If the Giants are hell-bent on stopping T.J. Watt, this is a game where the likes of Alex Highsmith and company could do some serious damage.

Keep them off the board

Let’s look at some basic numbers:

• NYG Offense Points Per Game: 14.1 (T-30)
• PIT Defense Points Per Game: 14.4 (2nd)
• NYG Red-Zone Offense Conversion to TDs: 42.1% (29th)
• PIT Red-Zone Defense: 42.8% (4th)

When you look at these numbers, they all favor the Steelers defense. If there was a game where a bend, don’t break approach would be successful, it would be this one. The Steelers defense should dominate this game.

Keep taking it away

The New York offense has turned the ball over 8 times this season (4 INTs, 4 Fumbles), but it’s the Steelers defense who has been one of the league’s best at taking the ball away. The Steelers have had 13 takeaways so far this season (9 INTs, 4 FR) and could aid their offense by keeping their trend going of multiple takeaway games. Create takeaways and coast into the bye with a 3-game winning streak.

I talk about this, and MUCH more on the “Let’s Ride”, and you can hear that podcast in the player below this article. In the meantime, be sure to stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes surrounding the team as they gear up for game time!