Coming off a hard-fought 20-19 victory over the division rival Baltimore Ravens, the Pittsburgh Steelers turn their week around quickly and travel to Minnesota for Thursday Night Football. The Vikings present a unique challenge to the Steelers as both teams look to make a push for the playoffs. Even while dealing with key injuries, the Vikings have a high-powered offense. Defensive back Ahkello Witherspoon is one key player who will need to step up and exceed expectations for the Steelers to win the game.
Ahkello Witherspoon: Pittsburgh Steelers Week 14 X-Factor
Key Performer in Week 13
After a miserable start to his time in Pittsburgh, Ahkello Witherspoon stepped up for the Steelers in their win over Baltimore. Prior to Week 13, Witherspoon played 39 snaps on the year, and he made multiple huge mistakes despite the small amount of playing time. With Joe Haden injured and James Pierre struggling, Witherspoon had to step up and play 68 snaps against the Ravens (92% of total snaps). After the Steelers gave up a fifth-round pick to acquire Witherspoon in the off-season, the investment was looking like a terrible one. But faced with no other choices, the team was finally able to get some production out of him.
In the game, Witherspoon had his ups and downs. It’s not like he went out there and just shut down every pass that was thrown his way. On the day, he allowed three completions for 37 yards on six targets, according to Pro Football Reference. That’s hardly a lockdown day. Witherspoon did make one of the biggest plays of the game, though. With 6:36 to go, on 3rd and 15, Lamar Jackson had Mark Andrews open down the seam but Witherspoon made a strong break on the ball. He should have had the interception, but the pass breakup was good enough. The Ravens punted, and Pittsburgh took the lead on their next drive.
Big Matchup in Minnesota
While Witherspoon stepped up against the Ravens, the story of his career has been his inability to play at a high level consistently. If history repeats itself, Witherspoon could be in for a bad day against the Vikings. He can’t allowed that to happen. With Joe Haden once again out with a foot injury, Witherspoon will probably be called upon to play almost every defensive snap. Even without Adam Thielen, the Vikings still featured a strong passing featuring Justin Jefferson and K.J. Osborn and led by Kirk Cousins, who is having a great year.
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Jefferson is obviously the star of the Vikings offense with Thielen and Dalvin Cook injured (though Cook is officially questionable for Week 14). Pittsburgh typically likes to keep their cornerbacks on one side of the field, but they would be wise to have Cameron Sutton follow Justin Jefferson as much as possible. There will be times where Witherspoon finds himself matched up with the standout second-year receiver, though. In those instances, Witherspoon will probably need some help from a safety. But if he can just limit the big plays, that’s all the Steelers can ask of him. Don’t get beat deep, play strong through the ball, and allow that electric Steelers pass rush to pressure Cousins as much as possible.
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