Chicago Bears must blitz New York Giants center

The New York Giants have an inexperienced center that the Chicago Bears must dominate

The New York Giants had a rough time on offensive Monday night, mainly led by their offensive line. If there is one thing that the Pittsburgh Steelers did that the Chicago Bears can take away, it is how they attacked the Giants center.

To start, Nick Gates started at center for the first time in his NFL career on Monday. He started at tackle and guard before, but won a camp battle at center despite no preseason. The Steelers wanted to test the inexperienced center and did just that.

Early into the game, you can see that Tyson Alualu beats Gates cleanly off of the ball and gets into the backfield with ease to silence the running game. Alualu is a nice player, but Bilal Nichols should be salivating thinking he can do this as well.

This was a bad sign from the get go, and was a red alert that the Steelers could attack him. The Steelers consistently blitzed the Giants, often times coming straight up the gut. Vince Williams recorded a sack, rushing straight up the gut.

The Steelers even moved T.J. Watt, who rushes on the edge up the middle as well. They wanted all of their top rushers to get a chance or two at Gates.

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Overall, the Steelers blitzed the Giants on a whopping 60% of Daniel Jones drop backs according to PFF. They wanted to test Jones in year two with a new offense, and they wanted to test an inexperienced center. The results showed, as oftentimes the Giants let free runners come from every direction, as the two struggled to pick up and call out each blitz.

We already noted that Saquon Barkley only adds to their troubles with blitz pick up. Danny Trevathan had an off-day in coverage, and was slow to process against the run as well. A good way to get him involved early would be to send him on a blitz similar to Vince Williams of the Steelers.

Roquan Smith is a speedy linebacker who excels blitzing up the gut as well. Could Khalil Mack move inside, similar to Watt? Bilal Nichols needs to have a big day as well. All of these defenders should have seen the blueprint from Pittsburgh, and should attack up the middle in similar manners.