Greg Cosell's Look Ahead: The Pittsburgh Steelers' potent offense

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense is really potent, and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is playing a different way. It’s working for him.

Roethlisberger has been almost exclusively a pocket passer over the last month or so. And he has been very efficient. You might not see him on the highlights as often because he doesn’t make those “Roethlisberger plays” where he buys time and makes a throw downfield. But I can’t recall a time where he has played this well from the pocket for this long. He’s just a big oak tree in the pocket going through progressions.

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A 19-yard throw to Antonio Brown last week against the Kansas City Chiefs is a good example of his patience and command in the pocket. Even with a muddied pocket around him, he stood in for a long time, never left the pocket and delivered the ball effectively. It’s not a spectacular play, but it’s a very good one.

The other tweak the Steelers have made is they’ve used more empty sets than any other team in the NFL. There are multiple benefits for Pittsburgh with empty sets. It helps get more talented and explosive receivers on the field; the Steelers are deep there. Also, I know Roethlisberger has to love the empty sets because it defines the defense before the snap. If you’re going to blitz you have to show it before the snap, because you can’t bring a guy from too far away on a blitz.

We know the talent the Steelers have on offense. Le’Veon Bell might be the best back in the NFL, although the Steelers haven’t run the ball that well the last two weeks (which is a combination of Bell and the offensive line). Antonio Brown is a great receiver, he might be the best route runner in the NFL with outstanding quickness in and out of breaks. And Roethlisberger is playing well from the pocket. The Steelers offense is capable of beating a defense in many ways, because they’re personnel and formation diverse with power run elements and explosive pass elements.

How will the Bengals defend them on Sunday night? One thing they did on Monday night against Peyton Manning and the Broncos was run a lot of dime with six defensive backs. They had run only 32 snaps of dime all season before the Broncos game, then ran 18 snaps of it against Denver, with safety Taylor Mays as the dime defender. That gave Manning a new look he hadn’t really seen on film, and the Bengals played well against him. The Bengals also had a lot of late movement just before the snap to try to throw off Manning. Will the Bengals continue to use that dime look against a deep Steelers team? It’s hard to say for sure but it’s something to watch.

Panthers' diverse running game

The Carolina Panthers have gotten back in the NFC South race, and will play for the division title on Sunday at Atlanta, by doing many of the same things that make the Seattle Seahawks successful.

The Seahawks have a lot of multiple options within their run plays, and the Panthers have done that lately too. That makes sense for them because running the ball is what quarterback Cam Newton does best now. You’re not trying to teach him to be a pocket quarterback at this point in the season; you’re trying to win football games.

Here’s an example of the type of concept Carolina is using. Early in the fourth quarter against Atlanta in Week 11, the Panthers combined a running-back sweep and quarterback power run within the same play. Newton gained 15 yards. It’s a really cool concept.

The Panthers need to win to make the playoffs, so expect to see them use a lot of creative options in the running game on Sunday.

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NFL analyst and NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell watches as much NFL game film as anyone. Throughout the season, Cosell will join Shutdown Corner to share his observations on the teams, schemes and personnel from around the league.