Kevin Gorman: Steelers ready to throw curveball to Cardinals' Kyler Murray

Forgive Keith Butler if he appears unfazed that the Pittsburgh Steelers face the 2019 No. 1 overall draft pick this Sunday in Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray.

The Steelers defensive coordinator is more concerned about the dual dimension that Murray presents — as dangerous running the football as he is throwing it — than he is about his draft status.

The Steelers are getting used to facing quarterbacks who were the top pick in the draft, with Sunday being the fourth time in five weeks. They just played Baker Mayfield of the Cleveland Browns twice in a three-week span, and before that Jared Goff of the Los Angeles Rams in Week 10.

And the Steelers will face former first-round quarterbacks every week for the rest of the season, following Murray with Josh Allen of Buffalo, Sam Darnold of the New York Jets and Lamar Jackson of Baltimore. Even if the Ravens decide to rest Jackson, backup Robert Griffin III was the No. 2 overall pick in 2012.

That’s a parade of pedigree.

Butler is welcoming the challenge, not shrinking from it.

“It makes us better. It needs to make us better, and we need to play better. If we do all those things, then we’ll be prepared when we get into the playoffs,” Butler said. “They’ve still got to play, just like we do. The great thing about the National Football League is the competition. The guys love to play the game because of the competition, and they’re in the NFL because they’re good at competition. That’s the great part of it.”

The 5-foot-10, 207-pound Murray, who followed Mayfield as a Heisman Trophy winner at Oklahoma, has put up impressive numbers in his rookie season. Murray has lived up to his draft status by completing 63.9% of his passes for an average of 238.8 yards a game with 14 touchdowns and six interceptions, and his 446 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 71 carries — an average of 6.3 yards — is the most of any player on either team.

“Kyler is very, very elusive,” Steelers cornerback Joe Haden said. “He’s able to extend plays, still looking down the field. He’s a little faster, so we’ve got to keep him in the pocket.”

Butler also offered a gentle reminder the Steelers lost to the three-win Oakland Raiders on a Week 14 trip to the West Coast last year as a reason not to overlook Murray and the Cardinals (3-8-1) after their 34-7 loss to the Rams last week.

“You can lose to anybody on any Sunday,” Butler said. “We’ve got to go out there and be ready to play. If we don’t, then shame on us.”

But after facing Tom Brady, Russell Wilson, Jimmy Garoppolo, Andy Dalton and Philip Rivers in the first six weeks, the Steelers are focused more on another number. Where the average age of those five is 34.2 years, the average age of the next five opposing quarterbacks the Steelers face is 22.6.

“We’re looking at it like they’re high picks, but they’re young dudes,” Haden said. “They haven’t really had too much experience in the league. Honestly, I don’t care who’s back there. When you have a veteran like Tom and Aaron Rodgers and Russell, they know everything you’ve got, so you want to be tight. With young dudes, you want to confuse them more.”

So look for the Steelers to take advantage of that inexperience and test the talent. The best way to contain Murray is to disguise the defense, showing a different look than designed in the pre-snap read, so that they can pressure the pocket. Murray has been susceptible to sacks, taking a league-high 41 this season.

“They just haven’t seen it,” Steelers strong safety Terrell Edmunds said. “It’s different than, say, Tom Brady. Tom Brady’s seen all the different looks. You try to hide stuff and disguise coverage a little bit better to fake them out the best way you can because they are young.”

The key for the Steelers will be patience. The Cardinals run their offense at a fast pace, so the Steelers have to hold onto their disguises long enough to allow Murray to make the wrong reads and then take advantage of every mistake.

“We’ve got to make it where it’s not quite as comfortable as they like,” Butler said. “You can’t always attack the quarterback. You can’t always sit back and wait for the quarterback to come to you. You’ve got to change it up. You’ve got to throw them some fastballs sometimes. And, sometimes, you’ve got to throw them some curves.”

Butler must have read the baseball scouting report on Murray. The word on the No. 9 overall pick by the Oakland A’s in 2018 — and the first player ever to be drafted in the first round by MLB and the NFL — is Murray needed to improve his pitch recognition and reduce his strikeouts to make the majors.

Look for the Steelers to flash two fingers for the No. 1 pick.

Hey, Steelers Nation, get the latest news about the Pittsburgh Steelers here.