The Pittsburgh Steelers defense hasn't quite lived up to their Blitzburgh mantra so far during the 2021 NFL season.Due to injuries and departures in free agency, the Steelers have turned to some new faces Jim Rice Jersey in the secondary, forcing Mike Tomlin and Keith Butler to be a little le s aggre sive in terms of hara sing the quarterback with additional rushers. But that changed in Week 13 against the Baltimore Ravens as Pittsburgh turned up the heat on star quarterback Lamar Jackson.The coaching staff deserves applause for having the gall to get aggre sive against a the former MVP, but it wasn't nece sarily their blueprint. The Miami Dolphins were really the first team this season to get super aggre sive in their effort to combat the elusive Jackson.Miami blitzed Jackson on 22 of his drop backs, opting to play Cover 0 in the back end. Since that matchup, other teams seemed to have noticed that the Ravens pa sing attack struggles with these pre sure looks.The Chicago Bears sent five or more blitzers on 28 of his drop backs the following week, while the Cleveland Browns had a smaller sample size of succe s blitzing him in Week 12.During Week 13's matchup, the Steelers brought five or more rushers on 14 total drop backs. The results were staggering as Jackson completed just three of his eight pa s attempts for a total of 35 pa sing yards and one interception.The Steelers were also able to rack up five sacks on the quarterback and forced a crucial red zone interception; one made po sible by pre sure up front as Jackson heaved an ill-advised pa s in the direction of Minkah Fitzpatrick in the end zone.This had to feel like a back-breaking type of mistake for Andrew Benintendi Jersey the their AFC North rival after marching 75 yards down the field in 14 plays. It can't be understated how crucial this play was in terms of how the game unfolded.Watt's immediate presence in the quarterbacks vicinity forced a poor decision and kept points off the board.The redeeming trait for Butler's defense in Pittsburgh has been their ability to get after the quarterback. The long-time linebackers coach is an excellent blitz designer who can scheme up pre sure with the best of them.In this matchup, Butler chose to send slot blitzes off the edge and had some succe s containing Jackson within the pocket. Here, Arthur Maulet is going to come on a slot blitz, forcing Jackson to step up into the pocket into a crowd of defenders and Watt corrals him from behind.On third and long, Butler would again go back to the slot blitz, but this time, it's Tre Norwood. Norwood is usually the corner they prefer in pa sing down situations as he Alex Verdugo Jersey 's more capable in coverage than Maulet, who works best working downhill.Norwood comes off the slot unblocked and has a golden opportunity to register his first career sack but the slippery Jackson makes him mi s. What he does accomplish is that he makes him step up into traffic full of black and gold.Heyward is able to finally get him down and the defense would once again get off of the field after a succe sful blitz attempt.On a crucial third and long late in the third quarter, the Steelers elected to bring the house.Scroll to ContinueClearly a pre sure look pre-snap, there's simply one to many rushers (7) for the amount of blockers (6). This look forces Jackson to bail out of the pocket. Despite breaking through an arm tackle from Cam Sutton, Jackson was unable to find anyone open down the field. Instead forcing a dangerous check down short of the first down marker which stalled the drive.The Steelers offense had finally come alive and the game had tightened late in the fourth quarter following a second Ben Roethlisberger to Diontae Johnson touchdown hookup.With the game and the season on Rafael Devers Jersey the line, they remained aggre sive in the red zone. On first down, they would bring seven defenders once again. Jackson was able to promptly locate his hot read in Mark Andrews, usually his favorite target in these situations. However, it was an errant throw over the middle.While the Ravens offense would ultimately score a few plays later on a touchdown to s to Sammy Watkins, they were unsucce sful on the two-point conversion. The Steelers survived. A cla sic win that left everyone on the edge of their seats.The Steelers remained aggre sive throughout the game and it made the world of difference. They succe sfully speed up the internal clock for Jackson and forced him into taking several sacks, many of which would end up killing drives.The pre-snap pre sure looks force quarterbacks to identify where to go with the football before the play even begins, knowing his time to throw will be limited.The coaching staff deserves a lot of credit here, not just because of the outcome but because of the gutsy nature of the decision. The Steelers were without starting cornerback Joe Haden and chose to bench his previous replacement James Pierre. Former Seattle Seahawk and San Francisco 49er, Ahkello Witherspoon would get the start after struggling to get a helmet all season. Even Justin Layne made a surprise appearance on defense for the first time this season. This approach took guts.Their strategy was wildly succe sful and the team is still hanging in the playoff hunt partially because of it. The Steelers have been the one team in the NFL that has had Jackson's number over the years, a trend that everyone in Pittsburgh is hoping continues. Now, we wait and see if Greg Roman can devise a plan in place to counter this blueprint before these two teams face off again in January for the regular season finale. Steven Wright Jersey Make sure you for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more!Follow All Steelers on Twitter: