Steelers' Mike McCarthy Expects Former Assistant Coach To Challenge Pittsburgh In Week 7

The Pittsburgh Steelers have a strange homework assignment waiting in Paris: prepare for a coach their head coach once trusted to run his own offense. That sounds like an advantage until you consider how much the other guy remembers, too. Pittsburgh has spent weeks trying to eliminate defensive communication mistakes, and Sunday's opponent knows how to test whether 11 defenders are seeing the same picture.

Mike McCarthy expects a genuine schematic challenge from Kellen Moore when the Steelers face the New Orleans Saints in Paris on October 25. During his Wednesday media availability, McCarthy pointed to Moore's personnel and the way his offense spreads opportunities across the formation.

“Talented offense. Obviously, you know, having history, Kellen, I mean, he’s going to challenge us schematically… This will be a big challenge, you know, really across the board. Their perimeter players are playing well. You know, they’re doing a really good job getting the ball spread around,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy isn't scouting Moore from a few clips and a laminated call sheet. Moore served as his offensive coordinator with the Dallas Cowboys from 2020 through 2022. In 2021, their offense led the NFL in total yards per game (407.0) and points per game (31.2). McCarthy has seen firsthand how Moore can build an attack that forces defenses to defend more than one answer.

That background also means Moore knows his former boss. McCarthy isn't coordinating Pittsburgh's defense, but this is hardly a matchup in which one coaching staff gets exclusive access to the other's tendencies. The familiarity makes preparation more interesting; it doesn't hand either sideline the answers before kickoff.

New Orleans enters at 2-4, which is exactly the kind of record that can talk a defense into taking shortcuts. On Sunday, the Saints beat the New York Giants 34-27 after building a 34-10 lead. They rushed for a season-high 175 yards and scored four offensive touchdowns. The late collapse nearly spoiled the win.

Second-year quarterback Tyler Shough finished with 144 passing yards and three touchdowns, then added a rushing score. Those are not overwhelming passing numbers, and the Saints didn't need them to be. Moore found production through different pieces of the offense, making the defense account for threats from the backfield to the perimeter.

Shough's 32 rushing yards and one-yard touchdown against New York are another detail Pittsburgh cannot overlook. Moore doesn't need to build an offense around designed quarterback runs to punish a defensive front that loses track of its rush lanes.

Chris Olave caught a touchdown, Alvin Kamara turned a reception into a 31-yard score, and Devaughn Vele added three catches for 42 yards. Kendre Miller handled 20 carries for 70 yards. None of those figures individually screams unstoppable offense. Together, they describe exactly what McCarthy was talking about: an opponent that can make a defense pay for becoming obsessed with one player.

For Patrick Graham, that presents a different challenge from simply assigning Jalen Ramsey to the best receiver and hoping the matchup holds up. A coordinator can shade coverage toward Olave, but he still needs answers when Kamara releases into space or Moore creates an advantageous look on the opposite side. Moore's offense can stress multiple positions.

The mechanics are familiar enough. Pre-snap motion can reveal coverage intentions or change leverage. A quick throw can punish a pressure look before the rush arrives. Route combinations can force defenders to pass receivers between zones, and a running back slipping into the flat can become the quarterback's easiest completion. Not every Saints call uses those devices, but they illustrate why distribution is a defensive headache.

Pittsburgh's own recent experience makes the timing uncomfortable. Graham moved from the booth to the sideline after communication became a talking point, and Ramsey subsequently explained why direct conversations between players and coordinator helped clarify disagreements. Against an offense comfortable sending the ball to different spots, those little misunderstandings can become chunk gains in a hurry.

Sunday's overtime victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers brought encouraging signs. Ramsey delivered the fourth-down sack that ended the game, while Nick Herbig added two sacks of his own. Pittsburgh's defense created the plays its stars are paid to make, even as an uneven afternoon required a frantic comeback. The victory showed the unit can respond when execution sharpens, although it certainly didn't prove Graham has solved every coverage issue.

The greater danger against Moore is overreacting to whichever Saints player has the first productive series. Load too much attention toward Olave, and Kamara becomes more difficult to account for. Sit back waiting for short throws, and Shough gets a chance to extend a play or attack a window deeper downfield.

Steelers Need Graham To Win The Details Against Moore

Pittsburgh would be kidding itself if it treated McCarthy's familiarity with Moore as a defensive game plan. Knowing a coach's preferences is useful. It won't cover Olave or tackle Kamara. The Saints' record should not become an excuse to treat the assignment as routine.

Graham doesn't need to invent a completely new defense for Paris. He needs clean communication, disciplined leverage and a rush that makes Shough work through his progressions without giving him easy escape lanes. If the Steelers can dictate the timing of a possession, Moore's variety becomes much harder to sustain. If they spend the afternoon correcting busted assignments, his playbook will keep finding more questions.

McCarthy knows Moore well enough to respect the challenge. The more important test is whether Pittsburgh's defense can turn that respect into an answer on Sunday, before an old coaching connection becomes a very current problem.

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