Steelers Today – A Pittsburgh Steelers blog

No, you didn’t read that headline wrong.  The Steelers did actually manage to dominate a game, and also keep it close.  Sounds crazy, doesn’t it?

The Steelers had almost twice the total yard that the Jaguars accumulated.  They outgained them 315-68 in the first half alone.  They held the Jaguars to only 76 net passing yards for the game.  They sacked Jags’ QB Blaine Gabbert 5 times.  Rashard Mendenhall rushed for 146 yards.  Sounds like total domination, right?

Most sane people would read the paragraph above and assume that the Steelers won 28-3.  Or perhaps they’d assume that the Jags had been kept off the scoreboard completely.  Maybe 31-0.  But that wasn’t the case.  Believe it or not, the Steelers barely won.  The final score was 17-13, and the Jaguars had a chance to win on the final play of the game.

So how did a game that should have been a blowout turn into a nailbiter?  The answer lies in the second half statistics.  After racking up over 300 yards on the Jags in the first half, the Steelers were held to only 70 yards in the 2nd half.  Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger only completed one pass in the 2nd half.  That’s right, one.  And to make matters worse, he was sacked 3 times in the second half.

It isn’t often that a quarterback finishes a half with more sacks than completions.  In fact, prior to this game, I would have assumed that it was impossible.  But Big Ben proved me wrong.

That was really the story of the game.  The Steelers suffered from schizophrenia.  In the first half, they were a determined, prepared team that was set on winning an important game.  And in the second half they were a tentative, unprepared team that seemed like they were trying to lose.

Perhaps the Jaguars made some amazing adjustments at the half.  But shouldn’t the Steelers have made adjustments to the Jaguars adjustments?  Instead, they appeared to be completely inept for the final 30 minutes of the game.

A win is a win, and we have to be happy any time the Steelers can leave with a victory.  But to be honest, this was one of the least satisfying wins I can remember.

The Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Jacksonville Jaguars this weekend at Heinz Field.  This renews an old rivalry from the AFC Central Division.  The Steelers and Jaguars had one of the fiercest, and most physical, rivalries in the NFL back then.  In fact, Steelers/Jaguars was, at that time, the equivalent of what Steelers/Ravens is today.

But those days are long gone.  The current Jaguars have a 1-4 record, and seem to have been completely declawed.

The Jaguars are the final game of a 4-game stretch against the AFC South.  The Jags would likely be in last place in the AFC South were it not for the injury that has kept Peyton Manning out of the Indianapolis Colts’ lineup.  Without Manning, the Colts are winless, and are one game behind the hapless Jaguars.

The problems for the Jaguars started when they decided to cut starting quarterback David Garrard during training camp.  In Garrard’s place, the Jaguars are starting rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert.

It’s difficult for any rookie quarterback in the NFL.  But when you play for a team like Jacksonville that is almost totally devoid of offensive talent, it makes things doubly difficult.

Gabbert is averaging only 152 yards per game passing.  That’s REALLY bad.  In fact, it’s the lowest average of any starting quarterback in the NFL.  And to make things even worse for Gabbert, he’ll be facing the Steelers’ defense which is ranked #1 in the NFL against the pass.

Fortunately for Gabbert, he will have the option of handing the ball off to running back Maurice Jones-Drew.  Jones-Drew is one of the best runners in the NFL.  He’s ranked 4th in the NFL in rushing yards, and he’s having a much better season than any of the RB’s the Steelers have faced so far.

“There’s probably no one in football that means more to their team than Maurice Jones-Drew, in terms of the things he’s capable of doing and the things he does,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. “When you watch him on tape, he’s a very physical runner. He has great vision, power and speed.”

We know that the Steelers have had difficulty stopping the run this season, so Jones-Drew should provide a challenge for them.  Thankfully, the Steelers seemed to remember how to stop the run last week.  If they play like they did last week, then stopping Jones-Drew will be a real possibility.  But if they play like they played prior to last week, then they may be in for a long day.

Fortunately for the Steelers, Aaron Smith is still hurt, so Ziggy Hood will get the start at left defensive end.  Ziggy’s presence strengthens the Steelers run defense, and it also seems to help LaMarr Woodley.  Both of those players will need to have a solid game in order to stop Jones-Drew.

On the opposite side of the ball, the Jaguars actually have a pretty good defense.  They’re ranked #8 in the NFL.  However, they should have difficulty stopping the Steelers’ high-powered offense.  The Jaguars’ secondary is suspect, and I think they’ll have difficulty matching up with the Steelers’ speedy young receivers.

This game isn’t likely to stir up memories of the old AFC Central battles between these two teams.  But it should result in a win by the Steelers, and that’s all that really matters.

Going into Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans, most Steelers fans weren’t sure which team was going to show up.  Would it be the REAL Pittsburgh Steelers, or would it be that group of imposters who donned the black and gold for the first 4 games of the season?

As if it weren’t bad enough that the Steelers had played badly to this point in the season, they were also going to have to face the Titans without James Harrison, Casey Hampton, Aaron Smith, Rashard Mendenhall, and Chris Kemoeatu.  Gulp!

And to add an even greater degree of difficulty to the game, the Steelers were starting Max Starks at left tackle after less than a week of practice with the team.

Despite seemingly impossible odds, the patchwork group of Steelers delivered their most dominant performance of the season as the Steelers beat the Titans 38-17.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger tied a Steelers record when he threw Five touchdown passes.  But perhaps more important was the fact that the offensive line gave Big Ben plenty of time in the pocket.  As a result, Ben was only sacked once during the game.

While the entire offensive line played well, special recognition has to go to Max Starks.  This was Starks’ first game back since signing with the Steelers earlier in the week.  Yet, Starks was not only forced to start, but also to play almost the entire game due to injuries among the Steelers’ offensive linemen.  And Starks more than rose to the occasion.

The offensive line also did a great job of opening holes for the running backs.  Without Rashard Mendenhall in the lineup, the Steelers had to rely on Isaac Redman and Jonathan Dwyer to carry the running load.  And carry it they did.  The Steelers rushed for a total of 174 yards, with Dwyer leading the way with 107 yards.

The defense also did a stellar job.  Prior to Sunday’s game, the Steeler were having difficulty stopping opponents from running on them.  But they held Titans’ running back Chris Johnson to only 51 yards.  They also kept pressure on Titans QB Matt Hasselbeck, and managed to sack him 3 times.  Young defensive ends Ziggy Hood and Cameron Heyward each participated in a sack.

LaMarr Woodley, Hines Ward, Mike Wallace, Ike Taylor, and Antonio Brown also had good games.  It was just a good overall game for the team.

Hopefully, this is the type of performance that we’ll be seeing for the rest of the year.  I’m sure that Steeler Nation would love to believe that those imposters are a thing of the past, and the real Steelers are here to stay.

The Steelers will face the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.  Obviously, this will be a battle between two football teams.  However, there are several specific match-ups that may play the biggest role in determining the outcome of the game.

These are the key match-ups to watch when the Steelers face the Titans:

Lawrence Timmons vs. Michael Roos

Lawrence Timmons will be replacing James Harrison at outside linebacker this week.  Timmons was originally drafted to play outside linebacker.  Moreover, he has filled in for both LaMarr Woodley and James Harrison at outside linebacker before.  So he does have experience playing the outside linebacker position in the NFL.

The problem is that Timmons will be facing Titans left tackle Michel Roos.  At 6’7″, 320 lb., Roos is a load.  More importantly, he’s one of the best, and most consistent, left tackles in the NFL.

Timmons is definitely not going to overpower Roos.  But perhaps his speed will be enough to overcome Roos.

Advantage:  Titans

Ike Taylor vs. Nate Washington

Former Steelers receiver Nate Washington is the leading pass catcher for the Titans.  With receiver Kenny Britt out with an injury, an even larger portion of the receiving burden will fall to Washington.

Fortunately, Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor is more than up to the task of covering Washington.  Ike has been playing at an extraordinary level this season.  In fact, other than Troy Polamalu, Ike Taylor has probably been the most consistent member of the Steelers’ defense.

Ike is more than up to the task of shutting down Washington.  In fact, I predict that Nate is in for a very long day on Sunday.

Advantage:  Steelers

Max Starks vs. Jason Jones

Big Max was signed off the streets earlier this week, and he already finds himself in the Steelers’ starting lineup.  Jason Jones isn’t particularly good, but if Starks’ cardio isn’t up to par, he may make Jones look like Reggie White.

Advantage:  TBD

Mike Wallace vs. Courtland Finnegan

Courtland Finnegan is a speedy cornerback who is going to have his hands full going against Mike Wallace.  Finnegan is fast, but Wallace is faster.

Finnegan is a former Pro Bowl and All-Pro cornerback, so he’s not to be taken lightly.  However, he’s best known for talking trash.

Let’s see how much trash he talks after Wallace burns him for a long touchdown or two.

Advantage: Steelers

Steelers run “D” vs. Chris Johnson

The Steelers defense has been suspect (to put it mildly) against the run.

Titans’ running back Chris Johnson is…………..Chris Johnson.  Need I say more?

Advantage: Titans

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The Steelers will try to get back on track this Sunday when they face the visiting Tennessee Titans.

Everyone knows that the 2-2 Steelers have struggled in several areas so far this season.  And unfortunately, the Titans present challenges in exactly those areas.  In fact, they’re just what the doctor didn’t order for the Steelers.

The Steelers’ run defense has been poor at best.  They’ve let average runners like the Colts’ Joseph Addai run right through them.  And they’ve made good runners like Baltimore’s Ray Rice and Houston’s Arian Foster look like marathon runners.  So I’m afraid to even imagine what’s going to happen when Tennessee’s speedy running back Chris Johnson tries to find chinks in the Steelers’ armor.

The Steelers’ already weak run defense will even be more depleted this weekend.  Starting defensive end Aaron Smith is likely to miss Sunday’s game.  Casey Hampton didn’t practice on Thursday, but no announcement has been made on whether he’ll play.  My guess is that he will, but if he’s not 100%, it will definitely affect the team’s ability to stop the run.

On the positive side, Brett Keisel will likely start on Sunday.  He’s missed the team’s last 2 games with an injury.

But the running defense hasn’t been the only problem for the Steelers.  They also haven’t been able to run the ball on offense.  Tennessee probably isn’t a good candidate for helping them solve that problem.  The Titans’ defense is ranked #8 in the NFL against the run.  They’re only allowing 87.8 rushing yards per game.  The Baltimore Ravens are the only opponent that the Steelers have faced this season that allows fewer rushing yards than the Titans.

To further compound the problems in the running game, starting running back Rashard Mendenhall will probably miss the game due to a hamstring injury.  So a weak rushing attack may get even weaker.

Steelers RB Rashard Mendenhall

Of course, some fans believe that taking Mendenhall out of the lineup will actually be an improvement.  Mendenhall hasn’t played particularly well this season, and is only averaging 3.0 yards per carry.

In contrast, backups Isaac Redman and Mewelde Moore have seemed to have more success than Mendenhall when they’ve been given the opportunity to run the ball.  Isaac Redman is averaging 4.9 yards per carry, and has provided a spark whenever he’s entered the game.  Mewelde Moore is averaging an even more robust 7.2 yards per carry.

But it probably won’t matter who runs the ball if the Steelers’ offensive line doesn’t play better.  The offensive line has suffered from injuries and poor play all season.  The Steelers signed Max Starks earlier in the week, and it looks like he’ll get the start on Sunday, despite having less than a full week of practice.  It probably says a lot about the Steelers’ O-line when a guy off the streets steps right into the starting lineup.

To make matters even worse, left guard Chris Kemoeatu is out with an injury and won’t play on Sunday.  And quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been practicing wearing a boot all week.  Big Ben injured his foot in the last game, and the injury will likely decrease his mobility.

I hate to sound like a pessimist, but the Tennessee Titans sound like a bad match-up for the injury riddled Steelers.  But injuries are a part of the game, and the Steelers are just going to have to play through them.  Backup players are going to have to step up and show us why they’re on the roster.

As head coach Mike Tomlin is fond of saying, “The standard doesn’t change.”

On second thought, though the Titans will be a tough opponent, maybe they ARE just what the doctor ordered.

Today’s Featured Item:

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