Steelers “D” stops Titans
According to most of the TV sports announcers, the Steelers had no chance of beating the Tennessee Titans. “Chris Johnson is too fast”. “The Titans are too tough”. “The Steelers never win in Tennessee”. “The Steelers can’t win without Ben Roethlisberger”. Blah, blah, blah.
Fortunately, the Steelers didn’t listen to the sports announcers. Rather than laying down and submitting to the “unbeatable Titans”, the Steelers decided to punch them in the face instead.
If you only looked at the statistics from the game, you might think that the Steelers actually lost this game. After all, the Titans held the Steelers to only 127 net yards of offense. No, I didn’t say 127 rushing yards. I said 127 net yards of TOTAL OFFENSE.
The Steelers ended up with only 21 net passing yards, and 106 net yards rushing. Starting quarterback Dennis Dixon ended the game with a passer rating of only 70.1, and replacement Charlie Batch finished with an even more dismal 52.5 passer rating.
But despite the woeful offensive statistics, the Steelers actually kicked the Titans’ @#$. Seriously.
The Steelers defense held the Titans’ star running back Chris Johnson to just 34 rushing yards. Prior to facing the Steelers, Johnson had run for over 100 yards in 12 consecutive games. But the Steelers weren’t having any of that.
Not only did the Steelers stop Chris Johnson, but they also slammed Titans quarterback Vince Young. Both literally and figuratively.
The Steelers caused 7 Titans turnovers, including a diving interception by Bryant McFadden, an interception by Troy Polamalu in the endzone, and two forced fumbles by James Harrison.
The Titans were visibly frustrated. But the frustration became evident when Titans coach Jeff Fisher pulled Vince Young out of the game and replaced him with Kerry Collins.
Troy Polamalu was obviously anxious to welcome Collins into the game, because he did this:
That had to be one of the most outstanding plays that I’ve seen. No other player would even attempt that play except Troy Polamalu.
The Steelers did suffer a few more injuries in the game. Dennis Dixon left the game at the beginning of the second quarter and was replaced by Charlie Batch. Dixon had a knee injury, but no announcement has been made about how serious the injury is.
Chris Hoke was also shaken up during the game, but it didn’t look serious. And quite a few players suffered from dehydration, battling the Tennessee heat. Temperatures during the game were in the 90′s, and the heat index was over 100 degrees. To make matters worse, the Titans forced the Steelers to wear their black home jerseys to make the heat even more unbearable.
Despite heat, injuries, and a poor offensive showing, the Steelers still leave Nashville with a 2-0 record. And with the Cincinnati Bengals’ win over the Baltimore Ravens, the Steelers stand alone atop the AFC North.
They face Tampa Bay next week, and a 3-0 record is very possible. If the defense continues to play the way they’ve been playing, a win over Baltimore in week 4 may even be a distinct possibility.
Not a bad start for a team that nobody thought had a chance of winning without Ben Roethlisberger.
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The Steel Curtain lives! Its as simple as that. With 91 and 43 back, the Steelers defense is as good as anyone. We need some more offense, but the Steelers are looking very solid. We have some OUTSTANDING backup quarterbacks. The rest of the league should be jealous. The Steelers have 4 QBs that can win in this system. Something to ponder, if Dennis Dixon gets more playing time and becomes a free agent, we need to keep Charlie Batch as the 3 and Leftwich as the # 2. Some team will probably pay DD a lot more money that the Steelers will offer.
1Youtube: God’s gift to blogs.
Next week worries me a bit. The Falcons and the Titans are talented teams. The Bucs are much weaker in comparison. Breather alert here. I hope our boys aren’t looking ahead to Baltimore. Tampa Bay may be weak, but they are talented enough to steal a few games this year. If the Steelers are ready to play, it should be an easy game, but if they are looking ahead, it may not be so easy.
Then again, the Steel Curtain is absolutely crazy this year so far, so what am I worried about?
2Mark,
I think you’re right. With Aaron and Troy back, the Steelers are looking mighty tough.
As far as the QB’s are concerned, the Steelers are definitely stacked. Look at teams like Buffalo, Cleveland, and San Francisco. They don’t really have confidence in their starting quarterback. Let’s not even talk about their 2nd and 3rd string QB’s.
3Dan,
It would be a very big mistake for the Steelers to overlook Tampa Bay. The Bucs weren’t expected to do much this year, yet they are 2-0 just like the Steelers.
Until the Steelers can get their offense in gear, they would be wise to not underestimate any opponent.
4I just typed about 8 paragraphs on how ignorant it is to believe that we have great QBs behind Ben. I got so bent out of shape I deleted it all and will calmly say, “Let’s take off those rose colored glasses already.” I hope that was sarcasm I was reading earlier. Here’s a list of backups to consider: Marc Bulger, Kerry Collins (most Titan fans want him to start…I’m from Nashville and know this to be true), Michael Vick, Tim Tebow, Bruce Gradkowski (who only came in and led 3 scoring drives and won the game in the place of starter Jason Campbell), Sage Rosenfels, and even Todd Collins to mention a few.
Nobody is hoping DD plays well more than me. I love winning too much to only want to be right about a QB not being very good. But here it here first: Dixson will NEVER start for a NFL team outside of injury or suspension. Simply not good enough. Geez…why do you think we went out and signed Leftwich and had him slated as #1? Because Tomlin and Arians don’t think he is anymore than a solid #3 or a possible #2 later in career. Many may disagree but I hope we are all still following this blog 5 years from now when I prove it.
NOW….Steeler D!!!!!!!!! Now that’s something that is outstanding right now. I hope they have 10 turnovers in them for Baltimore in 2 weeks because it looks like we just might need it.
Hold the fort down D! Hold it down. GO STEELERS (Dennis Dixson too
)
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