[Editor’s note: Former Broncos G.M. Ted Sundquist takes a look at one of the best games from Week Five, the Sunday night showdown between Pittsburgh and Jacksonville.] The Steelers and the Jaguars were to face off in what I thought would be an old AFC Central-type match up. Pittsburgh was holding steady at 3-1 despite a rash of injuries that had all but decimated their ground attack and Jacksonville was trying to maintain the momentum they had built after an early 0-2 slump. This was to be a tough, physical battle of two teams that took great pride in their defense and were finding just enough offense to get the job done. After a season-ending injury to Rashard Mendenhall and a multi-week absence of Willie Parker, the Steelers were left with former Viking Mewelde Moore as their starter. They re-signed Najeh Davenport earlier in the week to bolster their depth and brought Gary Russell up from the practice squad in attempt to get bodies in the backfield. QB Ben Roethlisberger had been nursing a sore body for most of the first quarter of the season and there was some question as to his availability on Sunday night. To say the Steeler offense was struggling is putting mildly; they were almost last in just about every offensive statistic you could pull up. KEY #1 for the Steelers was to find some continuity to their attack. With Jacksonville as stout as they come versus the run, I felt Pittsburgh would turn to their playmaking receivers and do whatever they had to do to attack the weakness of the Jags defense, their secondary. The lack of pressure on opposing QB’s had flipped the onus on to Jacksonville’s Dbs. Pittsburgh did just that, but found a surprising balance behind the running of Mewelde Moore.Moore ran for 99 yards on 17 carries (5.8 avg) and helped the Steelers to 7 of 15 on 3rd down. Roethlisberger answered the bell and threw for 286 yards, 26 of 41. The Steelers combined on ground and in the air for 415 total yards, with scoring drives of 12, 11, 10 & 11 plays. They held the ball over 12 minutes in the first quarter (though “Big Ben” threw his only interception into the hands of Rashean Mathis for a score). The playmakers of Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes and Heath Miller had 16 receptions for 200 yards and 2 TD’s. Nate Washington would get into the mix with 6 of his own for 94 yards.Roethlisberger spread the wealth and Moore stepped up. The Steelers put together arguably their best offensive performance of the season. The “Steel Curtain” had held up their end of the bargain for sure. Going into the game, Pittsburgh’s defense was ranked #2 in the League. The relentless pressure was dismantling their opponents’ passing game and they were just as stingy vs the run. I felt KEY #2 would be to stop the resurgent Jacksonville passing game (past 2 weeks).QB David Garrard was throwing at more than a 70% clip, the O-Line was giving him excellent protection and he was finding ways to convert on 3rd down over 50% of the time. WR Matt Jones had become Garrard’s primary (if only) target, and the outlet or screen to the RB’s was his number 2 choice. I felt the Steelers would eliminate Matt Jones as the primary and then focus down on the RB’s with safety Troy Polamalu. The Steelers appeared to meet the challenge for the most part. They held Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew to 38 yards on the ground. Garrard would throw for 175 net and the pressure would generate 3 more sacks. Third downs were cut in half to 23% (3 of 13). But WR Mike Walker stepped up with his biggest day as a pro, 6 receptions for 107 yards, his longest being 32. Matt Jones was held to only 2 catches on the night, Taylor & Jones-Drew adding 8 combined, but only 29 yards. Polamalu was very active on the RB’s down in the box and added 4 tackles. Garrard just got very few opportunities and fell prey to the pressure too many times.The rhythmic movement of Jacksonville’s offense had been very noticeable over the past few weeks. Garrard had fed off the Jags’ ability to balance his passing with Taylor and Jones-Drew. They were consistent in staying out of third and long behind their run game and short passes. The Jaguars were a top 10 team on 3rd down, but struggled when faced with 6 to 10 yards or longer. I thought KEY #3 would be the play of backup OC Dennis Norman and his ability to control the interior of the Steeler defensive front. NT Casey Hampton had been nursing a groin injury since Week 3 vs Philly, but there was some talk that he might suit up against the Jags. He didn’t and was replaced by NT Chris Hoke. Hoke held the point well and prevented the Jags RB tandem from cutting back up the middle where they like to attack. To say that the Steelers neutralized the run is an understatement; 15 carries for 26 yards, less than 2.0 per carry. The Jags tallied three three and outs in the first half and were only able to muster 14 offensive points for the night. Jacksonville had no double-digit drives and appeared out of synch for the majority of the game. KEY #4 would be the ability to pressure the Steelers when they eventually turned to the pass. With Roethlisberger banged up, I thought the matchups of DE’s Paul Spicer and Quentin Groves on ROT Willie Colon would play to the Jags advantage. The loss of Kendall Simmons to an Achilles injury for the season brought in Darnell Stapleton at ROG. Any disruption in the chemistry of the interior O-Line can have ripple affects all the way out to the tackles. Simmons was a big help to Colon in pass protection. The Jags were able to “ramp up” their pass rush behind Spicer and Groves. Spicer had a sack and two hurries. Groves added ½ sack and 2 hurries. But despite the improvement in pressure on the QB, Jacksonville still gave up substantial yardage through the air and allowed Pittsburgh to convert on 7 of 13 3rd downs. Roethlisberger finished the night with a 100.6 rating, his best since Week 2. The punting of Mitch Berger would by KEY #5 for Pittsburgh. Berger has a booming leg and good hang times that result in a solid net average of 39.2. He had pinned opponents inside the 20 some 9 times over the first four games. The combination of his ability to flip the field and the Steeler defense might create some short field situations for an offense that needed the help. Berger punted four times for a 49.5 avg and an eye popping 44.5 net. He put one inside the twenty and held the Jags to two returns and 0 yards.
TED SUNDQUIST’S WEEK FIVE GAME REVIEWS: STEELERS AT JAGUARS
Published October 7, 2008 08:17 AM