Week 5:Jaguars(2-2)

[AtlantaDan]

P-G article reviews how Jags-Steelers actually was a spirited rivalry back in the day

Trailing 23-21 with only seconds remaining, Steelers kicker Norm Johnson lined up for a 40-yard field goal that would have won the game. But the attempt was blocked and returned for a touchdown by defensive back Chris Hudson. As Hudson was running down the sideline in front of the Steelers bench, Cowher took a step toward the field and cocked his arm as though he wanted to slug Hudson as he raced past him....

[Greg] Lloyd crushed [Keenan] McCardell with a vicious blindside hit in a 23-17 overtime victory at Three Rivers Stadium, retaliation for what Lloyd claimed was a threatening phone call made by McCardell to his house the week of the game....

[In 2005] Roethlisberger did not play against the Jaguars at Heinz Field because of a knee injury, giving Tommy Maddox the start. With the score tied at the end of regulation at 17-all, the Steelers began overtime at the Jaguars 26 following a 74-yard kick return by Quincy Morgan. But, on third-and-11, Maddox fumbled and the Jaguars recovered, ending the threat.

One possession later, Maddox threw his third interception of the game and cornerback Rashean Mathis returned the pick 41 yards for a touchdown and a 23-17 victory.

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/s...s/201710070042

Probably was not a best practice to make a threatening phone call to Greg Lloyd and then have to face him on the field

[Dissolv]

My prediction is a mini-coming out party for the Steelers Offense, but still just high 20's. This is driven by fewer drive killing penalties and finally hitting on 1-2 long balls/penalties. D manages a much better performance against the run, but still gives up 90-100 yards. Harrison sees playing time. Red zone defense remains stout.

After the game people are still sort of "meh" about the steelers offense, but both sides of the ball appear to be a work in progress that are going somewhere good. If they managed to connect on multiple big plays, say 3-4, AND finish the same drives with the big plays with a TD, the game could get out of hand, but that's more of a goal than an expectation at this point.


Dissolv

[El-Gonzo Jackson]

I agree that Vince's run defense hasnt been good so far like in the past but he has a big body of work, including starts that suggest that these are more likely aberrants, and not new bad habits.

Chick is better against outside runs than Watt? You really think Watt could have done even worse than Chick against the Bears? He was the worst defender on the field in week 3. I pray he never has to be on the field against running backs who can find the cut back lane the rest of the season. Im still not seeing how Chickillo would start seeing the field more against the Jags when he's our 4th best overall OLB, and could easily end up being the 2nd weakest run defender even though he's normally been pretty good in that regard. TJ Watt has been excellent at setting the edge already anyways and offers a lot more all around playmaking ability. Doesnt seem like a good tradeoff to try to go all in on stopping Ivory/Fournette. Sliding the snap counts a little higher for Chick and a little lower for TJ isnt going to make a meaningful positive difference

Vince Williams has a big body of work? 155 career tackles and a primary backup is a big body of work?

Yes, Chickillo is stronger at the point of attack than Watt at this point. He is not as good of an athlete, but it would not surprise me to see him get more snaps against a run heavy offense.

[Psycho Ward 86]

Vince Williams has a big body of work? 155 career tackles and a primary backup is a big body of work?

Yes, Chickillo is stronger at the point of attack than Watt at this point. He is not as good of an athlete, but it would not surprise me to see him get more snaps against a run heavy offense.

21 starts and 67 games isnt a big body of work to know what kind of you're getting? Its a mystery to me then why you think Matakevich is worthy of stealing snaps from him. If Chick is stronger at the point of attack than Watt at this point if sure didnt look like it against the Bears when he was getting completely pancaked, even on runs that werent even going towards him like an early Howard touchdown. Chickillo is fortunate that many defenders played poorly in week 3 because otherwise he would have been selectively picked up rather than coincidentally picked on

[Neversatisfied]

This offense sucks, seriously this is insane

[ALLD]

Offense is sleep walking. Are they trying to avoid breaking a sweat? Ben needs to go hurry up for the rest of the way.

[st33lersguy]

Defense is giving up too. Not sure it matters much anyway

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Best case scenario is 10-6 or 9-7 while benefiting from a weak division and a wildcard loss.

[Mojouw]

Don't care about anything else. Your QB turns it over 4 times and directly gifts the other team 14 points, you lose every single damn time in the NFL.

I get it, two tips, a falling WR, and whatever.

This is not play calling. This is not coaching. This is not scheme. This is not terrible back-side contain on the defense. This is not bad run fills by the DBs and linebackers. This is not preparation. This is not complicated.

Ben Roethlisberger single-handedly lost this game. He made poor decisions and reads from the opening play to the final whistle. I type this with about 4 minutes and change left, so I will gladly eat my words if something magical happens, but I stand by the above.

[ALLD]

Good thing I got rid of all my Steelers crap after the nonsense in Chicago.

[Steeldude]

Don't care about anything else. Your QB turns it over 4 times and directly gifts the other team 14 points, you lose every single damn time in the NFL.

I get it, two tips, a falling WR, and whatever.

This is not play calling. This is not coaching. This is not scheme. This is not terrible back-side contain on the defense. This is not bad run fills by the DBs and linebackers. This is not preparation. This is not complicated.

Ben Roethlisberger single-handedly lost this game. He made poor decisions and reads from the opening play to the final whistle. I type this with about 4 minutes and change left, so I will gladly eat my words if something magical happens, but I stand by the above.

The Steelers weren't going to win the even if BR didn't throw a single INT.

[Mojouw]

The Steelers weren't going to win the even if BR didn't throw a single INT.

Why? It was tied at 9. The defense did not play great, but they did enough to win.

This game was totally lost on the fact that Ben R scored 9 points for his team and14 for the other team.

There is literally nothing else to discuss.

[Steelermania]

Don't care about anything else. Your QB turns it over 4 times and directly gifts the other team 14 points, you lose every single damn time in the NFL.

I get it, two tips, a falling WR, and whatever.

This is not play calling. This is not coaching. This is not scheme. This is not terrible back-side contain on the defense. This is not bad run fills by the DBs and linebackers. This is not preparation. This is not complicated.

Ben Roethlisberger single-handedly lost this game. He made poor decisions and reads from the opening play to the final whistle. I type this with about 4 minutes and change left, so I will gladly eat my words if something magical happens, but I stand by the above.

Have to totally agree. This is 100% on Ben. The Jags ran well at times, but the D really only gave up 3 points. Ben was off all game. You know, Munchak has gotten a lot more love than the rest of the coaches around here, but the O-line has been garbage in the run game. Hubbard is trash. I can't put this one in the "not ready to play" category. Also, the number of weapons this team has, has been vastly overrated.

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Why? It was tied at 9. The defense did not play great, but they did enough to win.

This game was totally lost on the fact that Ben R scored 9 points for his team and14 for the other team.

There is literally nothing else to discuss.

Actually, it was never tied. We had the lead, and the ball when Ben fell apart.

[st33lersguy]

Watching Colts-49ers and George Kittle has made a few big plays, all while Vance McDonald has been useless

[Mojouw]

Have to totally agree. This is 100% on Ben. The Jags ran well at times, but the D really only gave up 3 points. Ben was off all game. You know, Munchak has gotten a lot more love than the rest of the coaches around here, but the O-line has been garbage in the run game. Hubbard is trash. I can't put this one in the "not ready to play" category. Also, the number of weapons this team has, has been vastly overrated.

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Actually, it was never tied. We had the lead, and the ball when Ben fell apart.

Good point. My poorly worded post (don't type angry?) was trying to indicate that by my count, the defense only gave up 9 point. While they were by no means suffocating and they made several fundamental mistakes, they played well enough to win.

The QB did not.

[86WARD]

Didn’t get to see the game but I said you can’t sleep on Jacksonville’s pass defense and that they’d run a vintage Tom Coughlin offense which, unfortunately, both turned out to be accurate.

[BurghBoy412]

More than likely this team will be 3-3 traveling to Cincinnati for a first place deciding game.

[Born2Steel]

Good point. My poorly worded post (don't type angry?) was trying to indicate that by my count, the defense only gave up 9 point. While they were by no means suffocating and they made several fundamental mistakes, they played well enough to win.

The QB did not.

My grievance here is we knew how to win today and played directly into the Jags strengths instead. WHY THROW 60 TIMES? Bell, Conner, even give a few to what's his name. Feed the run machine all day. Make this a 4 hour game if it comes to that. You cannot throw against that secondary when you only have one legit WR out there. This was the worst game plan I have ever seen by this staff. The Jags didn't even have to play very hard today. We gave it to their strength and went away from ours. We tried to lose this one. That's the ONLY explanation that makes sense.

[BurghBoy412]

Honestly this is all probably Ross Cockrell's fault somehow. Give me time I'll figure out how to blame all of this on him.

[st33lersguy]

My grievance here is we knew how to win today and played directly into the Jags strengths instead. WHY THROW 60 TIMES? Bell, Conner, even give a few to what's his name. Feed the run machine all day. Make this a 4 hour game if it comes to that. You cannot throw against that secondary when you only have one legit WR out there. This was the worst game plan I have ever seen by this staff. The Jags didn't even have to play very hard today. We gave it to their strength and went away from ours. We tried to lose this one. That's the ONLY explanation that makes sense.

I had a feeling the Steelers would get pass happy and play into the Jags strengths and I was right,

[86WARD]

I had a feeling the Steelers would get pass happy and play into the Jags strengths and I was right,

It was a terrible game plan. Probably the worst possible game plan on offense and defense. Went totally opposite to what it should have been.

[43Hitman]

It was a terrible game plan. Probably the worst possible game plan on offense and defense. Went totally opposite to what it should have been.

Reminds me of the Browns game where there were steady 30-40 mph winds and BA had Ben throw all day. When the Browns couldn't stop the run to save their lives. We lost that game too.

[Steeldude]

Why? It was tied at 9. The defense did not play great, but they did enough to win.

This game was totally lost on the fact that Ben R scored 9 points for his team and14 for the other team.

There is literally nothing else to discuss.

The Steelers would have punted if not for the INTs. The Jags would feed the running game and push their way down field. The edge was open all day and Dupree is useless vs the run. The Steelers were flat for a game ... again.

If BR can throw up some prayers that are answered, they could beat the Chiefs. The Steelers pass defense has yet to be tested.

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It was a terrible game plan. Probably the worst possible game plan on offense and defense. Went totally opposite to what it should have been.

But the Tomlin apologists will come up with some absurd excuse to protect Tomlin.

One thing you can always be counted on with Tomlin's Steelers, they always remember to dance. They will forget their assignments and gaps, but those celebrations are never forgotten.

[86WARD]

The stiff arm Fournette put on Dupree pretty much sums the defensive effort up.