Week #5 Gameday Thread Steelers vs. Jaguars

[Steeler Hitman]

 

Where:

 

When: Sunday October 8, 2017 @ 1 pm

Series History:

Series History: Series began in 1995
Overall Regular Season: Series Tied 11-11
Streak: Steelers have won last three
At Pittsburgh: Steelers lead 6-4
At Jacksonville: Jaguars lead 7-5
Neutral Sites: n/a
Last Regular-Season Meeting: Oct. 05, 2014, in Jacksonville (Pittsburgh 17, Jacksonville 9) Ugly win on Brice McCain INT Return for TD
Postseason Series: Jaguars lead 1-0
Last Postseason Meeting: Jan. 5, 2008, in Pittsburgh (Jacksonville 31, Pittsburgh 29)

Jacksonville and Steelers have been a strong rivalry and the Jags have a history of giving the Steelers fits.

Steelers Keys to Victory:

 

1. Continue to play sound defense and pressure Blake Bortles in the pocket.

2. Stop Leonard Fornette!

3. Get Big Ben and the passing attack back on track!

4 Beware of Jaguars strong defense!!!

5. Steelers OL has to give Bell room to run and keep Big Ben clean and upright.

6. Play disciplined football for a change. Cut out the stupid penalties.

7. Put up points. You want to get out front and make it a track meet on offense.

8. Where have the Killer B's been?

Hotties to come!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[August4th]

expecting another grind out win...

[Steeler Hitman]

4 hours ago, August4th said:

expecting another grind out win...

You are probably correct there, but I am hoping that Big Ben and the offense breaks out. A friend of mine was telling me that he read an article (I am trying to locate)  that there are some rumblings between AB, Ben and Coach Haley over Coach Haley's play calling and approach. Hence the sideline blow up which was said to be more towards Coach Haley. A bit too much drama for me if true, but I just want to see the offense start rolling.

[August4th]

19 minutes ago, Steeler Hitman said:

You are probably correct there, but I am hoping that Big Ben and the offense breaks out. A friend of mine was telling me that he read an article (I am trying to locate)  that there are some rumblings between AB, Ben and Coach Haley over Coach Haley's play calling and approach. Hence the sideline blow up which was said to be more towards Coach Haley. A bit too much drama for me if true, but I just want to see the offense start rolling.

I think we finally saw signs of life in the offense during the 1st half and late in the game with the running game.. now we just need for ben to start connecting more often in the deep game..so close to having 2 huge passing plays for TD Sunday.. I do feel more optimistic about this offense then I did a week ago

[43M]

Nice thread, Hitman.

This could be a dangerous game.   The Jags are very up and down....kinda like us.    They have some nice talent on defense, and their pass rush could harass Ben.    

IMO, this game will depend on the QBs.    Which Bortles will show up?   Which Ben will show up?      In the past, this would be a no brainer, but there is no denying Ben has been off this year, so I really dont know.   I want to believe its just a matter of time before Ben gets back to form, but part of me is believing that we are watching him gradually regress.    Really hoping he can prove me wrong.

[Steeler Hitman]

5 hours ago, FourThreeMafia said:

Nice thread, Hitman.

This could be a dangerous game.   The Jags are very up and down....kinda like us.    They have some nice talent on defense, and their pass rush could harass Ben.    

IMO, this game will depend on the QBs.    Which Bortles will show up?   Which Ben will show up?      In the past, this would be a no brainer, but there is no denying Ben has been off this year, so I really dont know.   I want to believe its just a matter of time before Ben gets back to form, but part of me is believing that we are watching him gradually regress.    Really hoping he can prove me wrong.

That is most of our concern. I honestly believe that it is timing and reps and by week 8 they will start their play-off push mode. I don't understand why they don't get there and play like that all year, but it seems the Steelers typically must warm up. I don't think Ben's skills are eroding at this point, but the timing and play calling is off.

[MOSteelers56]

We need to run the ball early again. The playcalling on our first drive in Baltimore was stellar. Run and take advantage of an aggressive defense. This is a team we need to get up early on and then never let up. Work some intermediate routes until Ben gets his timing right, then keep running and setting up deep passes. It seems so simple with an offense this talented. 

[MOSteelers56]

1 minute ago, Steeler Hitman said:

That is most of our concern. I honestly believe that it is timing and reps and by week 8 they will start their play-off push mode. I don't understand why they don't get there and play like that all year, but it seems the Steelers typically must warm up. I don't think Ben's skills are eroding at this point, but the timing and play calling is off.

It was the defense that needed to warm up last year. This year the offense.

Honestly, I'm hoping for an improvement in our defense as well as the offense around midseason. Then we'll be unstoppable. 

[stillersenat]

Over/under on Brown's chances for flipping out if he isn't targeted 15+ times in the game?

[Steeler Hitman]

1 minute ago, MOSteelers56 said:

It was the defense that needed to warm up last year. This year the offense.

Honestly, I'm hoping for an improvement in our defense as well as the offense around midseason. Then we'll be unstoppable. 

You are correct. There are no excuses. They are relatively healthy and finally have all of the Killer B's. This team does not consistently play a complete game in all three phases at once. We lean on offense or defense or special teams, or combinations of two but rarely all three phases. We have too much talent to continue to leave points off the board.  It is more mental at this point as illustrated with some of the careless penalties.

[MOSteelers56]

7 minutes ago, stillersenat said:

Over/under on Brown's chances for flipping out if he isn't targeted 15+ times in the game?

I don't think he will. I'd imagine that he'll see his usual statline 8/100/1TD. I don't think Ramsey is going to be able to stay with his quickness. 

[August4th]

heyward was named AFC defensive player of the week ... do you guys think we might have a defense that can get to brady?

[MOSteelers56]

8 minutes ago, August4th said:

heyward was named AFC defensive player of the week ... do you guys think we might have a defense that can get to brady?

I think we've got the perfect defense to get after him. We've got the ability to get after him with 4. Any combo of Tuitt, Heyward, Watt, Dupree, Shazier, Harrison(maybe). Our ILB and safeties will need to step up in coverage. Honestly, the Pats defense is so bad, we may be able to hang a 50 spot on them and it won't matter. 

[August4th]

17 minutes ago, MOSteelers56 said:

I think we've got the perfect defense to get after him. We've got the ability to get after him with 4. Any combo of Tuitt, Heyward, Watt, Dupree, Shazier, Harrison(maybe). Our ILB and safeties will need to step up in coverage. Honestly, the Pats defense is so bad, we may be able to hang a 50 spot on them and it won't matter. 

and also I've heard the pats offense has changed more to a deep passing game so brady is getting hit more often in the pocket...he's on pace to get sacked 52 times.. a career high.

[Steeler Hitman]

Before I start thinking about dethroning the champs, I want to see this team stop beating themselves like games against the Browns and Bears. This team has so much potential, but they need to learn to play up to it and be consistent. I know that teams will make mistakes and lose games, but I don't want to see them lose because they have over 100 yards in penalties or turn the ball over several times. The defense has been a pleasant surprise and I believe that the secondary with Hayden, Burns, Davis, Hilton, Mitchell and Wilcox will become a strength as the season progresses. Hopefully Cam can come back and take over punt return duties to shore up that area and get AB off special teams.

As much as I want to beat New England, I think it is foolish of anyone to think that they will not make adjustments. They have a strong coaching staff and some new players playing together for the first time as well. I believe that by week 12 we will see where the true power lies in each conference as teams begin to round into play-off shape.  I remember last year when Minnesota and Denver both  started 4 - 0 and neither team made the play-offs. Remember last year at week eight, we all had long faces after starting 3 - 1 and then going to 4 -1 before falling to 4 - 5 before our turnaround took place.  I like this team better than last years: All of the  Killer B's, better pass rush, better secondary, We just have to play up to our full potential.