Steelers face tough challenge in Titans
Associated Press
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster (19) makes a catch in front of Indianapolis Colts cornerback Pierre Desir (35) during the second half of their game in Indianapolis, Sunday.
Associated Press
Pittsburgh Steelers inside linebacker Ryan Shazier (50) is tackled by Indianapolis Colts tight end Jack Doyle (84) after an interception during the second half of their game in Indianapolis, Sunday.
Associated Press
Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota (8) looks to throw a pass against the Baltimore Ravens on Nov. 5 in the photo at left. Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (7) throws against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday in the photo at right. Stylistically, the Steelers may be the most unimpressive 7-2 team in the NFL. It鈥檚 a problem the AFC North leaders can live with, though they will be tested on Thursday against Tennessee (6-3). The Titans have won four straight and can send a message they鈥檙e a legitimate threat.
MEMORABLE SERIES MOMENT
Steelers 13, Titans 10 OT
Sept. 10, 2009 at Heinz Field
The first-quarter performance of Troy Polamalu stood out in this season-opening match-up of the defending champion Steelers and a Titans team that went 13-3 in 2008. Polamalu made six tackles in less than a half. He blew up one third-down play by tackling the dangerous Chris Johnson in the backfield, broke up the next third-down pass to tight end Bo Scaife, and on the third series made a spectacular, one-handed interception of a deep pass to Kenny Britt. But in the second quarter, Polamalu dove into a scrum looking for a blocked field goal and stretched a knee ligament that ultimately cost him 11 games that season, three more than he had missed in the previous six seasons combined. The Steelers and Titans traded touchdowns in the second quarter, and field goals in the fourth, before Hines Ward fumbled at the Tennessee 4 with 51 seconds remaining of the 10-10 game. The Steelers won the coin toss in overtime and Ben Roethlisberger threw twice to Ward, once to Heath Miller and Santonio Holmes and finally Mike Wallace to set up Jeff Reed鈥檚 game-winning 33-yard field goal.
TALE OF THE TAPE
鈥淵ou can see the signatures of a vintage Coach LeBeau defense with the 3-4 and all the zone-blitz variations, the disguising of the blitzes, the coverages, everything that we saw as a great coordinator here, we see there. The interesting thing is their sack total doesn鈥檛 match how often they hurry the quarterback. Derrick Morgan and Brian Orapko are two of the hottest rushers going, but one鈥檚 got five sacks and the other鈥檚 got 2.5. Morgan has 33 QB hurries and Orapko has 39, so they get close, they get after, but they don鈥檛 close the deal. You would think with that many close calls they鈥檇 close the deal a bit more. Thus far the opposition has gotten rid of the ball pretty quickly.鈥� 鈥� Steelers Radio analyst Craig Wolfley.
TOP QUESTION
Is run defense as important tonight as when the Steelers won Super Bowls with Dick LeBeau as coordinator?
The Steelers鈥� former defensive coordinator, now at Tennessee, established the defensive philosophy that鈥檚 still being echoed in the locker room: stop the run to make them one-dimensional. While the Titans under LeBeau are fourth in rush defense (per carry), the Steelers are 22nd, yet far outrank the Titans overall on defense. The Steelers are second and the Titans are 16th. The Titans will be a difficult defense on which to run, but how much will it matter if they can鈥檛 stop the pass in the gunslinger era?
THREE QUESTIONS: With CB BRIAN ALLEN
Q: You鈥檝e undoubtedly moved up in the pecking order with Joe Haden鈥檚 injury, right?
BA: 鈥淵es. They have me active right now, at least for special teams. As far as defense goes, I鈥檓 going right now to see what they say.鈥�
Q: How much have you improved at cornerback as a rookie?
BA: 鈥淚 really feel I鈥檝e gotten a lot better. Going against A.B. every day on the look squad, I feel the game鈥檚 really slowing down for me right now. Everyone knows I鈥檓 fairly new to the position, but going out here against arguably the greatest receiver in the world, every day, it鈥檚 all coming to flow and I think my game has progressed each week.鈥�
Q: Mike Tomlin watches you closely when you鈥檙e matched with Antonio Brown, doesn鈥檛 he?
BA: 鈥淵eah, I talked to him this morning coming in and he was like 鈥業t鈥檚 unfortunate that Joe went down but it鈥檚 an opportunity for you. Just go out there and make the most of it. If you get your shot go out there and leave no doubt. Leave it all on the field.'鈥�
GAME BREAKDOWN
What to look for from the Steelers tonight at Heinz Field:
ON OFFENSE:
The Steelers have found that turning the offense over to Le鈥橵eon Bell is their most successful approach, but the Titans will scheme to shut him down, as did the Colts, and force Roethlisberger to beat them through the air. Martavis Bryant missed one practice and Vance McDonald was in a boot and missed both, so that may leave Antonio Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Jesse James to make the plays. The Titans are 28th in sacks and 26th in red-zone defense and 19th in overall pass defense, but the most important sub-ranking in pass defense is yards per attempt, and the Titans are 7th.
ON DEFENSE:
Big question mark now in the secondary with the injury to Haden and the continuing woes of Mike Mitchell. If Mitchell once again can鈥檛 finish because of an ankle that鈥檚 bothered him all season, Rob Golden will join Haden鈥檚 backup, Coty Sensabaugh, in the secondary. Sensabaugh is a former starter for the Titans, so the story鈥檚 in the hopper whether Sensabaugh plays well or not. Titans QB Marcus Mariota leads an offense that ranks 27th because it lacks outside threats. Sixth-year pro Rishard Matthews (6-0, 217) is the top receiver (36-513-2), so expect the Titans to throw to their tight end and lean on their rushing attack.
PREDICTION
Titans Coach Mike Mularkey was the offensive coordinator prior to Ken Whisenhunt with the Steelers and used his 鈥渆xotic smashmouth鈥� offense throughout two playoff seasons. He became head coach of the Buffalo Bills in 2004 and lost to the Steelers that year in the regular-season finale. He would like to even the score, as would LeBeau, who was forced out of Pittsburgh after the 2014 season. Frankly, I can see it happening if they shut down the Steelers鈥� run game. While it鈥檚 usually best to not predict the obvious, I鈥檒l go with the upstarts in an ugly upset. 鈥� Titans, 23-20.
BY THE NUMBERS
1.75: Titans sacks per game on the road.
4: Current win streak by both the Titans and Steelers.
7: Career game-winning drives by Mariota, the latest on a 7-yard touchdown pass to DeMarco Murray for the game-winner last Sunday over Cincinnati. A win today would give the Titans seven wins in 10 games for the first time since they won all 10 to start the 2008 season
52: Rushing yards needed by Murray to reach the 7,000-yard career plateau. He would become the eighth such active rusher (Jonathan Stewart, Frank Gore, Adrian Peterson, Matt Forte, Marshazwn Lynch, LeSean McCoy, Jamaal Charles). Bell is currently at 4,885.
146.9: Roethlisberger鈥檚 second-half passer rating Sunday, which got lost in the struggle to rally past the Colts after his awful first half.
DOWNLOADS
n Tomlin praised Titans TE Delanie Walker by calling him 鈥渁 matchup issue. Maybe not in the ways that some of the longer basketball guys are but this guy is a top-flight athlete nonetheless. He gets in and out of his break points really well. He creates separation. It鈥檚 obvious that he is a tremendous security blanket for his quarterback.鈥� But in three games against Tomlin teams, Walker鈥檚 caught only 6 passes for 59 yards and no touchdowns. Walker needs two more touchdown catches to tie Drew Bennett for 10th on the all-time franchise list with 25.
n Kevin Byard left Middle Tennessee State with a school-record 19 interceptions and the Titans鈥� free safety is flashing those ballhawks skills of late. The second-year pro has intercepted six passes in the last six games, with five coming in back-to-back games against Cleveland and Baltimore. That made Byard the fifth player in NFL history with five interceptions in a two-game span. He was drafted with the first pick in the third round of the 2015 draft, six spots after the Steelers drafted their prized safety Sean Davis.
n Tomlin walked past reporters Tuesday and said to no one in particular that 鈥淪omebody ought to do a story on the upcoming punting duel. Kern is the best punter in the league. Mate鈥檚 got his hands full with this matchup.鈥� Brett Kern of the Titans leads the NFL in both gross punting average (52.2) and net (46.0). The NFL drug-tested him Monday, one day after he had boomed an NFL season-long 74-yarder against Cincinnati. 鈥淢ate鈥� 鈥� Australian-born Jordan Berry 鈥� of the Steelers is coming off his best game of the season (49.5/46.7) and is averaging 43.4 gross and 38.9 net.
n Todd Haley鈥檚 19th-ranked scoring offense will be up against LeBeau鈥檚 22nd-ranked scoring defense, which would appear to give the struggling Steelers鈥� offense a chance. Haley worked with LeBeau for three years and probably picked up some secrets. 鈥淗e and I shared a seat row on a plane to away trips and it was one of my favorite things ever,鈥� Haley said. 鈥淚t was the only time in my career I hoped for long road trips because you got to sit with really a living legend for four to five hours and he was like me: never slept no matter what time we were flying. Just a great person and man to be around. (His) defense is playing great football obviously, this last stretch especially. They are taking the ball away. They are playing physical. They are playing hard, as you鈥檇 expect. You see subtle changes that a great coach makes and necessary adjustments to be the best they can be.鈥�
n Steelers rookie WR JuJu Smith-Schuster and Titans rookie CB Adoree Jackson played against each other in high school in Southern California, even played together on a select 7-on-7 team before each committed to USC on the same day. That started a three-year college career in which Jackson covered Smith-Schuster as often as he could in practice. They even played wide receiver together in their first game, with Smith-Schuster catching 4 passes for 123 yards and cementing the position. Jackson moved to cornerback, where he was labeled by scouts as having 鈥済reat short-area quickness鈥� but was 鈥渘ot an aggressive tackler.鈥� Jackson was the 18th pick of last April鈥檚 draft and Smith-Schuster was 62nd, but the latter is having the better season with 29 catches for 521 yards and 5 touchdowns. Jackson is playing on all three units but has yet to start a game. He鈥檚 averaging 21.2 yards per kickoff return, 9.8 per punt return and has rushed four times for 50 yards. 鈥淗e鈥檚 been a catalyst for some big plays whether he has the ball or they use him as a decoy to create vertical opportunities for others,鈥� Tomlin said.
PARTING SHOT
鈥淎s awesome as it will be to see Dick on a personal note, he鈥檚 not the type of guy you want to see in a headset on the other sideline.鈥� 鈥� Mike Tomlin.