Saints can clinch NFC No. 1 seed with win over Steelers
MEMORABLE SERIES MOMENT
Saints 20, Steelers 10
Oct. 31, 2010 at Louisiana Superdome
Ben Roethlisberger is still talking about the noise level at the Superdome on Halloween night over eight years ago. The Steelers took a 3-0 lead after a first-and-goal at the 1 was thwarted by the defending champion Saints, and a missed 51-yarder by Jeff Reed set the Saints up for the tying field goal before halftime. The Saints went up 6-3 on their first possession of the second half, and a failed fourth-and-4 pass by Roethlisberger to Emmanuel Sanders sent the Saints on the game鈥檚 first touchdown drive, which ended with a 16-yard pass from Drew Brees to Marques Colston early in the fourth quarter. Rashard Mendenhall answered with a 38-yard touchdown run to cut the Saints鈥� lead to 13-10, and Bryant McFadden鈥檚 strip sack of Brees was recovered by LaMarr Woodley at the Pittsburgh 27. However, three plays later, Heath Miller fumbled it back to the Saints and Brees hit Lance Moore for an 8-yard touchdown to clinch the win with 2:37 left. The Steelers went on to the Super Bowl that season, but haven鈥檛 won in New Orleans since 1990 (0-2).
TALE OF THE TAPE
鈥淣ew Orleans鈥� front four might be the best I鈥檝e seen this year. They get after the quarterback and they鈥檙e very, very well coached. The thing you notice about them is they shoot their hands real well. That allows them to get inside the offensive lineman鈥檚 hands and they lock out and keep you at arm鈥檚 length. They鈥檙e led by Cameron Jordan. What an athlete, and he plays with tremendous effort. He鈥檚 got the full repertoire of pass-rush moves. He鈥檚 the tone-setter. Sheldon Rankins is really tough inside. He has a really quick first step, eight sacks, tough, physical. I love the way he plays. I鈥檓 very, very impressed with their defensive line.鈥� 鈥� Steelers Radio analyst Tunch Ilkin.
TOP QUESTION
Will the Saints be motivated?
The 12-2 Saints have a six-game division lead and a one-game lead for the top seed over a team they鈥檝e already beaten. The Saints can clinch that No. 1 seed with a win today, but obviously they don鈥檛 need the game as much as the Steelers. But when Steelers fans invade road stadiums, they pick up the energy level and the home team plays harder against one of the most exposed teams of the last 35 years. But will the Saints push their injured players to play? Five Saints offensive linemen missed most of the practice week with injuries, but only one, replacement left tackle Jermon Bushrod, was ruled out of the game.
THREE QUESTIONS: With LT ALEJANDRO VILLANUEVA
Q: Back-to-back Pro Bowls. Do you feel you鈥檝e gotten appreciably better this season?
AV: 鈥淣o. I feel like I still have a lot of things to improve. I would never look at myself as a good player. If I had to rank myself I would always be 32 out of 32.鈥�
Q: Pro Football Focus grades you as the No. 1 pass-blocking tackle in the league this season. Have you seen that?
AV: 鈥淚 would never believe anything that a website has regarding my performance. Coach Munchak is the only one who can evaluate what he鈥檚 asking me to do and how I鈥檓 doing it.鈥�
Q: What about the team? Is the team better than it was last year?
AV: 鈥淚 think the team has learned very valuable lessons from last year. We鈥檙e carrying them over to this year, so that鈥檚 good. I think that last year we won a lot of games in the last few plays, so that鈥檚 something that goes either way. You want to be able to win because you鈥檙e conceptually beating the opponent and because you鈥檙e executing better than the opponent, not because it boils down to the last possession or it boils down to lucky plays. A win is still going to be a win, but if you want to project how you鈥檙e going to do in the postseason, obviously you want to be making sure that the coaches are coming up with a great plan and plays and the players are executing that plan and you鈥檙e coming up with good victories. I think that we have not been tested yet because we鈥檙e not in the playoffs, and so we cannot for sure know. We got as far as the playoffs last year. Let鈥檚 see how we do this year.鈥�
GAME BREAKDOWN
What to look for from the Steelers this evening at the Superdome:
ON OFFENSE
One of the NFL鈥檚 elite run defenses won鈥檛 present the swiss-cheese front the Patriots did last Sunday. Running the ball will take perseverance by the Steelers, and maybe even a fullback. That doesn鈥檛 sound like the direction they鈥檙e headed with their expanded passing game. The Steelers drove 92 yards with five wide receivers on the field for what was the deciding touchdown against the Patriots. You would probably have to go back to 1995 to the days of Thigpen-Mills-Hastings-Johnson-Stewart for anything similar. That might be the way to attack the Saints, who rank 25th in defensive passer rating, but they have a deep secondary with a shutdown CB, Marshon Lattimore, at the ready for Antonio Brown. Also, JuJu Smith-Schuster is questionable with a groin injury for the Steelers.
ON DEFENSE
The Steelers showed last week they can play chess with a master QB who has a good run game at his disposal. The Saints, though, have better running backs 鈥� Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram 鈥� and a better receiver in Michael Thomas than anyone who lined up at those positions for the Patriots. The three players were the only NFL trio in 2017 to each be over 1,100 total yards from scrimmage. The Saints also like to run the wildcat with either Kamara or Taysom Hill taking the direct snap. The Steelers would no doubt crash their linebackers on the QB because in the wildcat he keeps it approximately 80 percent of the time.
PREDICTION
It鈥檚 difficult to find good reason to predict a Steelers win. They do need the win more than the Saints, but I expect the Saints to get up for this one 鈥� after three straight on the road 鈥� in order to take next week completely off. The Saints have allowed an NFL-low 74 points in their last six games, while the Steelers have put up some of their worst statistics of the season of late. Over the last five games, against similar competition, the Saints have clear advantages at the lines of scrimmage and in pass coverage, and a whopping advantage in scoring efficiency. The Saints are a much better team than the Patriots. There鈥檚 no other way to go but 鈥� Saints, 24-16.
BY THE NUMBERS
2.55: Seconds Ben Roethlisberger averages to get rid of the ball, which leads the NFL. Brees is third at 2.59 seconds. Both are among the least-pressured QBs in the league.
5: Consecutive wins for the Steelers in regular-season road finales. They鈥檝e also won their last seven regular-season indoor games.
35: Average snaps between QB pressures allowed by Villanueva, which, according to Pro Football Focus, leads all NFL tackles.
74.9: Completion percentage for Brees, which leads the league.
139.1: Passer rating for Roethlisberger in three games 鈥� all wins 鈥� against the NFC South this season.
DOWNLOADS
n The Saints were hit with a couple of injuries at cornerback earlier this season and on Oct. 23 traded fourth and seventh-round draft picks to the Giants for 2016 No. 10 overall draft pick Eli Apple. He鈥檚 started the last eight games opposite Lattimore at cornerback, with outstanding nickel back P.J. Williams in the slot. The move has been paying off. In the last five games, the Saints allow only 8.9 yards per catch. In their previous nine games, they allowed 13.5 yards per catch.
n Joe Haden was named NFL Defensive Player of the Week this week for the first time in his career, but it wasn鈥檛 good enough to earn a Pro Bowl invitation. That didn鈥檛 sit well with Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler. 鈥淛oe Haden is a great football player,鈥� Butler said. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 see why he wouldn鈥檛 make the Pro Bowl. He鈥檚 definitely one of the best corners in the league, in my opinion. He鈥檚 the best corner I鈥檝e been around in my 20 years of coaching in the NFL and my 10 years of playing, so he鈥檚 as good as anybody I鈥檝e been around. He rises to the occasion. He loves that part of the game. You have to love that part of the game if you are a competitor playing in the National Football League. You have to love that part of the game when it gets tight and you have to have people make plays and people play the way Joe has played. I am glad we have him. I鈥檓 glad we were able to get him.鈥�
n Brown and Smith-Schuster are close to becoming the first Steelers WR tandem with 100 catches and 1,000 receiving yards apiece. Brown has 90 catches for 1,112 yards and Smith-Schuster has 95 catches for 1,274 yards. Only five previous tandems have done so in the NFL: Brett Perriman/Herman Moore 1995 Lions; Rod Smith/Ed McCaffrey (2000 Broncos); Anquan Boldin/Larry Fitzgerald (2005 Cardinals); Reggie Wayne/Dallas Clark (2009 Colts); and Emmanuel Sanders/Demaryius Thomas (2014 Broncos).
n The Steelers have found their match in the Saints when it comes to difference in sacks/sacks allowed. The Steelers have 46 sacks and have allowed only 20 for a +26 differential. But the Saints have 45 sacks and have allowed a league-low 16 for a +29 differential. The two teams lead the league, followed by the Colts +22 and the Chiefs +21.
n James Washington would be the primary replacement if Smith-Schuster can鈥檛 play. The rookie is coming off his best game, with career highs of three catches for 65 yards against the Patriots. For the season, Washington has 13 catches for 153 yards (11.8 avg.) and one touchdown. Antonio Brown, at this point in his 2010 rookie season, had only 10 catches for 95 yards and no touchdowns. His breakout game was 3-for-75 in the first round of the 2010 playoffs against the Ravens. 鈥淣eeds a little more consistency but he鈥檚 been growing,鈥� offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner said of Washington. 鈥淵ou just kind of feel it. It鈥檚 probably natural for rookies at certain times to kind of make that jump, and hopefully he did. That鈥檚 exciting for him and for us.鈥�
PARTING SHOT
鈥淲e just want to get into the playoffs. It doesn鈥檛 matter how we get in, we just want to get in. Obviously the first and second seed you would like, but I don鈥檛 think we can get that now. So, let鈥檚 just find a way to get in.鈥� 鈥� Ben Roethlisberger.