Steelerfury.com Post Game Grades: Jacksonville

Posted Mon, 10/06/2008 - 00:00 by Iron_City

QB’s:  B

26/41 309 yds 3 TD 1 INT

Ben looked to have regained midseason form by putting up his first 300 yard game of season and doing a good job of managing the offense.  He showed excellent leadership and decision making ability and drove his team to a game winning TD inside the 2:00 minute mark.  It would be easier for me if he would just spot that Jacksonville defense 7 pts and just throw away from Rashean Mathis all afternoon,  but unfortunately he didn’t and Mathis took yet another pick 6 to the house against Steelers QB’s.  His late game plea of the running play clock on the 2 pt conversion attempt didn’t phase the officials who flagged him anyway,  but he did the right thing by backing off the ball instead of rushing it in a crucial situation.  Ben Stood tall in the pocket with his eyes downfield while taking pressure and connected on 63.4% of his passes with a 100 QB rating and 7.5 YPA

 

RBs: A

24/129  3 Rec 15 yds

Down to their 4th string ball carrier,  newcomer Mewelde Moore became a 210 pound  bell cow running for 99 yards and grabbing 3 balls out of the backfield.  Practice Squad call up Gary Russell showed nice burst on perimeter runs as well.  The effective use of draw plays and stretch plays broke Moore open into the Jags secondary for a long run of 27 yards on a key 4th QTR drive.  There were no noticeable gaffes in blitz pickup and Moore ran a nice wheel route on the goal line that fell incomplete,  but a nice wrinkle to the offense I might add.  He also grabbed a swing pass and took it 13 yards on what turned out to be the same exact playcall the Steelers ran the week before against the Ravens where Big Ben threw an INT to Haloti Ngata and Rashard Mendenhall was open in flats.  Refer to last weeks podcast for more details. 

 

WR’s:  B

17/249   2 TD’s

Steelers came out early and often in spread sets and with a little bit of protection,  the Steelers WR’s picked apart DC’s Greg Smith’s cover 3 looks at will.  As I sat and watched Nate Washington catch an out route in the 2nd QTR,  I looked at a friend and said its about time to start setting up some double moves.  The very next play,  BAM,  #85 shows a stutter step and 48 yards to the HOUSE !!!!   Hines Ward continued his ironman streak by laying out Jags MLB Mike Peterson on the first drive and caught a pass in his, and I got this from the announcers,  151st consecutive game.  But on the down side,  I do credit Hines with a couple drops in this game including a juggling act on the back line of the end zone that he clearly had two feet in but couldn’t pull the ball down.

 

TE’s:  B-

5/45  1 TD

Heath Miller continued to be a threat in the short passing game showing good vision by finding holes in the Jags 1st half zone defense.  Also,  out of character for this group,  Miller and TE Matt Spaeth did a good job in run blocking sealing off several perimeter run plays and sustaining blocks to the whistle.  A compliment I haven’t been able to give them in recent weeks.

 

OL:  C+

3 sacks allowed

Allowing 3 sacks and several key pressures put more 2nd half strain on the offense,  even though at least 1-2 of those sacks can be put squarely on the shoulders of the QB and coverage.  They did a nice job of also sealing off perimeter zone runs and draw plays,  but failed to get much interior push when needed.  New Guy Darnell Stapleton turned out to be fairly effective while not allowing a sack and only one penalty which was declined.  He did struggle a bit in space while pulling,  but a few weeks of starters reps in practice will cure that.  

 

DL:  A+

A patchwork unit seemingly thrown together just before kickoff and consisting of Chris Hoke,  Aaron Smith,  Travis Kirschke,  and Orpheus Roye did a phenomenal job of holding Jaguar RB’s to a combined 15 carries for 26 yards and holding Garrard to just a measley 12 yards rushing himself.  The rotation also did a nice job providing interior pressure and flushing Garrard on several occasions.  

 

LB’s: B

ILB’s were stout in the run game and the OLB’s combined for 3 sacks.  James Harrison and Lamar Woodley did spend more time than usual in coverage in this game as the Steelers tried to bring interior pressure against a patchwork Jags interior OL itself.

 

Secondary:  B-

All world Troy Polamalu was all over the field again in every phase and the secondary came up big when it counted and took the life out of the Jags bread and butter pass plays of dumping it off to the backs. .  Although they didn’t register an INT for the 2nd game in a row,  they played on their toes and choked off key 3rd QTR slants as time expired,  although they did allow their first 200 yard passing performance of the season.    

 

ST’s: B

Before a late game injury,  the money man,  Jeff Reed connected on a pair of key 2nd QTR FG’s to keep his stellar season streak alive.  Also,  for the fifth game in a row,  the punt and kick coverage units came up big against a solid return game from the opposition.  The punt coverage,  in particular,  was very good.  But the return game continues to struggle.  Newly signed Najeh Davenport looked alarmingly slow returning kicks and even with Santonio Holmes back deep,  they are still unable to catch a break and change field position in the return game.  

 

Coaching: B

I give a standing ovation to the adjustments made by both coordinators.  Steelers defense came out of the gates looking as if it may struggle in the passing game,  but the Mad Scientist Dick LeBeau adjusted and began dropping his OLB’s to undercut slant and out routes that proved to be effective out of his zone blitz looks.  Holding any offense to 3/13 on 3rd downs with just  14 total first downs is what this Steelers defense is built on. OC Bruce Arians similarly did a good job adjusting of incorporating more 2nd run half run plays into the Cover 2 looks the Jaguars came out with after half.  Going 46% on 3rd down while accumulating 28 first downs is always a winning recipe.   Mad Props for Mike Tomlin as well having this team ready to play in a hostile environment with so many injuries.  My only beef,  too many penalties and I blame coaching for that.  

 

Special Award of the Week:  -  Goes to Steeler Nation.  It was a beautiful sight to see so many terrible towels filling the stadium halfway across the country on primetime