| On Location: Steelers Frustrated In Win | ||||
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With less than two weeks before Halloween candy is handed out, there was some Tricking-or-Treating going on at Heinz Field—just what do we make of the 2011 Pittsburgh Steelers after six weeks of football? For instance, this season the proud run defense has already allowed a pair of 100-yard rushers in six games. That’s like Halley’s Comet being seen twice in one week—it cannot happen. It does not happen. So when the Steelers convincingly beat the Tennessee Titans last week (3-2) and held the struggling Pro Bowl running back Chris Johnson to 51 yards, the arrow seemed to be pointing in the right direction. The 38-17 win fueled expectations of another runaway effort against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Or, on the other hand, questions remained about how the offensive and defensive lines would gel with the rash of injuries they’ve suffered. Injuries got so bad that the Steelers resigned veteran offensive lineman Max Starks after releasing him in July. He hadn’t played since November 11th of 2010, when he was placed on IR by the Steelers.
Yet, even after six weeks the jury is still out on these 2011 Steelers, even after a 17-13 win over Jacksonville. Remember, last year at this time the team was rejoicing in the fact that Ben Roethlisberger was returning from a five-game suspension and inheriting the work of his teammates’ 4-1 start.
Jump ahead to this season, where the Steelers were 3-2 after five weeks with plenty of ups and downs. Ben Roethlisberger gave a non-answer when asked what he thought of his team’s start, “We’ll have to wait and see.” Roethlisberger did give some insight on why the Steelers were frustrated after the win, “It is frustrating because my expectations for this offense are high. I’m going to be a little frustrated for about another half hour, and then I’m going to be happy that we won the game.”
“I think the jury is still out on us,” Mike Tomlin acknowledged after the sluggish end to the 17-13 victory at Heinz Field. Roethlisberger completed only one pass—a 19-yarder to Hines Ward—on five second half pass attempts in the entire second half. This came after Roethlisberger completed 11 of 18 passes for 181 yards and a touchdown to Mike Wallace for 28 yards.
Running back Rashard Mendenhall was bouncing the ball outside and making the Jacksonville defense pay with 146 rushing yards along with one score, but 113 of those yards came in the first half. Early on the Steelers commanded a 14-0 lead and it looked like all the cylinders were clicking before the lethargic offense started to set in. “We just didn’t execute,” said Hines Ward, “More than anything, I’m just glad we won the game.”
“It wasn’t the kind of finish we were looking for but obviously we will take it,” Mike Tomlin said. Early on it looked like it would be the landslide most expected, but in the third quarter Jacksonville rookie Blaine Gabbert orchestrated a 17-play, 80-yard drive that brought the Jags to within 17-10. Gabbert showed nice pocket presence, avoided turnovers, and even earned the praise of Steelers nose-tackle Chris Hoke, “He’s going to be a good quarterback in this league. He made some nice throws and bought time with his feet.” Gabbert bought plenty of time in the second half; the Jaguars won time of possession and in the process transformed what looked to be an early blowout into a game they were a Hail Mary pass away from winning.
The Pittsburgh Steelers weren’t always revered as one of the model franchises in the National Football League. It wasn’t until the mid-70s that the team started to build the success that we witness today. Overall the Steelers have a winning record against 18 teams in the NFL and the teams that they have losing records against are long-storied franchises like the Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers and Washington Redskins. That’s why I found it strange that, prior to their win today, the Steelers were 9-11 lifetime against Jacksonville. The Jags were born in 1995, so they’re hardly historic. Due to longitude and latitude the Cleveland Browns are a rival, as are division foes the Baltimore Ravens. Toss in New England with the success both teams have shared vying for the title of the NFL’s best and there are enough rivals for the Steelers. So it’s strange that this expansion team from the 90’s is a thorn in the side of the Pittsburgh Steelers. They proved it yet again today—when these two teams go head to head throw the record books out the window because the strange events are likely to occur.
Tomlin knows that winning is the final goal but winning pretty helps, “The big challenges lie ahead. We’ve done some nice things but due to some circumstances, one way or another, we haven’t been tested like we will be.” With less than two weeks before Halloween candy is handed out there was some Tricking-or-Treating going on at Heinz Field to learn - What do we make of the 2011 Pittsburgh Steelers after six weeks of football? For instance this season the proud run defense has already allowed two one hundred yards rushers in six games which is like Halley’s Comet being seen twice in one week, can not happen does not happen, the orbit buzzing rock is only visible from earth about every 75 to 76 years. So convincingly beating the Tennessee Titans last week (3-2) and holding the struggling Pro Bowl running back Chris Johnson to 51 yards the arrow seemed to be pointing in the right direction with the 38-17 rout which fuelled expectations of another run away game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Or not knowing how the team would start to gel with the rash of injuries beset on the offensive and defensive lines pushing them to the brink by resigning veteran Max Starks last week after being released in July and not playing since November 11th of 2010 when he was placed on the IR by the Steelers.
Yet even after six weeks the verdict is some what clouded blurred by the fast start blurred by the dismal finish down the stretch on how good or maybe bad the Pittsburgh Steelers are in 2011. Remember last year at this time the team was rejoicing in the fact that Ben Roethlisberger was returning from a five game suspension and inheriting the work of his teammates 4-1 start.
Jump ahead to this season at 3-2 after five weeks with plenty of head scratching on the identity of this Steelers team with Ben Roethlisberger side stepping the question by responding “we will have to wait and see” when asked his opinion on things so far in Pittsburgh. Roethlisberger did give some insight on why is seemed the Steelers were frustrated after the win saying “it is frustrating because my expectations for this offense are high. I’m going to be a little frustrated for about another half hour, and then I’m going to be happy that we won the game.”
“I think we the jury is still out on us,” Mike Tomlin acknowledged after the sluggish end to the 17-13 victory at Heinz Field with Roethlisberger completing only one pass for 19 yards to Hines Ward on five pass attempts in the entire second half this was after Roethlisberger completed 11 of 18 passes for 162 yards and one touchdown to Mike Wallace for 28 yards.
Running back Rashard Mendenhall was bouncing the ball outside and making the Jacksonville defense pay with 146 rushing yards along with one score but 113 of those yards all came in the second half. Early on the Steelers commanded a 14-0 nothing lead looking like all cylinders were clicking in unison before the lethargic offense started to set in “we just didn’t execute,” said Hines Ward adding “more than anything just glad we won the game.”
“It wasn’t the kind of finish we were looking for but obviously we will take it.” Mike Tomlin said. Early on it looked like a landslide victory but in the third quarter with the Steelers leaving points off the score board rookie Blaine Gabbert orchestrated a 17 play, 80 yard drive narrowing the score 17-10 trailing by only seven on the road at Heinz Field. Gabbert on the day showed nice pocket presence avoided turnovers and even earned the praise of Steelers nose-tackle Chris Hoke saying “he’s going to be a good quarterback in this league, made some nice throws and bought time with his feet.” Gabbert bought plenty of time up in the second half where the Jaguars won time of possession and in the process made what looked to be an early blow out into a Hail Mary pass away from victory in the final play.
The Pittsburgh Steelers weren’t always revered as one of the model franchises in the National Football League it wasn’t until the mid-70’s the team started to build on the success that we witness today. Overall the Steelers have a winning record against 18 teams in the NFL and the teams that they aren’t ahead of are long storied franchise like the Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers and Washington Redskins. That’s why I found it strange that prior to their win today over the Jacksonville Jaguars the Steelers were 9-11 lifetime against an organization that began in 1995. Due to longitude and latitude the Cleveland Browns are a rival along with division foe the Baltimore Ravens and toss in New England with the success both teams have shared vying for the title of the NFL’s best which is why it was strange knowing of how this expansion team from the 90’s was truly a thorn in the side of the Pittsburgh Steelers yet goes relatively unnoticed but proved it yet again today that when these two teams go head to head throw the record books out the window because the strange and bizarre are likely to occur. Tomlin knows that winning is the final goal but winning pretty helps saying “the big challenges lie ahead,” adding “we’ve done some nice things but due to some circumstances, one way or another, we haven’t been tested like we will be.” -- Follow Bo Marchionte on Twitter @BoMarchionte 
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