Steelers Pound Jets To Get Back on Track

To all those people out there who after last week’s loss pushed the panic button, jumped off the cliff and fired Todd Haley. To those of you who read my recap of the Denver game and scoffed at the notion that this team was fine, this win’s for you.  Are you still panicking?  Are you still firing Haley or saying the season’s over?  You shouldn’t be, and if you are, you’re clueless.  This team proved to everyone that they are going to be a factor again this year and they did it in a big way by smashing the Jets at Heinz Field today 27-10. 

It didn’t start off the way any of us would have liked as after the Steelers took their opening drive down the field to go up 3-0, the Jets answered back and drove right down the field to go up 7-3, all the while letting Mark Sanchez look like Peyton Manning in the process.  Peyton Manning Sanchez is not and after that drive, the Steelers made that very clear.  Sanchez finished the day completing a miniscule 10 passes for 138 yards and a paltry 66.6 passer rating. 

The Jets were able to put up 3 more points in the game but their offense was truly stifled after the opening drive.  The Steelers didn’t play with either Troy Polamalu or James Harrison but it didn’t matter one bit.  They blitz Sanchez, the rattled him and they made him look like the player he really is.  While he never threw a pick he was sacked twice and hurried several more. I was impressed with the way the defense played today.  Ryan Clark led the way with 8 tackles followed by Larry Foote with 7. Foote through two games has been playing like an animal and it’s great to see the old vet still playing his heart out after all these years. 

The crowd certainly amped this team up and they fed off of it. This was a team who at 0-1 were not in what I would deem a dire situation or a must win situation but they played like they had their backs against the wall and fought for their lives.  Not only did the defense go out and put on a display but the offense did their part too. 

Big Ben was phenomenal today completing 7 of his first 8 passes, 24 of 31 overall and throwing for 275 yards and 2 touchdowns.  He didn’t have a pick and his rating came in at a near perfect 125.1.  Hard to ask much more from the leader of the team as he once again showed us he’s fleet of foot and his ability to escape tackles is unrivaled by any other QB in the league.  Antonio Brown to me is the best receiver this team has, he’s fast, he’s a great route runner and he can contort his body to make any catch as long as Ben puts it in his vicinity. He led the team once again with 7 receptions for 79 yards. Not lost in this offense is Mike Wallace, he is still the best deep threat this team has and he proved that with his 37 yard TD reception. He totaled 5 catches for 74 yards in total and with him on one side and Brown on the other, the black and gold have a real strong passing attack. I don’t want to leave out Emmanuel Sanders who added 3 catches for 33 yards and the longtime Steeler tight end Heath Miller who also had 3 catches including his second touchdown in as many weeks. 

The rushing attack wasn’t where any of us would like it to be as they only managed 66 yards on 28 carries but down the stretch when the ground game was needed most to run out the clock, the backs came through.  Perhaps more glaring than those unimpressive totals from the backs is the obvious feeling by the Steelers brass that it takes a multitude of backs to fill in for Rashard Mendenhall.  I still believe that so far this season Jonathan Dwyer has been the best back the team has but I’m starting to get a little more anxious to see the return of Mendenhall and his usual ability to gain 75-100 yards a game. 

All in all a pretty stellar week and when you throw in the fact that the Ravens lost at Philadelphia and Patriots lost at home to the Cardinals you have to say this week couldn’t have gone much better at all! 

A few notes, observations and superlatives:

Player of the Game-Again it’s Ben Roethlisberger, 275 yards and 2 TD’s is a great day for the QB. He came out on a mission and he delivered. 

 Is he a future Hall of Famer:  Heath Miller-I think had he spent his career with the Pats, Colts or just about any other team the answer is a clear cut yes. However, he’s spent his time in Pittsburgh and we’re all thankful for that but in doing so he sacrificed a lot of catches, TD’s and accolades in favor of wins and shots at Super Bowls.  Great choice Heath and a big thank you! (Side note, I thought of this while watching him play today, he has great hands and can really get it done in the flat and down the field)

Got Speed?  We knew about Wallace and Brown but how about Emmanuel Sanders?  He’s got a good bit of speed too to go along with some great hands. 

Thoughts:  Just one this week and it’s hard to really find any negatives from this win but I don’t think Brown should have been returning punts when the team was up 17 late in the fourth and to piggy back on that I don’t believe Big Ben should ever be in the game in that same scenario. I know the players want to play but that’s always going to be the case, Tomlin needs to put his foot down and not allow these important big play guys the ability to risk injury and potentially cost the team down the line.

1-1, up next at Oakland 0-2