The Good Stuff: Week #6

I had to drive over to Ohio today during the Steelers game, so it was a very atypical football Sunday for me. I listened to the radio play-by-play as I drove and I set my DVR before leaving so that I'd be able to watch the action later. Like a lot of other Steeler fans, I wasn't exactly thrilled with the performance of Ben and the offense today, but that can wait for another post.

The primary focus of the Good Stuff: Week #6 is a Steeler defense that played probably its best football of the season against the Jaguars. In fact, despite holding the Jags to only 13 points, the final score was not indicative of what a truly superb game our D played.  We'll have a closer look after the jump. 

After the Steelers jumped out to a quick 17-0 lead with 11 minutes remaining in the second quarter, the same offense which had appeared so dominant during the game's first 19 minutes appeared to go to sleep for the remaining 41 minutes of play. Like I said, though, I won't pick on Ben & Company here, but the utter lack of offensive support during the last two-thirds of this game put constant and tremendous pressure on the Steeler D. To make matters worse, in the second half, a shanked punt by Sepulveda and a costly roughing-the-kicker penalty on a Jacksonville punt wasted some of this gritty defensive effort.

No one could blame the Steeler D if they had wilted from sheer exhaustion due to the offense's failure to mount a serious drive during a second half of football featuring only 3 Steeler first downs on 5 possessions. But because the D didn't wilt, we're now looking at a respectable 4-2 record now instead of being a .500 football team. 

Here are the Steelers who really stood out in turning back the Jaguars at Heinz Field:

1) Brett Keisel: Keisel made life miserable for Jacksonville's offense throughout the game, whether by collapsing the pocket or stopping the run. His sack of Gabbert on the Jags' last-ditch offensive series cinched the win and was typical of his stellar play.  

2) James Farrior:  For the second week in a row, #51 proved that he hasn't lost nearly as much as his detractors would have us believe. Farrior was all over the field making big tackles and harrassing Gabbert on blitzes. 

3) Ziggy Hood:  I think this was Ziggy's break-out game as a pro. He was a constant thorn in the side of the Jags offense and he nearly picked off one of Gabbert's dump passes. The way the Zigster has been playing so far this season, it'll be pretty difficult to keep him out of the starting lineup.

4) LaMarr Woodley:  Definitely one of Woodley's best games of the past couple of years.

5) Troy Polamalu: Troy had another great effort, eventually knocking himself silly with one of his patented torpedo tackles to stop a Jacksonville drive. With Troy, for better or worse, you get 100% motor and effort all the time.

6) Ryan Clark:  Clark was superb in run support, continually shooting into the Jags' backfield to disrupt plays.

To fully appreciate the Steeler D's effort, consider the fact that, had it not been for a special teams error (roughing-the-kicker) that extended the Jags' 3rd-quarter TD drive, the final score would have been 17-6. But even at 13 points allowed, the D played well enough that this game effectively was over when Suisham's FG made the score 17-0.

We'll have plenty of time to "cuss and discuss" the Steeler offense, but for now we can be encouraged by the great effort of our defense which, in reality, was the key factor in this victory.

GO STEELERS!!