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Breaking down quarterbacks in their first game against Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau

While LeBeau has pretty much annihilated rookie quarterbacks, quarterbacks playing their first games against Dick LeBeau's Steelers defenses...haven't really fared a whole lot better.

By Neal Coolong
Don McPeak-USA TODAY Sports

Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau is known for his success against rookie quarterbacks. In LeBeau's defensive coordinator stint with the Steelers, he's 16-2 against rookies. But what about against quarterbacks starting their first game against the Steelers?

Music City Miracles writer SuperHorn breaks down all quarterbacks making their first starts against LeBeau's Steelers teams, and comes up with a fairly simply conclusion:

"...it is true that Lebeau has success against young quarterbacks playing his defense for the first time, but that success doesn't appear to be decidedly different than his success against all quarterbacks in the league."

Rk Player Date Tm Opp Result CMP ATT Cmp% Passing Yds PATD PAINT QB Rating Y/A
1 Jay Cutler 10/21/07 DEN PIT W 31-28 22 29 75.86% 248 3 2 106.7 8.55
2 Byron Leftwich 12/5/04 JAX PIT L 16-17 16 27 59.26% 268 1 0 105.2 9.93
3 Eli Manning 12/18/04 NYG PIT L 30-33 16 23 69.57% 182 2 1 103.9 7.91
4 Chad Henne 1/3/10 MIA PIT L 24-30 16 20 80.00% 140 1 1 91.7 7
5 Troy Smith 12/30/07 BAL PIT W 27-21 16 27 59.26% 171 1 0 90.2 6.33
6 Philip Rivers 10/8/06 SDG PIT W 23-13 24 37 64.86% 242 2 1 90.1 6.54
7 Thaddeus Lewis 12/30/12 CLE @ PIT L 10-24 22 32 68.75% 204 1 1 83.3 6.38
8 Joe Flacco 9/29/08 BAL @ PIT L 20-23 16 31 51.61% 192 1 0 81.7 6.19
9 Mark Sanchez 12/19/10 NYJ @ PIT W 22-17 19 29 65.52% 170 0 0 81.1 5.86
10 Colt McCoy 10/17/10 CLE @ PIT L 10-28 23 33 69.70% 281 1 2 80.5 8.52
11 Brandon Weeden 11/25/12 CLE PIT W 20-14 17 26 65.38% 158 1 1 78.7 6.08
12 Derek Anderson 12/7/06 CLE @ PIT L 7-27 21 37 56.76% 276 1 1 78.2 7.46
13 John Beck 11/26/07 MIA @ PIT L 0-3 14 23 60.87% 132 0 0 76.7 5.74
14 Robert Griffin III 10/28/12 WAS @ PIT L 12-27 16 34 47.06% 177 1 0 72.8 5.21
15 Matt Leinart 9/30/07 ARI PIT W 21-14 7 14 50.00% 93 0 0 71.4 6.64
16 Kyle Boller 9/19/04 BAL PIT W 30-13 10 18 55.56% 98 0 0 71.1 5.44
17 Blaine Gabbert 10/16/11 JAX @ PIT L 13-17 12 26 46.15% 109 1 0 70.8 4.19
18 Matt Ryan 9/12/10 ATL @ PIT L 9-15 27 44 61.36% 252 0 1 67.6 5.73
19 Kyle Orton 12/11/05 CHI @ PIT L 9-21 17 35 48.57% 207 0 0 67.2 5.91
20 Josh Freeman 9/26/10 TAM PIT L 13-38 20 31 64.52% 184 0 1 67.1 5.94
21 Alex Smith 9/23/07 SFO @ PIT L 16-37 17 35 48.57% 209 1 1 65.1 5.97
22 Charlie Frye 12/24/05 CLE PIT L 0-41 20 39 51.28% 183 0 0 64.4 4.69
23 Patrick Ramsey 11/28/04 WAS @ PIT L 7-16 19 34 55.88% 138 1 1 63.1 4.06
24 Curtis Painter 9/25/11 IND PIT L 20-23 5 11 45.45% 60 0 0 62.7 5.45
25 Andy Dalton 11/13/11 CIN PIT L 17-24 15 30 50.00% 170 2 2 61.8 5.67
26 Kellen Clemens 11/18/07 NYJ PIT W 19-16 14 31 45.16% 162 1 1 58.8 5.23
27 Carson Palmer 10/3/04 CIN @ PIT L 17-28 20 37 54.05% 164 1 2 52.1 4.43
28 Jason Campbell 11/3/08 WAS PIT L 6-23 24 43 55.81% 206 0 2 49.2 4.79
29 Brady Quinn 12/10/09 CLE PIT W 13-6 6 19 31.58% 90 0 0 48.1 4.74
30 Tyler Palko 11/27/11 KAN PIT L 9-13 18 28 64.29% 167 0 3 40.9 5.96
31 Bruce Gradkowski 12/3/06 TAM @ PIT L 3-20 20 34 58.82% 175 0 3 35.8 5.15
32 Jimmy Clausen 12/23/10 CAR @ PIT L 3-27 10 23 43.48% 72 0 1 33.2 3.13
33 A.J. Feeley 9/26/04 MIA PIT L 3-13 13 27 48.15% 137 0 2 32.5 5.07
34 Brett Basanez 12/17/06 CAR PIT L 3-37 6 11 54.55% 56 0 1 30.9 5.09
35 Andrew Walter 10/29/06 OAK PIT W 20-13 5 14 35.71% 51 0 1 17.3 3.64

Tennessee's Jake Locker will face LeBeau and the Steelers for the first time in his career Sunday when the Titans travel to Pittsburgh for the season openers for both teams.

Locker was injured last season when the Titans defeated the Steelers 26-23. Matt Hasselbeck - who is now with the Colts - started and played pretty well.

Lock's ability to remain calm in the face of the Steelers' defense will be pivotal for the Titans, who are 7,5-point underdogs in this game.

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