The Pittsburgh Steelers offensive woes continued on Sunday and their inability to generate any sort of offensive consistency led to their second straight loss, this time to the New York Jets. Pittsburgh fell to 8-7 on the season with their 16-10 loss to the Jets.
This week’s storylines were once again injuries and the offenses complete ineptitude. Pittsburgh quarterback Devlin Hodges was benched in the first half after two ugly interceptions and replaced by Mason Rudolph. You know, the guy Hodges replaced after Rudolph threw a bunch of interceptions.
But the return of Rudolph was short-lived as he suffered an injury in the third quarter and Hodges had to get back off the bench and try to rally the team he let down in the first half. It didn’t work.
Defensively the Steleers played well but over the last two weeks we’ve seen fewer splash plays on that side of the football. Jets running back Le’Veon Bell rushed for 72 yards on his old team and that included a 13-yard loss on one carry. The Jets wanted to come out and establish the run and they did just that.
Pittsburgh wanted to do the same but thanks to yet another injury by running back James Conner and an injury to center Maurkice Pouncey it never got going.
Believe it or not, even after this the Steelers are still in a position to make the playoffs. The Steelers wrap up the regular season on the road against the Baltimore Ravens.
The Steelers have made another change at quarterback.
The revolving door at quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers continues. Late in the first half after Devlin Hodges threw his second interception, he found himself on the bench and Mason Rudolph replaced him. Now, with Rudolph dealing with some sort of injury, Hodges now has to gather himself and go back in and try to get the Steelers a win.
At this point, with the Steelers injuries piling up it might take a miracle for Pittsburgh to sneak past the New York Jets. Pittsburgh has already lost running back James Conner and center Maurkice Pouncey on offense.
The Pittsburgh Steelers were hoping to get a fully healthy James Conner back this week against the New York Jets. But while he seems free of his shoulder injury, Conner suffered a thigh injury and according to the team has been ruled out for the remainder of the game.
Conner had six carries for 32 yards prior to the injury. With Conner out of the lineup, the run game has been stagnant. This means it could be down to quarterback Mason Rudolph to carry the offense after coming in off the bench to replace a struggling Devlin Hodges.
According to the inactives, the Pittsburgh Steelers will have wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster back in the lineup when they take on the New York Jets today. Smith-Schuster had missed the previous four games with a knee injury but with the season on the line, the team’s best wide receiver is back.
The only surprise on this week’s list is listing safety Marcus Allen as inactive. Allen was promoted from the practice squad this week to replace Kam Kelly who was released this week after an arrest. With Allen inactive it looks like Jordan Dangerfield will be the primary reserve safety. Also, don’t be shocked to see some Cam Sutton in sub-packages as a third safety.
For whatever reason, the media have decided that taking video and photos of players as they enter the stadium has become a thing. Sometimes NFL players really play it up and come in outlandish outfits to draw attention to themselves.
And sometimes all it takes are pants and a hoodie. That’s what New York Jets running back did when he showed up to play his old team the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday sporting Steelers’ colors.
Bell’s intentional troll of the Steelers and their fans is puzzling. Does he miss the Steelers that much? And if you think this was just a coincidence I have a bridge in Brooklyn I want to sell you and I’ll throw in a canyon in Arizona so you have someplace to keep it.
Run the ball and stop the run and the Steelers are halfway there.
Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
This week the Pittsburgh Steelers have a golden opportunity to create some distance going into the final week of the season and take steps toward a spot in the playoffs. But if the Steelers want to keep their narrow playoff hopes alive, they have to get past the New York Jets first.
Here are our keys to victory.
Force the Jets to throw the football
The top priority for the Steelers defense this week will be to stuff the run and make the Jets one dimensional. Running back Le’Veon Bell is a talented football player but far from unstoppable. This is especially true for a team that knows him well. He and the Jets run game has to be the focus, then when Jets quarterback Sam Darnold is forced to throw, the Steelers pass rush can take over.
The Pittsburgh Steelers listed no players on their weekly injury report headed into their Week 16 game with the New York Jets. However, when wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster spoke to the media after practice on Friday and despite having practiced fully, would still be a game-time decision to play.
But on Saturday night, Smith-Schuster made the Instagram post above which really gives the impression Smith-Schuster is playing. And his return cannot come at a better time. The offense is in a funk and unable to score points. Smith-Schuster is the team’s best receiver and his a significant impact on how defenses attempt to defend the Steelers.
Who will win this week between the Jets and the Steelers?
It is time to see if the Pittsburgh Steelers can go on the road this week and bounce back from an embarrassing home loss to the Buffalo Bills. The New York Jets might not be a playoff team but with former Steeler running back Le’Veon Bell on the team and a stout defense it won’t be an easy game for Pittsburgh.
Will the Steelers solve the mystery of their struggling offense and get the win?
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I just can’t see the Steelers letting this one slip away. It the Steelers lose, the odds of making the playoffs falls significantly. Head coach Mike Tomlin has done a masterful job getting this team ready to play this season and we expect no less this week. The Steelers defense scores at least one touchdown and Pittsburgh guts out a close win.
Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Steeler Nation doesn’t just reside in the surrounding areas of Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. It is a world-wide army that lives and dies with the team that calls Pittsburgh it’s home. This is the preview that all fans of the black and gold come to find everything they need to know about the Steelers and their upcoming opponent! Mike Drakulich (@PghSportsNation) of Steelers Wire brings you inside the huddle for both teams, providing a weekly game story, the Steelers keys to victory, score prediction, fantasy football advice, game day information, a detailed breakdown of each team, including individual stats, team stats, and team injury reports. Heck, you’ll even know the weather at kickoff. The only thing you’re missing is a game uniform.
Steelers fully healthy heading into crucial game vs Jets
After weeks of standing on the sidelines for games, one member of the Pittsburgh Steelers is itching to get back onto the field of play.
“I’m super excited,” Steelers wide receiver Juju Smith-Schuster said, “just because I haven’t been playing for a while. And now that I’m back, to be around my boys, the coaches, players, and just to be myself.”
Smith-Schuster, as well as tight end Vance McDonald and cornerback Joe Haden all practiced fully Friday and none were listed on the Friday Injury Report.
Devlin ‘Duck’ Hodges is hoping a full complement of weapons will aide an offense that is sorely lacking scoring punch. The Steelers have scored just one offensive touchdown in six of the last seven games.
It won’t be easy this week against a pretty good New York Jets defense.
“Facing a Gregg Williams defense is going to be challenging, especially when you have a young quarterback,” Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said. “Their ability to get after young quarterbacks has been a catalyst.”
This is the same team that sacked Giants rookie Daniel Jones and Redskins rookie Dwayne Haskins six times each in Weeks 10 and 11.
Speaking of sacks, the Steelers defense will be hungry to introduce themselves to jet’s QB Sam Darnold.
“He has all the talent that makes him a top draft pick,” Tomlin said of Darnold. “He has great mobility and arm strength and touch. He doesn’t panic under pressure. He has been a big challenge, watching the tape, in terms of the things that they do with him. They run him in the red zone. He has a couple rushing touchdowns. There are a lot of top-notch young quarterbacks in the league.”
Both T.J. Watt and Bud Dupree plan to be in Darnold’s face all day, but defensive coordinator Keith Butler would prefer they force Darnold to his left.
“He rarely gets fooled, in terms of holding the ball and stuff where he panics,” Butler said of Darnold. “You don’t see that a lot out of him. What we’ve got to try to do is get him in those situations best we can.
“When he scrambles and goes to his right, he’s pretty accurate. Or inside the pocket, he’s pretty accurate. I think he would tell you he’d rather scramble to the right than the left or stay in the pocket and throw the ball. That’s probably where he’s more successful. It’s important that we make him scramble to his left and flush him out.”
Pittsburgh will also be on the lookout for former teammate Le’Veon Bell.
“It’s just the competitive spirit in us,” Steelers safety Terrell Edmunds said, “just to go out there and play hard and knowing a lot of these guys played on the same team as him, just put it out there and talk junk to him a little bit because that was your teammate at one time. You still may be friends with him, but you just want to go out and beat him.”
Last year, a few Steelers voiced their displeasure of how the whole Bell holdout ended last year with Bell sitting out the whole season despite telling several teammates that he’d only miss a few games.
“I think, honestly, you move on from it,” Steelers defensive end Cam Heyward said. “You understand that we’ve got bigger fish to fry. It’s the next game in our way, we’ve got to take care of business. If we focus in on one person, the other team will beat you, so we are going up there to beat the New York Jets, not Le’Veon Bell.”
Smith-Schuster said it best about his former teammate…
“It’s going to be fun,” said Smith-Schuster. “I’m going to be rooting for him. He’s a guy who when I was rookie, I got here and he was a great mentor for me, a good dude. I’m happy for him, what he’s doing – but at the same time, we’re going to have to put Le’Veon down.”
Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Last week a confluence of horrible coaching and just as horrible execution crippled the Pittsburgh Steelers offense. Between the questionable playcalling by offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner and the four interceptions by quarterback Devlin Hodges, the Steelers offense just shot themselves in the foot too many times against the Buffalo Bills.
But this week we are banking on a bounce-back effort by the offense so they can get a win over the New York Jets. Here are five ways to boost the Steelers offense this week.
Keep James Conner on the field
Last week, Fichtner tried to justify not playing his best back more because he had missed some practice reps. But he didn’t bother to play the running backs who had been there all week either. This time around, with a full week under his belt, James Conner must be the focus of the run game with the other backs serving more specific roles.
