Pittsburgh Steelers vs Tennessee Titans Postgame Analysis
Final Score:
Titans 17 ? Steelers 40
Passing Stats:
| Quarterback | Completions | Attempts | Yards | QBRating |
| Ben Roethlisberger | 30 | 45 | 299 | 115.0 |
| Marcus Mariota | 22 | 33 | 306 | 66.8 |
Receiving Stats:
Antonio Brown: 10 receptions for 144 yards – 3 Touchdowns
Le ?Veon Bell: 9 receptions for 57 yards
JuJu Smith-Schuster: 4 receptions for 37 yards
Martavis Bryant: 2 receptions for 30 yards
Jesse James: 5 receptions for 21 yards – 1 Touchdown
Rushing Stats:
Le ?Veon Bell: 12 rushes for 46 yards, Avg: 3.8 yards – 1 Touchdown
James Conner: 5 rushes for 12 yards, Avg: 2.4 yards
Kicking Stats:
Chris Boswell ? FGM: 4 for 4, PCT: 100%, XPM ? 4 , 16 PTS:
Game Summary:
It was a reunion of sorts, as tonight’s contest marked the return of former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator Dick Lebeau back to Heinz Field. Unfortunately, the reunion was not a happy one for the Hall Of Fame coordinator, as he watched his Tennessee Titans fall victim to the Steelers, 40 -17. The Steelers improved their record to 8-2 and solidified their position atop the AFC North.
The Steelers offense was in full attack mode from the opening drive of the game, as quarterback Ben Roethlisberger completed a 41-yard touchdown, giving the Steelers the early 7- 0 lead.
Following an interception by Steelers defensive back Mike Hilton, the offense failed to find the end zone but settled for a field goal by Steelers kicker Chris Boswell to make it 10 – 0. After a succession of unsuccessful drives in the second quarter, the Steelers offense settled for 2 field goals, giving them the 16 -7 lead before the end of the half.
In the third quarter following a 75-yard touchdown from Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota to receiver Rishard Matthews, the Steelers offense responded with a 75-yard scoring drive, giving them a 23-14 lead.
In the fourth quarter, the Steelers offense put together perhaps their most impressive scoring drive of the season, in which five different Steelers players touched the ball, ending in a 1-yard touchdown reception by tight end Jesse James and expanding their lead to 16 points. After another failed series by the Titans offense, the Steelers offense capitalized with a 51 yard touchdown drive, capped off by a highlight-worthy touchdown reception by All-Pro receiver Antonio Brown, giving them a 37-14 lead and complete control of the contest. The finishing touch was added by Boswell’s 26-yard field goal, cementing an insurmountable 40-14 lead and the victory.
Roethlisberger ended the contest with 299 passing yards and 4 touchdowns, while Brown ended with a game-high 144 receiving yards with 3 touchdowns. Brown reached the 1000 yards plateau for the sixth time in his career.
Postgame Commentary:
For those who have followed my postgame commentary over the last few weeks, you know that I have stressed the problem with this Steelers offense has been their inability to utilize all their weapons effectively. On this night, I was very impressed with the offensive output by the Steelers against a very tough Tennessee Titans team (the victory was much harder than it looked). As great as this game was, this Steelers offense is still missing one important element — a reliable tight end.
Ben Roethlisberger a few weeks ago was on record saying that his all-time favorite teammate was Heath Miller, for many reasons which make sense. In addition to being selfless and the consummate team player, Miller was Roethlisberger’s most reliable target. Most notably on third down, Miller always came up with a big catch to extend the drive and did so consistently. When one remembers the Steelers offense from 2014 and 2015, part of what made them so difficult to play against was because of the presence of a reliable tight end.
When viewing Jesse James, it is apparent that his skillset is a reflection of where he was selected in the draft back in 2015. Even with the touchdown catch, his performance on this night was well below his standards. Although James is not the sole reason why this offense has underachieved for much of this season, his contribution is necessary for this offense to expand. If one is to look at why the Patriots offense has been successful offensively as of late, one should look at the contributions by tight ends Rob Gronkowski, Dwayne Allen and the recently re-acquired Martellus Bennett.
As encouraging as it was to seeing a collective offense assault, the tight ends currently on the Steelers roster need to take their game to the next level in order to help this team establish themselves as the true Super Bowl contenders.
Steelers Play of the Game:
This 10-yard touchdown helmet catch by Antonio Brown doesn’t need any explanations.
Kelly Anozie
Born and raised Ottawa, Ontario Canada, Kelly is a Steelers contributor to The Point of Pittsburgh. Formerly a contributor for SBNation's 'Behind the Steel Curtain'. Kelly can be reached via the Twitter handle @kanozie80
All around good game for the Steelers as you say Kelly. A “complete game” of sorts but still this team has not yet to play its best game — which is good. Need to save something for the Showdown at O.K. Corral and in January.
Playing like they played last night and with something left in the tank, home field is theirs to lose right now.
Still a lot of football yet to be played but they are slowly and methodically putting themselves in a position to win.
It seems like both teams underutilized their running games, contrary to what most of us expected yesterday. I guess the short turn around week had both teams thinking that the short passing game was the way to go. It was, as you say, not a complete game, but I’m thinking that the short week of preparation was partly responsible for that. It was nice to get some “home cooking” for a change. It’s clear that Ben’s ability to call audibles, run the no-huddle offense and create things on the fly works better at home where crowd noise is not an issue in trying to get plays in. Still, Ben is not what Ben once was.
“As encouraging as it was to seeing a collective offense assault, the tight ends currently on the Steelers roster need to take their game to the next level”
I am pretty sure that what you see is what you get.
Would have loved for the Steelers to have picked up Bennet off waivers but alas, Belicheck makes one of his annual classic in season moves to get “a piece”.
Oh well, we move on….
Well here’s the thing about that. Come time the Patriots (I use them since they are the reigning Superbowl champions), the fact they have all these great tight ends on their team, affords them to lose someone like Julien Edelman and still be effective.
Tight end play is paramount, especially in instances when the receiver and running back are ineffective; we saw that for much of the second quarter of that game.
Based on everything I’ve seen with the tight ends on this team, they’re likely going to make it a priority in the NFL draft and they should since the ones coming into this year’s draft are quite good.
Exactly Mark….they have probably not played their best game yet which is a good thing. Nice to see Ben go out and win the last 2 games, utilizing the entire field with a variety of players….although the 3 main stars put on a nice display last night. They really lightened the load on Leveon running the ball last night but the Titans defense also had something to do with that thought process.
You know there are some loopy fans here who have some nice minor league baseball knowledge, but when it comes to football their knowledge is also minor league. Of course I’m not trying to single anyone out here.
Tough night for the Ben haters, the Ben should have retired crowd and the Ben’s arm angle is not what it used to be…..sometimes I marvel at these “analysts’ from the old FOB crowd.
8-2 and some will still whine…..I guess that’s all part of it…some people you can never please. As Ben says, all people should really care about is if they win.
I’m no Ben hater. I posted Ben’s rankings in the other thread. I answered your question and backed it up with facts. You ran away and hid.
Ben played great last night. That doesn’t change the fact that he has been below average this year to date. I hope that last night was the start of something good for him.
My knowledge in football is far greater than yours, I’m just not as arrogant as you are.
Part of what made Ben successful last night was his willingness to engage physically against the Titans.
If one has noticed a trend with Ben this season, he has sort of shied away from physical contact; this coincides with the fears he noted in the offseason about getting CTE. Because of this, Ben hadn’t quite performed the way many fans were accustomed to seeing him play, as he’s been “living in his fears” as Mike Tomlin would say.
This game was definitely Ben’s best game, not only was he accurate in his throws but he was comfortable enough to stay in the pocket and throw the ball, even with the consequence of taking a few hit; this is trademark Ben Roethlisberger.
So I see your point Jim, he’s been better than many give him credit for this season; but this game marked the first time this season that we have seen Ben in true, vintage form; hence one of the many reasons why they finally surpassed the 30-point mark in a game this season.
Although they have often played ugly on the road this year, I was astounded to learn last night from the announcers that the Steelers have the best road record in the NFL this year. We Pittsburgh fans are truly spoiler whiners.
They have the most wins (they’ve also played the most games), but the Pats and Rams are both undefeated on the road, so either they spoke wrong, you heard it wrong or they said the Steelers have the “most wins” and not the “best record”.
Vance McDonald is a decent blocking tight end, but he is not an asset in the passing game.
Obviously, in this case, the Stats don’t tell the entire story. How Mariotta gets a higher QB rating than Ben after throwing four picks is one of the inscrutable mysteries of statistics. They both completed 66 2/3% of their passes, and the yardage is roughly equal, and Ben had three TD passes. I guess because none of them were of the 40+ yard variety, Mariotta gets the higher score. Go figure!
Bob, I believe in the passing stats table above the QB ratings are reversed. Ben’s was 115.0, not 66.8.
Fixed.
Well then, as Emily Latella would have said, “Never Mind.”
Jim these were Ben’s rankings going into last night’s game. These numbers prove that what I had said about him were true. They also prove that your contention was false. Again I hope last night was not the exception, but the norm going forward. I’ll await your snark.
He is rated 24th.
He is 19th in TD passes
He is 3rd in INTs.
He is 26th in comp %.
“As great as this game was, this Steelers offense is still missing one important element ? a reliable tight end.”
I agree 100% with the tight end assessment, and have been saying so pretty consistently on FOB, and now this site, for almost two years. On the plus side, Jesse James did have several big first down receptions last night. Again, the stats don’t always tell the story, as his five catches for 21 yards doesn’t give him his due for a nice TD catch in traffic and two short but key first downs that kept drives alive. We often compare Jesse’s shortcomings against the accomplishments of Heath Miller. Heath Miller was an underappreciated tight end who never put up flashy numbers and was nobody’s go to guy in fantasy football, but he was tough and always seemed to make catches for crucial first downs or in the red zone for short TD’s. If Jesse James is becoming that style of productive receiver, he will have a long career in Pittsburgh.
About that, it’s likely not going to happen.
When Villanueva was playing tight end in college with the ‘Army Black Knights’, he was around 280 -285 lbs; at this point he’s swimming around 330 – 340 lbs which is more suitable for where he’s playing.
Let’s entertain the idea that he was to convert, then who would take his place at that spot? As far as I know, Jerald Hawkins is not quite ready and who knows if he’ll stay healthy enough. Chris Hubbard is generally Marcus Gilbert’s replacement; thus let’s say if they were to move Hubbard to another Villanueva’s spot, then question becomes who will take over at Gilbert’s backup?
I’m no coach but the Steelers have one of the best offensive lines in the NFL with the ensemble of Gilbert, DeCastro, Pouncey, Foster, and Villanueva; the last thing they need is to change this for the sake of a tight end. Simply, the tight ends on this team need to step their game up in these next few weeks and help take their offense to the next level.
Their best bet in addressing the tight end issue is in the draft.
I read somewhere earlier this season, or maybe it was in the pre-season just prior to the start of this season, that Alejandro Villanueva had played tight end at Army a few times, and that the Eagles had attempted to convert him into a tight end when he was in their training camp in Chip Kelly’s first season in Philly. I wonder if Tomlin and whoever their tight ends coach is had ever considered either a) using him as an eligible receiver or b) trying to convert him to tight end. He is only an OK offensive tackle and given the Steelers need at tight end, maybe they have a solution already in house.
Having a 6’9”, 320 lb. tight end would certainly be interesting.
He would probably have to drop 30 lbs. or so, but he would be even bigger than Gronk. I suspect he doesn’t have great hands or the experiment would have worked sooner.
About that, it ?s likely not going to happen.
When Villanueva was playing tight end in college with the ?Army Black Knights ?, he was around 280 -285 lbs; at this point he ?s swimming around 330 ? 340 lbs which is more suitable for where he ?s playing.
Let ?s entertain the idea that he was to convert, then who would take his place at that spot? As far as I know, Jerald Hawkins is not quite ready and who knows if he ?ll stay healthy enough. Chris Hubbard is generally Marcus Gilbert ?s replacement; thus let ?s say if they were to move Hubbard to another Villanueva ?s spot, then question becomes who will take over at Gilbert ?s backup?
I ?m no coach but the Steelers have one of the best offensive lines in the NFL with the ensemble of Gilbert, DeCastro, Pouncey, Foster, and Villanueva; the last thing they need is to change this for the sake of a tight end. Simply, the tight ends on this team need to step their game up in these next few weeks and help take their offense to the next level.
Their best bet in addressing the tight end issue is in the draft.
They haven’t replaced Heath Miller yet. Who’s to say you have to have a replacement ready.
I agree that they have a very good offensive line, but A.V. is the weak link in the group. When somebody gets to Ben or Bell is dropped in the backfield, 70% of the time the video shows that it was A.V. who either missed his block or got beaten by the guy he was blocking. He also gets more holding calls than any other Steelers O-Linemen.
There are way more good O-Lineman in each draft class than there are tight ends, and some of the better tight ends are converted lineman or linebackers. I did say that A.V. would have to lose 40 pounds to being converted to a TE, but I wasn’t say that they should do it, I was only speculating that it might be an option. For all I know his hands aren’t that great which is why he didn’t last as a Tight End with the Eagles. They tried him out as a defensive lineman after one week in camp and then cut him in the last series of cuts that year.
I think that with the addition of Schuster-Smith and Martavis Bryant’s return to the existing Ben, Bell and Brown group, that we might have to start talking about the Stillers Killer Ju-Ju B’s.
#outlaw
https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/football/news/steelers-jesse-james-notches-touchdown-in-win/amp/
I read that article and they have the right to their point of view, but I strongly disagree.
Firstly, this if the first game in which this team used all their offensive weapons effectively; apart from this game, they have not done so effectively.
Secondly, the source is from a CBS fantasy website, no offense but I have yet to see these people breakdown film to support this idea that the “the tight end position isn’t an overly integral one”. A big part of the counter pulls and running plays involve the use of tight ends; again, if they have been closely watching these game, they would know it.
Thirdly, never underestimate the Tight End position. When the Steelers had one of the best offense in the league, a big part of that reason was their ability to sustain long drives; at that time they had Heath Miller and his contribution helped expand the offense at time when they were not playing at their best.
So despite what CBS says, it’s one thing to look at the Tight end position in terms of value to a fantasy team; versus the value to the actual team to itself. Yet like I said, they’re entitled to their point of view.