Louis Domingue Women Jersey A month ago, the were coming off a lo s to the Seahawks and their playoff hopes were in peril. But as the national talking heads explained, "If Pittsburgh gets into the playoffs, will want to face them."That storyline is due entirely to the Steelers' offense, which begins with , one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. He's often overlooked because he plays in the same league as , , and . But Big Ben, who mi sed four games this season with injuries to his knee and foot, has been mostly dominant, routinely carving up defenses (including Denver's top-ranked unit in Week 15) to the tune of 328 yards per game while completing 68 percent of his pa ses.The latest from SportsLineBut there have also been instances in recent weeks where Roethlisberger has made inexplicable decisions, almost always to the detriment of his team. There was the "Oh my heavens, I can't believe he just threw " late interception against the Broncos that gave one last series to tie the game (Denver went four and out and Pittsburgh earned its biggest win to date).A week later against a haple s Ravens team, Roethlisberger played his worst game of this season. He struggled with accuracy against a mediocre defense, which was exacerbated by repeatedly forcing throws into coverage. When it was over, Big Ben had no touchdowns, two interceptions, and a 63.4 pa ser rating. Then, in last Sunday's game against the Browns, Bad Ben made an early appearance, throwing two more interceptions, one that appeared to be a miscommunication with and the other resulted after staring down would-be target .It's easy to explain this away as Roethlisberger relying too much on Brown, and more generally, his development as a complete NFL quarterback making throws a le ser pa ser wouldn't even attempt. But the Steelers are also in the one-and-done portion of the season, which means that there will be no "I'll have to play better next week" mea culpas because, well, there is no next week.For some perspective, here's a look at Roethlisberger's numbers broken down by before and after the team's Week 11 bye. Pre-bye (6 games): 68.8 completion percentage, 315 pa sing yards per game, 10 TDs, 7 INTs, 99.9 pa ser rating.Post-bye (6 games): 69.4 completion percentage, 338 pa sing yards per game, 8 TDs, 7 INTs, 92.5 pa ser rating.The disparity grows if you remove the Week 8 lo s to the Bengals, which was Roethlisberger's first game back from a knee injury (over 11 seasons, Big Ben has come back from injury on seven occasions ). Pre-bye (5 games, not including the Bengals lo s): 68.1 completion percentage, 325 pa sing yards per game, 9 TDs, 4 INTs, 108.4 pa ser rating.On the whole, Roethlisberger was better during the first half of the season, but he was at his red-hottest in the weeks after the aforementioned Bengals lo s. He threw for 456 yards against the Seahawks in Seattle, and a week later, he carved up the Colts,
Niklas Hjalmarsson Men Jersey to sing four touchdowns without an interception.So what happened over the final month, when inconsistency crept into Roethlisberger's game and made the Steelers offense something le s than an unstoppable force? 1. For starters, the running game hasn't been as effective during the last six games.After seven 100-plus-yard rushing performances over the first 10 games, Steelers' running backs have eclipsed the century mark just twice since. Some of that is because of the opponent (53 rushing yards vs. the Seahawks, 84 vs. the Bengals, 23 vs. the Broncos); some of it's because this is a pa s-first offense; and the 30 measly rushing yards the Steelers managed against the Browns in the regular-season finale was due to going down with an ankle injury.Williams' status is unknown for Saturday's wild-card matchup with the Bengals. That means the Steelers will likely rely on some combination of , and . Put another way: expect the offense to be one dimensional, which means more pa ses -- and more chances for errant ones -- from Big Ben. And that leads to this...2. Big Ben seems to be relying on Brown now more than ever.That's saying something because Brown was targeted 11.5 times per game over the first 10 weeks, when Roethlisberger was in and out of the lineup and the running game was a bigger part of the offense. Over the final six weeks, however, Brown was targeted 13.2 times per game. Of course, he's also the NFL's best route runner, as well as its most dangerous player in space. It's easy to understand why Roethlisberger looks Brown's way so often. Coach Mike Tomlin was asked Tuesday if Roethlisberger is too reliant on Brown.His response: "I'd rely on Antonio, wouldn't you?"Still, the interceptions are a problem, something Tomlin acknowledged." Roethlisberger needs to do a better job of safeguarding the ball," the coach said. "We've been in some situations where defenders have made some plays as well. ... We acknowledge that the turnover ratio is big, especially
Michael Grabner Men Jersey when you're playing someone the quality of the Bengals. Whatever the i sue, we have to minimize them this week."Other than getting his hands on a time machine and returning to the lineup, there's one player who can make Big Ben's life immeasurably easier: Martavis Bryant.3. So, where did Martavis Bryant disappear to?In his first nine games in 2015, Bryant had 48
Shane Doan Men Jersey receptions for 759 yards and 6 touchdowns. Bryant's last two games: 2 receptions, 6 yards. He was the intended target on Roethlisberger's first interception, and the second-year wideout may have run the wrong route (Tomlin wouldn't talk about it at his pre ser). Bryant spent much of the game on the bench, in part because of a neck injury, and in part because he mi sed several practices last week with an illne s. Whatever the reason, the Steelers' offense isn't nearly as dynamic without a fully engaged Bryant, even if Tomlin talks about the team's "next man up" mentality. No. 4 receiver is a burner but Bryant is arguably the most physically gifted wide receiver in the league: he's 6-foot-4, can hit top speed in a few strides, and can outrun just about anybody on the field. But the knock on Bryant coming out of Clemson is that he sometimes struggles with drops (which was all over Heyward-Bey's scouting report too). confirms as much: Bryant caught just 54 percent of the pa ses thrown in his direction. By comparison, Brown caught 70 percent.But man, the big-play potential is enough to scare any secondary. Bryant had an 88-yard catch and run that ended in the end zone against the Cardinals in Week 6, his first game of the season, and he had a 68-yard touchdown catch against the Colts in Week 13.Martavis Bryant is making up for lost time FAST. 88-yard screen pa s to the HOUSE! Are you kidding me?!? NFL (@NFL) And then there are the 14-yard touchdowns that defy words.Martavis Bryant turns into a human joystick, makes entire Oakland D mi s in just an absolutely insane TD NFL (@NFL) There's also , who was against the Seahawks (9 catches, 201 yards), but he's not the playmaker Bryant is. Which means that if Bryant can be contained the Bengals' top-10 pa s defense has one le s thing to worry about -- which only complicates things for Roethlisberger.4. Still, if you're the Steelers, there are reasons to feel good about this matchup.In random order:a) will start for the Bengals. He's started just three games previously. And while he's improved each week, there's plenty he doesn't know. There's also the added burden of trying to get the Bengals' first first playoff win since 1990. b) This isn't the same Roethlisberger who, early in his career, excelled at street ball but couldn't read defenses. In fact, 's Andy Benoit maintains that the Steelers are still the AFC's most dangerous playoff team, despite the recent mini-slump."What Roethlisberger does now that he didnt use to do is di sect defenses with three-step timing throws," Benoit writes. "This only happens with a QB capable of reading a defense before the snap. Whether Roethlisberger diagnoses man-to-man or zone only determines in what way he and the receivers hurt you. ..."The only notable negative with Roethlisberger is that he sometimes succumbs to the temptation of focusing too much on Brown." The Steelers know this. The Bengals know this. Everyone knows this. Which is all the more reason Bryant -- more than the running backs, perhaps more than the Steelers' defense -- needs to have a big game.c) The Steelers are when facing a team for the third time in the same season, though one of the lo ses came against the Ravens in last year's wild-card matchup.Bottom line: this team will only go as far as Roethlisberger takes them.
Brendan Perlini Jersey But you already knew that.
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