Steelers vs Jets - Thoughts and Reactions

Steeler Faithful Welcomed the Black n' Gold
Back to Heinz Field in STYLE

 The Steelers had the look of a contender on Sunday when they defeated the Jets on their home turf.  Here are some thoughts and reactions from that game before I start to look ahead to the last regular season game before the BYE Week.

- Home Sweet Home - The Steelers have won 10 straight home openers in Heinz Field.  That is pretty impressive if you think about it.  There is something extremely comforting about watching the Steelers play that first game at Heinz Field.  The fans are jacked up on Primanti Brothers, Iron City, and are willing to lose their voices if it means that Mark "Dirty" Sanchez needs to blow a timeout because he can't hear a thing.  Alot of credit goes to the coaching staff these past 10 years.  Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin are perfect fits for the Steelers and surely know how to motivate the team.

- Ladies & Gentlemen, a Passing Team - The Steelers owner, their offensive coordinator, and even the players have talked about the return to the running game.  I must say after watching this team for 2 weeks, who the hell cares about the running game?!  When you have a QB like Ben Roethlisberger in his prime and those quick receivers at his disposal, you need to sling the rock.  They aren't doing ti B.A. style though.  Todd Haley is dialing up passes that are like an extension of the running game.  Quick slant to Antonio Brown goes for 7 of 1st down.  Bubble Screen to Emmanuel Sanders gets 5 on 2nd down.  These are essentially running plays, just by throwing the ball.  When you can control the ball, not throw a ton of incomplete passes, you will own the time of possession (like the Steelers have the last 2 weeks) and have a great chance to win the game.

- While I'm on the Running Game Topic - Even though the Steelers are / should become more of a passing team, doesn't mean that you can just ignore the running game.  Obviously, any moron could tell you that you have to be able to tote the rock as well.  With that said, the Steelers are going to have a really good backfield when Rashard Mendenhall returns.  Something that hasn't always been the case.  This backfield won't exhaust Mendenhall like they have the past few years.  I like the depth chart looking like this when Mendenhall returns and proves he is FULLY HEALTHY - 1. Mendenhall / 2. Dwyer / 3. Redman / 4. Rainey / Batch.  Redman gets demoted to short yardage and blitzing packages based solely on Jonathan Dwyer's ability to gain yardage and his will to decapitate defenders who get in his way.

- Rookie Superstar, or Unused Decoy - Chris Rainey was given the title of Rookie of the Year (by me and others) before the season started.  I'm not going to back down from my prediction, but at the same time the Steelers need to be smarter when using the little guy.  Rainey is lethal from alot of different areas on the field, but at the same time it can't turn into when he steps on the field the ball is always going to get into his hands.  They are trying to be creative and getting the ball to him and space, and with his skill set I can't say that I blame them for doing that, but at the same time, the Steelers need to start either mixing him into the lineup as WR or as a scat back if they want him to become effective.  You can see it in the defense when he gets into the game.  They key on him, and almost always gets the ball.  Use him as a decoy if you have to, but the Steelers need to amp up the creativity for the young "rook".

- Welcome Back Defense, Its Been a While - The part of the Denver loss that stung the worse was the horrid performance of the Steelers Defense.  Not having a stop against the Broncos in the entire second half sure didn't make me feel good going against a HS team, let alone the Jets who hung up 40+ points on the Bills.  It was good to see the defense settle in without superstars James Harrison and Troy Polamalu and lock down from the 2nd quarter on.  That was as dominating defense as I've seen in a long time from a crippled unit.  Don't get me wrong, the Jets aren't the Patriots or even the Ravens, but it was good to see the defense put together close a complete game that Steelers fans are used to seeing.

- Turnovers are HUGE - The defense hasn't been feasting on turnovers this regular season like they had in the preseason, but at the same time, the offense isn't coughing it up either.  The Steelers offense has only had one turnover (Ben's pick 6 vs the Broncos)  while the defense has matched that with a fumble recovery in week 1.  The defense won't have to stress as much on turnovers if the offense continues to protect the football.  However, I will be anxious to see what the defense can do against the turnover-prone Carson Palmer and the Oakland Raiders this Sunday.

Look for more coverage this week heading into the Raiders game on Sunday, and as always, if you feel I missed something important from the Jets game, leave it in the comment section below!