Steelers vs Titans - Look Ahead to Thursday Night Matchup



Antonio Brown Made His First NFL "Splash Play"
in Tennessee vs the Titans


Unfortunately, with a short week the Steelers don't have much time to enjoy the huge victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, but instead have to turn their attention to the Tennessee Titans as the Steelers look for their first road victory of the season.  Here are my 5 story lines leading up to the game, with more indepth analysis (offense vs defense, etc.) coming in the next few days.

- Short Week = 2nd Bye - Some might disagree with this statement, but to me the Thursday Night Football series always seems to afford a team a smaller, 2nd bye week.  For some teams, its new to them, but the Steelers have always been a team with a Thursday Night matchup (typically against the Browns or Bengals) on their schedule.  If you can get through the short prep week, and gut out a victory on Thursday night, then you are almost afforded a second bye week.  It isn't as long, but the coaching staff can give the players Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off before getting back to work on Monday for the next week of preparation.  If you lose though, then those days off might have turned into working days...

- Injuries Continue to Plague - The 2nd bye week that I spoke of in the previous headline also comes at a good time for the Steelers.  Unfortunately, it won't be enough to see Troy Polamalu back on the grid iron any time soon.  Troy's injury is just another setback in another string of injuries for the all-pro safety.  Lamarr Woodley's injury will most likely sideline him against the Titans, but will most likely allow him to give it a go against the Bengals the following week.  As the injuries continue to hurt the defense, there were some bright spots.  Stevenson Sylvester played vs the Eagles and he is a HUGE impact player on Special Teams.  James Harrison had another solid outing, and we all know Mendenhall showed what "1st round talent" is.  The injuries are concerning, and the extra time off will help, but these injuries to 2 key defensive players can be ones that linger...something the Steelers can't afford.

- Looking for 1st Road Win - As I said in the introduction, the Steelers haven't won a game on the road yet this season.  They lost in Denver, and in Oakland...both West coast swings.  Its tough for alot of teams to win when traveling like that, but it isn't absurd to think the Steelers can't pull off a win on the West Coast.  This game against the Tennessee Titans is a game that is a MUST win...not in the same magnitude of the Eagles game, but in many ways it is a game the Steelers canNOT lose.  The Steelers can't overlook the Titans and start thinking about their first divisional game vs the Bengals...or else Chris Johnson might just have that breakout game on them in two nights.  They need the victory to prove they can win on the road, and to keep pace with the top teams in the AFC North.

- AFC Wins are Huge - The Steelers are a team that plays well against NFC competition.  Too bad when it comes down to playoffs those wins don't mean much.  However, AFC wins are huge, and AFC losses can kill a team.  One of the tie breakers is AFC record comparisons.  So Far, the Steelers are 1-2 in AFC competition.  This could all be meaningless at the end of the season if the Steelers take care of business in the division, but these wins in the conference are very important to a teams hopes for possibly getting into the playoffs, or watching on their couches as other teams go after another "sticky lombardi" (as Mike Tomlin calls it).

- Chance to Get Above .500 and Stay Relevant in AFC North - Last, but certainly not least, the Steelers have the chance to get ABOVE the .500 water mark for the first time this season.  This is important because it would put pressure not only on the Bengals, but also the Ravens.  Early Thursday games can really be a good thing for teams if they can scrape a win together.  The Steelers getting this win could help propel them into the game in Cincinnati before hosting the Redskins at Heinz Field.  This is a very winnable game on Thursday night that can have some big implications amongst the division if the Steelers can win. 

Lets hope the Steelers can get their act together and dominate on Thursday Night sending a message to the nationally televised audience...that message being that the Steelers are here to stay and you better get used to it!