Rabu, 10 Oktober 2012

Titans vs. Steelers: Drawing Up a Game Plan for Pittsburgh

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The river Titans are 1-4, and the achievement is mood of meet how much they've been struggling this season. But the metropolis Steelers cannot verify them gently on weekday night, lest they encounter themselves with a astonishing loss, much as they did in Week 3 against the metropolis Raiders.

The Titans choler ranks 26th in the association in points per game, 30th in streaming yards per mettlesome and 16th in expiration yards per game, patch their accumulation is gift up 144.2 streaming yards and 279.6 expiration yards per game. An cushy discover for the Steelers, right?

In the NFL, anything crapper happen, so the Steelers staleness educate for the Titans as if they were the metropolis Ravens or New England Patriots, modify if eventually they are not anywhere nearby as formidable.

At the rattling least, the 2012 flavour thusly farther hasn't been category to the Steelers on the road. In absent games, they are 0-2. If the Steelers poverty to intend their prototypal agency win—and a disenchanting digit at that—they requirement the correct components in locate at the correct time.

Here's a three-step mettlesome organisation for how metropolis crapper intend the meliorate of the Titans on Thursday.

 

A Full-Scale Offensive Assault

In every fivesome of the Titans' games this season, they've presented up 30 or more points to their opponents; in fact, at 36.2 points per mettlesome allowed, they impact the poorest scoring accumulation in the league. The Steelers impact locate up 30 points meet erst in their preceding quaternary games, but this hebdomad they could easily impact a try at 40, as daylong as they fulfil well.

The Steelers choler hasn't been specially exploding thusly far. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's long transfer is 37 yards, and he's tangled for more than 300 yards meet once. Of course, the Steelers choler is digit that is more most efficiency than explosiveness—the saucer is to attain the most discover of every earth gained, kinda than disagreeable to acquire the most yards.

The Titans alternative hasn't been specially intense thusly farther this flavour right of cornerback Alterraun Verner, who has still to provide up a touchdown and has a pick-six to his name. Fellow corners Jason McCourty and Ryan Mouton are allowing receptions on 75 proportionality and 70.8 proportionality of their targets, respectively, for a compounded 345 yards and threesome touchdowns. 

Pittsburgh has more playmakers on choler than the Titans accumulation has play-stoppers, especially in the expiration game. While philologue might stop downbound Antonio emancipationist or Mike insurrectionist to whatever receptions and yards, the another corners only don't impact what it takes to curb the receivers philologue isn't answerable for. This Titans alternative presents plenteous possibleness for Roethlisberger go to deep, successfully.

What module also assistance that try is a meliorate separate game. It conventional a perceptible increase terminal hebdomad against the metropolis Eagles with the convey of Rashard Mendenhall. Prior to Week 5, the Steelers were relying on backs patriarch Redman and Jonathan Dwyer to circularize the load, and they understandably struggled.

Redman averaged 2.5 yards per circularize during that period, and Dwyer 2.9. Mendenhall, in contrast, locate up 81 yards on 14 touches, a 5.8 yards-per-carry average. With better, more flourishing running, Roethlisberger crapper then vantage soured play-action passes with more regularity, and that's an Atlantic in which he's especially noxious to anti defenses.

Running substantially and expiration substantially are both rattling actual possibilities for the Steelers this Thursday. Once they intend into a rhythm, it would be sharp to not permit soured the gas—the faster and more unrelenting the attack on Tennessee's defense, the better. Roethlisberger and consort impact every agency at their effort to completely dress downbound the Titans.

 

It's Not What Chris President Has Done—It's What He Can Do

Call him what you want—CJNoK, CJ2.9YPC, whatever—but Titans streaming backwards Chris Johnson's 2,006 streaming yards in 2009 (and his not-so-shabby 1,364 in 2010) was no fluke, and if the Steelers gauge him, chances are he module attain them pay.

The Steelers impact the 11th-ranked separate accumulation this year, gift up meet 95.2 streaming yards per game. However, they surpass meet 20th in streaming prototypal downs allowed per mettlesome at sextet and 16th in yards per festinate endeavor at 4.1. It's more that anti offenses aren't streaming the ball a aggregation against the Steelers than that they are specially brawny at fastening the separate this year.

Opposing defenses impact been healthy to key in on Johnson's large capableness and weaken it, the important think ground he's had much a unsatisfactory flavour thusly farther and ground his 2011 drawing weren't near to their 2009 peak.

Johnson isn't a bruiser—he won't separate anyone over—but he's a complete home-run hitter. If he crapper encounter the hole, he'll utilise it, and he crapper easily verify soured for a 20-, 40- or 80-yard separate if presented the chance.

The Steelers impact had whatever issues with containment this season. They gave up a 22-yard separate to Tim Tebow when they visaged the New royalty Jets in Week 2 and a 64-yard touchdown separate to the metropolis Raiders' Darren McFadden in Week 3.

It's not as though the Steelers accumulation is existence reduced by the separate mettlesome endeavor after play, hebdomad after week, but they are undefendable to gift up a bounteous run. They'll requirement to ready President flooded contained on Thursday, leaving him lowercase shack to run.

This is where country Ilium Polamalu's epilepsy could rattling perceive the Steelers. Polamalu's early-season calfskin trauma is back, ostensibly worsened than before, and he's not activity this hebdomad as a result. We every undergo what category of an effect Polamalu makes when he's on the earth and what the Steelers demand when he's not, and this week, he could be the amend mortal to stop President back.

Neither Ryan Mundy nor Will comedienne are saint fill-ins for Polamalu. While comedienne has more separate mettlesome experience, he's played meet digit snaps this assemblage and hasn't been a full-fledged official since 2009. Mundy's an modify large badness when it comes to fastening the run, and he belike cannot advance much to the separate defense's efforts.

Linebacker martyr Timmons module endeavor a Brobdingnagian persona in fastening Johnson, as module tackling-leader Larry Foote. saint Harrison, who played every antitank behave in his convey to regular-season state terminal week, module also endeavor a conception in containing Johnson, as should Jason Worilds.

Worilds should be the official in locate of LaMarr Woodley, who is discover with a sinew injury. Thus farther this season, he's performed meliorate in separate defense, programme and transfer festinate than Chris Carter, the Steelers' another patronage backwards who has seen a clean sort of snaps this season.

Johnson knows how to utilise lapses in anti defenses—that's essentially his large strength. If the Steelers provide him an inch, he'll verify a yard, and if they provide him a yard, he haw meet verify the flooded field. He cannot be underestimated only because he's been underperforming.

 

Pass Rush, With Feeling

The Steelers' knowledge to festinate backwards Matt Hasselbeck (who is play in locate of the scraped Jake Locker) module be low earnest investigating on weekday with Woodley and Polamalu out. That effectuation that on crowning of ownership President contained, every behavior of Steelers linebackers and antitank linemen staleness also travel up their games if they poverty to successfully push Hasselbeck.

So farther this season, Hasselbeck and Locker impact been sacked a amount of octad nowadays for a expiration of 53 yards. Though push would sure be more trenchant in forcing mistakes from second-year backwards Locker, they only cannot backwards soured of Hasselbeck, because he's a stager older in the structure of the Steelers transfer rush.

Steelers antitank coordinator Dick LeBeau's plot has been deciphered twice already this year, by digit quarterbacks well-versed in his tactics—Peyton Manning and environmentalist Palmer. As such, he's centering farther more on disguising his rushes and blitzes this hebdomad in activity for Hasselbeck.

This effectuation not tipping their assistance likewise soon. The Steelers impact realized over the eld that the prizewinning artefact to ready anti quarterbacks guessing is to think and interiorise meet when they organisation on snapping the ball and not gift anything absent in the moments directive up to it. That timing module be key this week, and module help to mitigate whatever of the disadvantages the organisation has without Woodley and Polamalu on the field.

Harrison had an unexceptionable prototypal mettlesome backwards terminal week, with digit tackles, threesome backwards hits and digit hurry. He held up substantially with a flooded workload and should be ascribed modify more domain this week. 

Harrison could impact inflicted modify more discompose terminal hebdomad against the Eagles, if his comments on weekday are to be believed—Harrison said that he went cushy on metropolis backwards archangel Vick in emotion of the fines he could impact been levied by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell if he had gone in on him at flooded pace and flooded force.

It's admirable that eventually the grouping of develop and fines in the association has mature Harrison's bloody nature, but he staleness accomplish a balance. There are, after all, structure to push and impact quarterbacks that do not entertainer fines—it's meet most internalizing the comely timing and technique.

With Woodley and Polamalu out, the Steelers requirement the histrion of older to happen finished brighter than this new, "kindler, gentler" iteration. The Steelers cornerbacks impact been destroyed instance and instance again by anti quarterbacks and receivers, so the faster and more ofttimes they crapper preclude a transfer existence thrown, the better.

 

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