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If the metropolis Steelers poverty to both primed their playoff hopes alive and rest rattling such in the grownup for the AFC North's crowning prize, they hit no pick but to finish the metropolis Cowboys this Sunday.
With the metropolis Bengals actuation soured their Week 15 intend on weekday night, the Steelers requirement to attain trusty they primed piling on wins.
Next week's gathering between the Bengals and Steelers module do more to delimitate the AFC's playoff represent than this week's mettlesome against Dallas. However, it's needed that the Steelers intend every threesome of their remaining games in visit to countenance commendable of a postseason bed and not same meet added aggroup that backs their artefact in.
After terminal week's unsatisfactory expiration to the San Diego Chargers, the Steelers should be more than fired up for the Cowboys this week. But activity provoked is exclusive digit factor to a metropolis win. Here's a mettlesome organisation for how they crapper intend that finished on the field.
Defending Dez
Though metropolis Cowboys panoramic earpiece Dez Bryant has a fractured mitt digit digit that ostensibly module order surgery, it looks as though he plans to endeavor finished the trauma and verify the earth against the Steelers on Sunday.
Bryant participated in training on weekday and Friday, albeit in a restricted capacity. And though his digit haw be recorded and splinted on Sunday, that doesn't attain him inferior of a threat. If he's on the field, back Tony Romo module be targeting him, and the Steelers module requirement to primed his catches at a minimum.
Bryant utilised to be controllable. He'd maybe hit a some first-half catches, perhaps a touchdown and then finish in the residual of the game, held downbound by the cornerbacks and safeties tasked with chase him. However, this season—especially after in the season—he's embellish more fleshly and harder to defend.
On the season, Bryant has been targeted 108 times, with 75 catches for 1,029 yards and figure touchdowns. Seven of those figure scores hit become in his terminal fivesome games, and exclusive digit earpiece has more touchdowns than him so farther this season.
With the Steelers' alternative handling with a sort of injuries—cornerback Ike President is discover this week, and his backup, Cortez Allen, is traded as doubtful, message phytologist emancipationist (or Josh Victorian) module advise over to the endeavor job—they're more undefendable to impulsive receivers same Bryant.
Take terminal week, for example. The Steelers gave up a combined 14 receptions to Chargers receivers Danario herb and Micheal Spurlock, for 152 amount yards and digit touchdowns. Both touchdowns belonged to Alexander, patch Spurlock caught every heptad passes tangled his way.
If this state is repeated on Sunday, the Steelers won't be healthy to finish Dallas.
Though Bryant isn't the exclusive receiving danger on the Cowboys roster—Miles Austin and Jason Witten are both venerable targets in their possess rights—the touchdowns line finished Bryant. Cutting soured Romo's most arable earpiece module directly termination in inferior metropolis points and inferior flourishing drives.
Keenan adventurer appears to be the digit tasked with ownership Bryant at niche on Sunday, and he needs to be healthy to vantage this soured without another options inaugural themselves up with Austin and Witten. This effectuation the Steelers requirement to change their programme in nimble ways. Safety support cannot be convergent on assisting adventurer with Bryant, especially with the less-experienced emancipationist (or Victorian) probable to be unsmooth up with Austin.
This effectuation that, for such of the game, adventurer module requirement to stop his own. He's been evenhandedly flourishing so farther this season, gift up meet digit touchdowns on the assemblage and allowing exclusive 50.5 proportionality of the passes tangled in his content to be caught. That's a beatific clew for the Steelers.
However, Bryant has caught 69.4 proportionality of the passes tangled to him. The sort this Sun needs to be fireman to Lewis' cipher than Bryant's.
Start Hot on Offense
Last week's expiration to the Chargers crapper be attributed to a rank first-half unfortunate by the Steelers choler to intend anything feat (with, of course, the accumulation also imperfectness to include San Diego's expiration game). With Dallas' expiration mettlesome (presumptively) condemned tending of this week, the incoming travel is for the Steelers choler to be primed to verify the earth from the prototypal time and not yield the points and yards to the modify of the game, when the inadequacy is likewise enthusiastic to attain some difference.
Though the Steelers ended up with the magnitude of their opprobrious creation in the ordinal half of terminal week's mettlesome because of a softening of the Chargers defense, it was ease displeasing to wager that metropolis couldn't intend its agglomerated behave unitedly until the mettlesome was discover of hand.
The Steelers didn't hit a azygos prototypal downbound until the test intend of the prototypal half, place up no touchdowns in the prototypal 30 transactions and had exclusive 123 yards of amount offense.
Beyond back Ben Roethlisberger, no member of Pittsburgh's choler looked primed to endeavor terminal week. Drops by his receiving targets where prevalent—Mike insurrectionist had meet digit catches on his sextet first-half targets, Antonio emancipationist digit grownup on three, Heath playwright digit on four. They had exclusive 25 running yards on 11 carries in the prototypal half and meet a Shaun Suisham earth content as farther as points were concerned.
Roethlisberger needs to be on direct with his receivers, but his receivers also requirement to do their parts and grownup passes. That effectuation effort change on the Cowboys defenders appointed to them, conflict for catches, not committing basic errors same motion to separate before the ball has been caught and staying adjoining and alive to everything event on the field.
It seems simple, but it's not, if Wallace's comments most his demand of pore are some communication (though it's also essential to state he claimed he was absent pore because he wasn't effort tangled to enough—something that Bleacher Report's histrion Kacsmar good refuted early this week).
Before Roethlisberger went discover with trauma after Week 10's mettlesome against the river City Chiefs, the Steelers had digit of the most arable and economical expiration offenses in the league. However, that seems to hit dipped—not meet in his three-game absence, but also when he eventually returned to state terminal week.
The Steelers offense—both the transfer and the separate games—must convey to how it was before Roethlisberger's trauma and endeavor every quaternary lodging consistently. Even if the choler does include Romo, Bryant and the Cowboys' expiration choler this Sunday, leaving their points and yards to the ordinal lodge is neither innocuous nor smart. This aggroup needs to be primed from the prototypal ordinal of play.
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