AFC Game Of The Week
Tennessee Titans at Pittsburgh Steelers
Titans: They’re off to one of their best starts in years. When I looked at this division at the beginning of the year, this could’ve been decided by two teams, the Houston Texans, and Tennessee Titans. I didn’t know what to really expect from the Jaguars and the Colts, well they are a topic for another discussion. Now, let’s look at things. The Colts are dwelling in the basement of the division, the Jaguars are starting to open people’s eyes, the Texans were rolling until the unfortunate injury to Deshaun Watson and the Titans are sitting at 6-3 right now and in first place in the AFC South. Marcus Mariota has returned back in a big way from his injury last season and has them in a really good position in the playoff picture which I’m not surprised at all because they could’ve made the playoffs last year until Mariota broke his leg. They’ve won four games in a row and had to battle back late in the fourth quarter to beat the Bengals on Sunday. They can outgain just about anyone offensively, but what hurt them on Sunday were the two turnovers that cost them 14 points and allowed the Bengals to get back into the game. Every game is important here on out for the Titans and to attempt winning their fifth in a row, they’ll face the Steelers tonight in the steel city.
Steelers: That was a very gutsy win for them on Sunday. They looked extremely flat in the beginning of the game against the Colts giving up big plays and offensively, they couldn’t do much to get anything going. At one point, they were down by 17 points and midway through the third, they were down, 17-3. When you look at the great football teams, they’re able to put a bad half of football behind them and make adjustments and that’s exactly what they did on Sunday. The defense was able to apply pressure on Jacoby Brissett, they limited the big play down the field and their offense didn’t look great, but they were able to score and tie the game in the fourth quarter. They ended the game by scoring the final 20 points and escaped with their fourth straight victory. Mike Tomlin has been their head coach since 2007 and out of all the teams that he’s coached, this is by far his most loose team. They want to have fun and when you’re winning, it’s a very good atmosphere to be around. The Steelers are showing their one of the top dogs in the AFC once again at 7-2 and if the playoffs began today, they’d be the one seed in the conference. They’re back home for a key game in the AFC tonight.
Titans Player To Watch: Avery Williamson– The Steelers will run the football and if Ben buys the time to extend the play, he’ll move up in the pocket to get a few yards. This guy is able to get pressure up the middle and blitz right up the gap and he’s also able to make tackles.
Steelers Player To Watch: Jesse James– Ben has always loved throwing the football to his tight ends and he has a serviceable one in Jesse. With AB, he’ll always have the attention of the defense and with Juju Smith-Schuster also on the rise and becoming a key piece to this offense, this is opening everything up for Jesse over the middle of the field and in the redzone.
Final Analysis: This is a key battle in the AFC and the Titans would like to make a statement and show that they’re able to battle with the NFL’s elite. The Steelers will throw a ton of exotic blitzes and schemes at Mariota. The Steelers can’t get off to another slow start because you won’t always come back. Start early, pressure Mariota, attack the Titans secondary and there’s your game-plan.
Prediction: Steelers 28 Titans 24
