Dissecting Most Crucial Matchups in Steelers' Week 10 Contest with Jets
The Pittsburgh Steelers are riding high following Ben Roethlisberger’s second consecutive six-touchdown performance.
Roethlisberger’s play has the attention of everyone around the league, but more importantly, it has the Steelers in playoff contention with three straight wins and a 6-3 record heading into their matchup against the New York Jets.
Mike Tomlin’s team will look to continue their hot streak against a Jets team that is on an eight-game losing streak. He recognizes that some of his players will only look at New York’s record and that they must avoid a letdown, via Bob Labriola of Steelers.com:
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"That’s quite frankly one of the things we have to guard against. Winning a big, emotional game like that and having the ability to move forward individually and collectively to the next challenge will define us. It always does. It’s universal in football. There are many examples you can cite of teams having to move on.
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The Steelers will need to continue to ride their red-hot offense to get a victory in New York, but expect Rex Ryan to have his team prepared for all of Pittsburgh’s weapons, via Mike Prisuta of Steelers.com:
"The same guy (Ben Roethlisberger) I’ve always seen. So it’s the same nightmare. He’s still a great quarterback. He can make all the throws and hangs in there. Their vertical passing game has been absolutely tremendous. He’s really using (running back Le’Veon) Bell out of the backfield a bunch, and that’s a big help. (Wide receiver) Antonio Brown has been lighting it up, as well.
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However, being prepared and being able to stop the Steelers offense are two different things. Certainly, the Steelers could come into this game with too much confidence, but that may not be a bad thing for how well they are playing right now.
Tomlin has a chance to have his team on a five-game winning streak heading into the bye week, but they first must get by the Jets. Here are three key matchups that the Steelers must win if they are going to come out with a victory this weekend.
Marcus Gilbert vs. Muhammad Wilkerson
Pass protection is one of the main reasons that Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers offense have had so much success in recent weeks. When given time to throw, Roethlisberger is able to pick apart defenses, and he has done so with a tremendous amount of success.
Against the Jets, the Steelers will have to do their best to keep star defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson out of the backfield. He had a breakout season last year with 10.5 sacks and has 4.5 sacks through nine games this season.
The Steelers will look to Marcus Gilbert to slow down Wilkerson and the New York pass rush. He has already allowed five sacks in eight games, per the The Washington Post. However, he primarily has trouble with undersized speed rushers, which Wilkerson is not.
Last week, Gilbert allowed Elvis Dumervil to beat him wide for a sack. It was the third in three consecutive sacks or the Baltimore Ravens. While the Steelers offense recovered from this sequence, it could have easily spun out of control.
Gilbert has problems against speed-rushers. They are able to beat him wide off the line with their quickness and at 6’6,” Gilbert also struggles against shorter defenders who can gain leverage on him when rushing the quarterback.
Wilkerson presents at different type of challenge. At 6’4” and 315 pounds, he isn’t a speed-jrusher, but instead uses his quickness off the snap along with power and hand placement. When matched up against the high-powered Denver Broncos offense, he lined up over the center and used a terrific move to beat the linemen.
As long as Roethlisberger has time to throw, the Steelers should have plenty of success against the Jets’ defense. Gilbert will be a key component of the pass protection, as he must contain one of the best young defensive linemen in the league.
Le’Veon Bell vs. David Harris
Le’Veon Bell may have had his worst statistical performance of the season last week with only 58 all-purpose yards, but he was still an effective part of the offense. He is one of the best dual-threat running backs in the league with 711 rushing yards and 433 receiving yards.
| Carries | Rushing Yards | Rushing Touchdowns | Receptions | Receiving Yards | Receiving Touchdowns |
| 151 | 711 | 1 | 47 | 433 | 2 |
As one of the dangerous weapons on the offense, the Jets will have to keep an eye on Bell not only lined up in the backfield, but also out wide as a receiver. But not matter where he lines up, Bell is a dangerous option for the Steelers.
Last week, Todd Haley exploited rookie linebacker C.J. Mosley by using Bell in the passing game, as highlighted by Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (subscription required):
“Roethlisberger identified a mismatch on third-and-6 and threw to Bell, who looped out of the backfield and ran by Mosley for an easy reception of 12 yards.”
The Steelers will look to do the same against David Harris and the Jets’ inside linebackers. Harris is not the most athletic linebacker in the league, but is a leader on the field and a very dependable tackler.
Rather than run the play right to Harris, Haley needs to back him off the line of scrimmage by forcing him back into coverage. Here, Roethlisberger can find Bell on short, underneath passes and allow him to use his speed to get yards after the catch.
On a 3rd-and-11 against the Kansas City Chiefs, Harris dropped into coverage and Alex Smith found Jamaal Charles on a short pass. With space in front of him, Charles was able to gain the necessary yardage to pick up the first down.
Haley can use Bell in a similar fashion, but also line him up as a receiver where they can use the mismatch advantage against the Jets’ linebackers. This means that Bell should not only be a force on the ground, but will be in line for at least five receptions for the eighth time in 10 games this season.
Ben Roethlisberger vs. Jets’ Secondary
Although there are a number of other crucial matchups that will affect the outcome of this game, none is as important as Ben Roethlisberger against the New York Jets’ secondary.
Roethlisberger has averaged nearly 376 passing yards and over four touchdowns per game during the Steelers’ three-game winning streak. His performance has analysts from around the league talking about him as the quarterback playing at the highest level right now, via NFL.com.
For Gil Brandt, the choice was Roethlisberger over Tom Brady:
“I'll take Ben Roethlisberger by the narrowest of margins over Tom Brady. Big Ben is on pace for 4,836 yards and 39 touchdowns, both of which would easily be career-high marks. He's also the only player in NFL history to post back-to-back regular-season games with six touchdown passes.”
Now Roethlisberger gets to take his hot streak to New York where he battles an inexperienced Jets’ secondary.
| Games 1-6 | Games 7-9 | |
| Passing Yards | 1,593 | 1,127 |
| Completion Percentage | 65.3 | 68.2 |
| Touchdowns | 8 | 14 |
| Interceptions | 3 | 0 |
| Sacks | 17 | 6 |
Starter Darrin Walls did not practice on Wednesday and Thursday per NewYorkJets.com and Antonio Allen—who was benched last week—will be moved back to safety against the Steelers, according to Kimberley A. Martin of Newsday.
"It'll definitely be comfortable taking some of the load off me," Allen said of his move back to safety. "But I did whatever I could do at corner and I did it to the best of my ability. And I'm going to do the same at safety when I move back."
Allen was a part of a Jets’ defense that allowed Alex Smith to throw for 199 yards and two touchdowns last week, which falls below their average of 231 passing yards allowed per game. That pales in comparison to what Roethlisberger has been doing in recent weeks.
Even if New York tries to shut down Pittsburgh’s top receiving options, Roethlisberger will look elsewhere. Whether it is Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell or Heath Miller, he has plenty of primary targets to look at. Secondary targets such as Markus Wheaton, Martavis Bryant and Lance Moore have all shown the ability to make a big play.
Over the past five weeks, Roethlisberger has completed a pass to an average of 8.6 receivers per game. The options are there and New York will have trouble stopping them all.
Roethlisberger is at the top of his game and is playing the best football that he has in his entire career. Against an inexperienced secondary on Sunday, he should have no problems finding open receivers and putting up monster numbers once again.
Note: Unless otherwise noted, all stats are courtesy of ESPN.com and all roster information is courtesy of Steelers.com.
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