Jaguars vs Steelers: 5 Things We Learned from Pittsburgh's 17-13 Win

The Pittsburgh Steelers may have improved to 4-2 on Sunday with a 17-13 victory over the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars, but they were extremely unimpressive for most of the game and in the end they had to cross their fingers and hope for victory instead of dominating a team with less talent at every position.

Looking back at that win, let's take a look at five lessons we've learned about the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Rashard Mendenhall's Bust Status Is Greatly Exaggerated

Lesson

One thing that kept cropping up last week was that Rashard Mendenhall is now a bust because he just can't seem to get it right this year. It's one of the more ludicrous things I've heard, and it was dis-proven Sunday against a decent run defense.

Analysis

Yeah. This one was easy. Mendenhall started strong and ended well, too. He broke free for some big gains (including a 68-yard blast that set up a field goal). He ran hard, hit the hole quickly and with force and took advantage of whatever the Steelers offensive line was able to provide.

Mendenhall isn't Franco Harris or Jerome Bettis, but he is a pretty decent runner who has shown the ability to make big gains and be productive on the ground. He's been the victim of poor blocking this year and, to be honest, wasn't playing at his best either.

But to label him a bust? That's just going too far.

Bruce Arians Needs to Go

Lesson

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Bruce Arians is a poor, poor excuse for an offensive coordinator, and the way he handled the Steelers 17-3 lead in the second half showed just why he's got to be sent packing as soon as possible.

Analysis

There are some people that have jobs in the NFL and you just can't help but shake your head when you see them on television. One of those guys is Bruce Arians.

He's been the Steelers offensive coordinator since 2007. Inexplicably, he's in his fifth year at that job and has been almost stupendously awful for most of that time. The one saving grace for Pittsburgh is that Ben Roethlisberger has been permitted to change plays at the line.

Arians had a chance against Jacksonville to let the Steelers offense put away the Jaguars. Instead, he opted for his favorite game plan: run, run, pass, punt. That system almost cost Pittsburgh the game. His play calling was so predictable in this game that I was able to call at least six consecutive plays correctly.

There just isn't any imagination in what the Steelers do on offense. They waste their best weapons each week and never do anything about putting teams away. That's bad coaching. That's Bruce Arians.

The Defense Still Needs Some Work

Lesson

Yes, they are without their top linebacker. Yes, they demolished Blaine Gabbert almost every time Jacksonville had the football. No, they did not perform up to the standards that have been set by their talent and past performance.

Analysis

There's one disturbing trend that has been part of the Pittsburgh defense for years now: their inability to get off the field on third downs.

They're frequently impossible to stop on first and second down, but once the marker shows "3," they suddenly fall to pieces. I'm not sure what the issue is, but it showed up again in the second half of the game this week.

Blaine Gabbert was running for his life early and often against a seemingly inspired defense. But that same defense allowed a lot of yards on third down, whether or not the Jaguars converted. That has got to stop. Allowing teams to extend drives is demoralizing, particularly on third and long, and keeps a lot of bad teams in games.

The Steelers defense has come a long way in two weeks, but they've still got plenty of work to do. Shoring up third downs needs to be at the top of that list.

Ben Roethlisberger Still Needs Some Work with His Receivers

Lesson

Ben Roethlisberger has raised his game, but he still has some serious timing issues with his receivers, particularly Emmanuel Sanders.

Analysis

Ben Roethlisberger's day was a tale of two halves, but it was also a tale of two types of plays. Roethlisberger was adept at completing short passes and intermediate routes. The Steelers chose to go deep quite often, too, something that hasn't been a huge part of their game yet.

That's where the trouble happened.

Roethlisberger continually overthrew his receivers on deeper routes. Emmanuel Sanders was open behind the entire defense twice and Roethlisberger overthrew him both times.

He's developed a better rapport with Mike Wallace but missed the star receiver several times on Sunday as well. These issues cost points and put the Steelers in poor spots offensively, as they mustered almost nothing in the second half.

Still No Complete Games

Lesson

As has been the trend, the Steelers still have not played a complete game in 2011. That's a bad trend that will cost the team games against better competition in the near future.

Analysis

Here we go again.

The offense is unstoppable in the first half. It can't move the ball 20 yards in the second half. The defense is great on first and second down but can't get off the field on third, and they then bend a little too much in the second half.

When will the Steelers play a complete game on at least one side of the ball? What about both? Will it happen this year?

Mike Tomlin and his staff aren't doing a stellar job of halftime adjustments. They narrowly escaped a Jaguars squad that had no business being in the game. They allowed a Tennessee team to move the ball last week after owning them in the first half.

It's a scary trend. The Steelers just don't seem to put people away when they've got them down. It needs to stop or they will start losing games they should win and also losing games against teams they need to beat.