Steelers vs. Jaguars (Wk. 2)

**K Train** · 09-17-2006, 12:40 AM

Great posts about the Steelers-Jags gameday guys

**Prosdo** · 09-17-2006, 01:16 AM

Here We Go Steelers! Here We Go!

**AZ_Steeler** · 09-17-2006, 01:44 AM

Koop is going to be mad at you for starting the game thread!!! If the Steelers lose we are going to know why!

**BlitzburghRockCity** · 09-17-2006, 01:45 AM

You guys are too much

**AZ_Steeler** · 09-17-2006, 01:48 AM

vs.

Monday September 18, 2006
Alltel Stadium - 8:30 PM

The Steelers travel to Jacksonville for a Monday night prime-time game on ESPN! Big Ben is looking to make his first start of the regular season after recovering from an emergency surgery two weeks ago. In the Big Ben era, the series is tied 1-1; However, this record gets an "*" by it because Ben sat at during last years game and Maddox was on the Jaguars payroll for the day. Big Ben looks to improve his personal record to 2-0 against a tough Jacksonville team!

Things to watch for this game is definitely going to be the Steelers special teams unit. This unit showed last weak they were "special" when it came to covering and returning a punt! Granted, a lot of the guys working with the ST was their first time and they hadn't had much time to gel, but special teams can make or break the game. Hopefully, this past week the Steelers worked on nothing but ST and Reid was their primary target for running down.

Last week, not only did the Steelers cover team not show up but their punt return "specialists" were not at the game either. This area is probably the one spot where ARE was missed because the Steelers averaged just 2.5 yards per return (ARE averaged just over 9 yards while with the Steelers). Holmes made typical rookie mistakes and Ricardo just looked scared!

The last key person Special Teamer to keep an eye is Jeff Reed. Reed missed several long FG in the preseason and we thought it was the holder, the distance and everything else we could pull out of the thin air. So far after one game Reed is 0-1, could he be in a slump or was it his footing on the torn up field?

Statistically, the Steelers and Jaguars look evenly matched on paper both offensively and defensively. The three keys I see for the Steelers to walk away with a "W" are:

Special Teams
Turnovers
Time of Possession

Stats and rankings for both teams:

Ben is currently listed as questionable and Cowher has said this could easily become a game time decision. Troy has recently been upgraded from Questionable to Probable, I think we all knew he would be on the field regardless.