Steelers @ Tennessee:
The Titans are (1) of (6) AFC teams whose 5-4 mark ranks just behind the Steelers 5-3-1.�� The others are New England, Miami, Buffalo, Indianapolis and Oakland.� The Steelers are 1-2 against that group, the Titans 1-1.� Conference-solo, Pittsburgh is T-1 with San Diego at 5-2; the Titans are T-3 with Baltimore at 4-2.�
Had the Steelers beaten the Falcons, they would be T-1 for the (current) first seed in the AFC, matching the Bolts 6-3 overall and 5-2 conference marks.� Well, if pigs could fly, US Air would be strapping their customers to Orlando-bound hogs; while it is ironic that the tie at Heinz has removed tiebreakers from their playoff equation, victory in the Music City remains an essential component to Pittsburgh�s post-season playoff aspirations.
Tennessee has been streaky; after opening with a comeback win against the Eagles, the Titans dropped (4) straight to Dallas, Oakland, Cleveland and Washington.� There are (3) bad teams on that list; subsequently, Tennessee beat (4) bad teams to include Jacksonville, Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Houston.� You�ll note a number of opponents common with the Steelers; both teams have lost to Oakland; both teams have beaten Cincinnati and Indianapolis.� The Titans lost to those Steeler-cousins, the Cleveland Browns; that is the difference in the Steelers� 4-1 to the Titans� 2-2 vs. shared opposition.
The Titans� home field advantage has evaporated; once a tough venue, they are just 3-2 within their friendly confines. Maybe that�s because Tennessee just stinks on offense; they are 24th overall, 20th in passing and 22nd running the ball.� Those numbers are somewhat inflated; in fact, the Titans came out fairly strong on the O-side but subsequently have crumbled.� Consider:
RB Eddie George is averaging 3.4 YPC.
TE/H-back Frank Wychek has had concussion problems and probably won�t dress.
QB Steve McNair has a turf toe that prevents him from practicing.
ROT Fred Miller is a human turnstile; the Titans problems on offense date from the day they lost Jon Runyan and were forced to grab up Miller from the Rams.
In their past two games, against Houston and Indianapolis, the Titans have all of 449 yards total offense.� This includes an astonishingly low 191 yards passing, 95.5YPG.� While Houston has better secondary personnel than do the Steelers, that can�t be said of the Colts.� Further, in their past (4) games, the Titans are 6/17 in the red zone.� Very poor.
Tennessee features the kind of power-running, ball control offense that plays exactly to the Steelers� strength on the D-side.� We can expect the Titan O-group to play slow towards winning TOP but to play without much effect towards winning the game.� So long as Pittsburgh keeps their base on the field, the B&G should dominate; however, it is worth noting that Mason and Dyson are exactly the kind of small, quick WR that have provided problems for the Steelers� lumbering CB duo.
On balance, the Titan WR are far from state-of-the�art but they�re each about as good as, say, Jerome Pathon. �Tim Lewis�s best move may be to sit Flowers and start Townsend in the base, exactly as he did for Cleveland 1.� This would reserve Flowers for duty inside in the dime if, but only if, Logan can�t go.� One thing we don�t want to see is Poteat in the interior; last week, Hank was on Crumpler on a late EZ pass; if we see Hank Poteat covering Erron Kinney, well, it�ll be time to head over to the Southside and burn the HQ down.
While the Titans� offense has slowed to a near halt, their D-side is coming on.� After allowing 26.2 PPG in their first (5), Tennessee stiffened to hold their next (4) opponents to 15.7 PPG.� Pretty good, even considering the quality of those teams.� Consider:
OLB Keith Bulluck will be the fastest LB on the field.� Bullock was drafted in �00 following a Combine season similar to Arrington and Urlacher.� Keith did little in his rookie year, became a ST gunner last season and now leads the Titans with (77) T.
DE Kevin Carter has (7) sacks, T-1 in the AFC with Trevor Pryce and Pittsburgh�s own Joey Porter.
CB Samari Rolle remains a high quality DB.
SS Tank Williams is having a solid rookie season.� Williams is an excellent straight-line athlete who excels up near the LOS in Fisher�s 46; however, the Tank struggles in space and consequently the Titans are highly susceptible to passes in the middle of the field.
DE Carlos Hall was inserted when Jevon Kearse broke his foot pre-season and responded with (5) sacks this year.� However, Hall missed some time too and may now be wearing down; after opening with (3) sacks against Philly, Hall has had just (2) in the past (8) games.
Overall, Tennessee is 19th on defense, just behind the Steelers� 18.� Tennessee is as high as 11th against the run mainly because they are bad against the pass.� Sound familiar?� Like the Steelers, the Titans are giving 4.2YPC; that is by no means acceptable.� Yardage-wise, Tennessee is 23rd against the pass but they are 24th in YPA against @ 7.29 and a horrific 30th in QB rating @ 97.3.� That figure is very close to Maddox�s season mark; yes, on average any QB facing the Titans can expect to put up Tommy-digits.
Why? �Well, excluding Rolle, the Titans� CB are all small, green guys.� Donald Mitchell, Mike Echols, Tony Beckham? You really can�t get a package pass defense with that group.� The Titans are ripe for a 4-WR beating and the Steelers have the personnel to oblige. �Presuming the Steelers can protect Tommy from the Titans� very respectable rush, they should score early and score often.� One thing to consider is Tennessee�s ability to overmatch the Steelers O-line right with both Hall and Carter lined up against Smith and Simmons.� Fortunately, it�ll be Hall, not Kearse and, fortunately, both Smith and Simmons have played adequately to date.�
Summary:
The Steelers should be able to move on the Titans� porous pass defense; the Steelers should be able to stuff the Titans� low-octane offense.� The wild card in this is attitude; Coach Cowher tried to spin the Falcon-draw towards something acceptable but his players, especially Porter, Ward and Maddox, were having none of that.� You�ve got to wonder how the team views their Head now; from all reports, no one on the squad endorsed the passive-D, passive-O scheme employed late Sunday afternoon.� Much has been made of Coach Cowher�s sterling lead-holding stratagems.� While he is said to be 71-1-1 overall, the fact remains that, commencing in the Queen City last season, his team has blown (2) of their past (5) 10-point margins.� This week, the Steelers should again lead by +10 in the 4th; it�ll be interesting to see what the B&G brain trust devise, and how their players respond.