well, it wasn't exactly the picture of dominance that many would have liked to see (including yours truly) against an 0-4 team, but the steelers fly out of jacksonville (pittsburgh south? holy goodness there were a TON of steelers fans there) with a win, and that's what matters most of all.
and anyone who thought that the steelers had to go down there and stomp them in order to prove something is dead wrong. this was a desperate team; a cornered team; and a team starting a quarterback who was desperate to prove that he could take the reins and turn things around. this was a jaguars team who saw what tampa bay did to the steelers last week, and who was salivating at the chance to do the same thing. this was never going to be a cake walk, no matter how bad you think the jags are.
still, steelers fans would have liked to have seen a little more lopsidedness on the scoreboard in the 4th quarter. it is hard to believe that the only offensive touchdown was a pass to a hardly-recognized tight end, against a secondary that is one of the worst in the nfl to this point.
it was more and more apparent that the steelers were going to need something big defensively. the defense played pretty darn well the whole game, but what was lacking was that really big play (cortez allen did have an interception, but the pass was so deep, it was almost like a punt by the jags). enter bryce mccain, playing in the nickel now that injuries have caused some shuffling around. from here on out, i am referring to mccain as the senator from pittsburgh. and after the way he sat on that route and then pushed upfield to intercept the pass and take it to the house for a pick-six most certainly won my vote for him. that was the play the steelers needed, and it came from a backup corner. hey, whatever it takes.
in any event, the steelers got the win, and combined with the ravens and bengals both losing, it was a very good day. next week the steelers get to play the comeback kids of cleveland, who almost won the last meeting, so the steelers have their work cut out for them. it was good to see them respond to last week's embarrassing loss with a team win, now it will be important for them to build on a win and take some steps forward against the browns. here we go steelers!
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