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Steelers at Jets |
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Jets & Steelers: Two Peas in a Pod? Article by McMillen & Wife What I'm about to say might elicit uproarious laughter from some of you, but once you hear me out, I think at least a few of you will concede my point: The 1-3 Steelers and the 4-0 Jets are a lot alike.
The difference? Resilience and big plays. The Jets have been finding ways to win the kind of games the Steelers have been finding ways to lose. Plus or minus a handful of big plays, Jets could easily be 1-3, and the Steelers could easily be 3-1. Don't believe me? Here are the facts:
In spite of dominating the Packers, the Jets trailed 16-13 until Testeverde hit a 61-yard TD pass with just 3 minutes left. In week 2, the Jets were smacked around for 58 minutes by the Patriots (who are still winless), and at one point in the game tailed 19-7. But a 28-yard Testeverde to Chrebet TD pass with 1:55 remaining gave New York their 2nd win. After a more convincing win over Buffalo (27-14) in week 3, the Jets returned to their heart-stopping ways, beating the Bucs on a shocking Curtis Marin halfback pass to Wayne Chrebet for an 18-yard score and a 21-17 win. Once again, the Jets trailed by double digits (17-7), but fought back. The Steelers, on the other hand, have found creative ways to snatch a pair of their defeats from the jaws of victory. Versus the Browns, it was the Graham sack on the final play when we were in chip-shot FG range to tie. Versus the Titans, it was an untimely (although sweet) knock-out of Kneel O'Dollar, who had played miserably. In came McNair, who effortlessly drove the Titans to a winning TD with less than 2 minutes remaining. Clearly, the Jets are a lot better at finishing a game than the Steelers. But there are many similarities. Both teams are playing their hearts out, both teams are playing ABOVE their respective talent levels, and both teams are enjoying outstanding coaching. If Al Groh keeps the Jets on their current course, he could be looking at Coach of the Year honors. If Cowher can continue to get the Steelers to play above themselves, the Steelers could conceivably hit the .500 mark, which at the outset of the season seemed impossible. An upset of the Jets on the heels of a convincing win in Jacksonville would be... beyond words. Even if they lose to New York, the Steelers are primed to win 3 out of 4 including the Jacksonville win (we face Cinci & Cleveland next), and 4-4 at midseason sounds pretty darn good to me right now. Defensively, the keys to the game seem rather obvious: contain Curtis Martin and pressure Vinnie. Can the Steelers do it? It depends which front seven show up. If we see an onslaught like we saw in Jacksonville, the game is ours. But if Martin has the kind of running room Priest Holmes had or Vinnie sees pocket time like Tim Couch had, we're toast. What about Vinni, anyway? To fans in Pittsburgh, he's become better known as "Vinnie Interceptiverde" over the years. We have OWNED this guy, and historically, if you can get Vinnie to start digging himself a hole, he keeps right on digging. As most of you know, Vinnie is struggling at the moment. His numbers are decidedly unimpressive, and he's made a wealth of errors this season. But make no mistake... he has been instrumental in all four New York wins and has been particularly effective during the 4th quarter (which is NOT a Testeverde trademark). We'll see... I think if I was Bill Cowher, I'd be trying to coax Darren Perry out of retirement for a week (Perry made a career out of picking off Testeverde passes). I think the real deciding factor in this game, however, will be the Steeler running game against the stingy Jets defense. The offensive line has been playing amazing well for the last few weeks, particularly Wayne Gandy, who was the object of my scorn for most of last season. Gandy has earned every cent of his paycheck this year, and has played a HUGE role in Bettis' success. I've said it every week since the season started... if we can't run, we can't win. But guess what? The Steelers have been showing that we CAN run. So will we have success on the ground vs. the Jets? Don't hold your breath... nobody else has been able to run on 'em. The Jets' defense doesn't get much press, but they can play... there are no real weaknesses at any position, and so far, nobody has been able to move the ball on them. This is why I think the Steelers will ultimately fall short. Pittsburgh will play hard, and will probably have a chance to win at the end... but the Jets are just a little too much at the moment. Prediction: Jets 20, Steelers 17 Having said all that, GO STEELERS! Tim McMillen Webmaster, McMillen and Wife | ||||||||||||
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Visit my web page at http://www.steelergridiron.com Looking forward to beating the Jets this week - they're a very lucky 4-0. Later, ~Eric Catch 22; If the Steelers play this week like they did in JackTown, we may find out how good or bad our first round choice was/is. Can you do a cross field trade in the NFL? Note to Players: Out of respect for the departed,please refrain from "spiking" the ball in the North End-Zone. Thank You. And now the Jets come up. I see another Steeler win on the horizon. The offensive line was really humming last week except for Shar. One thing I have noticed is that Gandy is like a different guy this year. He seems to really get it. In my Pre-Season post, I made fun of Kimo, but after seeing him, i think he is an improvement over Steed. He is really doing a number on opposing centers. Even though he isnt drawing double teams, he will be soon enough. Fu and Bettis look great. I would love to see huntley, Fu and Bettis run the wishbone a few times. HA! That would freak some people out. It would be like a Beatles reunion, only Lennon would still be around.... Steelers 17, Jets 7. Steve Massey North Carolina Back to McMillen & Wife's 
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