2018 Divisional Discussion Thread

Pitt D didn't look ready to play on that opening drive, what the heck was going on?

The inconsistency in forward progress is so annoying. Fournette ran into a scrum and initially got pushed back a yard, but nobody blew a whistle, so Jacksonville's entire offensive line came and pushed the pile five yards.

Jacksonville looks like the clearly superior team so far. The wildcard is Bortles. That guy is a ticking time bomb for his own team. The problem for Pittsburgh is, the longer the Jags have a multi-possession lead, the more they can just keep handing off to Fournette and minimize the Blake-tanic's impact on the game.

A dream start for the Jags. But the way this latest drive is going for the Steelers, they aren't going to have nearly as bad a day on offense as in Week 5.

Why in the world are you running a toss play? You have INCHES to go.

Terrible play call by the Steelers on that 4th down. Big Ben probably could have just leaned over the center to pick up the 1st down.

I can’t believe Jacksonville is our last hope to preventing another New England SB appearance.

OK this game is officially over.

If the Steelers get a TD before the half here, it's still far from over. Fournette getting injured could still prove to be very important.

How's that for high-variance?

I liked going for it on fourth down there, since it would be a long kick and down 21, a FG doesn't help you much. But letting that much time drain off the clock before calling a timeout was terrible. Of course it doesn't matter when you just go right for a TD anyway.

Definitely not over. Even if Pitt don't score on the drive to open the 2nd half there is still plenty of time left but the offense would be helped by the Steelers stepping up and getting some 3 and outs. If Fournette doesn't come back into the game and they have to lean on Yeldon then that would be interesting although even if he does come back how good will he be now he's hurt? A turnover by the Steelers D would also flip this game. Can Bortles go the entire 2nd half without a killer mistake?

Wow, that was a FIFA-level dive by Bell against Ramsey on the personal foul.

Questionable personal foul there.

Juju Smith-Schuster pushes Jalen Ramsey into out-of-bounds Le'Veon Bell. Officials flag Ramsey for unnecessary roughness.

This is the kind of call that underscores the need for _all_ plays to be reviewable.

pittsburgh listen up! you run at speed, and away from power. sheesh!

This was already apparent in the first half, but the Jags aren't really stopping the Steelers except via turnovers. Otherwise Pittsburgh is going up and down the field pretty easily. Jacksonville's offense is going to have to keep scoring to secure this game.

The play-by-play guy was moved to tears by the beauty of that touchdown. He would change his tune real fast though if he knew how the refs were favoring New England in this game

What a sneaky dirty move by JSS.

All three of the Steelers touchdowns thus far have been thread-the-needle throws from distance (outside or just inside the red zone). It seems like they're trying to test their luck since the first interception (and 1 or 2 near misses) and it's playing out for them.

Yeah I spoke a little too soon. Jax still in the lead though. I can feel a Bortles turnover coming soon though.

Wow! What are the chances the Jax player on the defensive right stepped forward aggressively before the 4th down snap specifically to get Ben to give away the play? When he audibled it seemed obvious he was calling off a run

While this is probably an optimal strategy against Pittsburgh, let's hope they're smart enough not to try it in New England next week.

Steelers have dominated this second half. But suddenly it's 7-7 in second half scoring and the Steelers haven't even made any progress in cutting into that 14-point lead.

Brown is so f'ing amazing.

Wow, does it get any better than Roethlisberger to Brown?

Wow. Great touchdown play. Can't believe Haley finally hit on a fourth down playcall!

Looked like the Jax db had a hold of Brown the whole down the field and Brown still made the catch

The lack of a pass rush by Pittsburgh today is killing them

The Steelers can’t stop the Jaguars.

Things you don’t expect to say.

Good play call. Pittsburgh D totally fooled

BORTLED!

Couple of gigantic third down conversions. Bortles hasn't been exactly good, but I think he's played the role of game manager... Which seems weird to say about a QB for an offense that now, as I type, has scored 35 points.

Raise your hand if you thought Roethlisberger vs. Bortles would be the highest-scoring, most exciting game of the weekend.

deleted double post

i have to go to the store, i'm out of toilet paper, does anyone have a terrible towel i could borrow?

Ben showing the moves.

Pitt's D has been gashed today and not come up with any turnovers. I truly didn't see this coming.

Steelers should really have tried to avoid using timeouts on offense.

How is that not PI on 26??

Roethlisberger was so eager to lateral the ball on that drive.

Steelers only down by 7 now. Best playoff game so far?

“We’re going to play [the Patriots] again,” Steeler's safety Mike Mitchell told Sports Illustrated. “We can play them in hell, we can play them in Haiti, we can play them in New England. … We’re gonna win.”

But can he play them from his living room?

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2018/01/10/steelers-mike-mitchell-guarantees-playoff-win-over-patriots/

Listening to, but not watching the game: how's the Jags pass rush doing at this point? Rushing 3 or 4 and playing coverage? Rushing 5 and not getting home? It doesn't sound effective.

"Questionable decision" doesn't begin to describe that onside kick.

Onside kick was way overaggressive there. If they were down be 3 or 4, I would be okay with it. However, a Jacksonville FG puts the game away in this case.

The decision making by the Steelers coaching staff has been really strange.

Jax defense cannot be concerning the Pats that much

Darth Brady and Emperor Belichick lurk in their fully armed and operational homefield advantage, daring Jar-Jar Bortles and Qui-Gon Fournette to make a trench run.

Great clock management, there.

Hey Steelers,
Maybe overlooking the Jags and looking forward to next weeks rematch against the Pats was not a good idea eh??
Way to prepare your team Mike Tomlin!
Oh and loosing to Blake Brothel! Wow

I think Jacksonville has a better chance of beating NE than Pittsburgh ever did. Honestly I can't really see either of them pulling it off, but Jax is more of a wild card. They match up strength/strength and weakness/weakness; if Jax's weakness plays like they did today, we'll have a close game on our hands. If Jalen Ramsey has a Richard Sherman-esque coming out party, we'll have a Jax vs. [Minn/NO] Bowl!

Jacksonville's deficiencies are more difficult to exploit. You can force B.Roeth into making mistakes, but you can't force Bortles into doing anything. You also don't *need* to, he'll make mistakes all on his own. But maybe not!

I know recovering the onside kick and returning it for a TD has to be like a 0.001% probability, but maybe try it because it’s your only shot? The squib kick makes no sense...the Jaguars player was so far away from anyone that even if he fumbled it he’d have had all the time in the world to recover.

Talk about terrible coaching by Tomlin in the last few minutes.

More interesting than another Steeler's matchup for Pats. More of a test for Hoodie to play an unfamiliar opponent that has scored 45 and 10 points in the playoffs.
McCourty was on the injury report for yesterday's game and he got hurt again yesterday. I thought he looked hobbled. Would be a big blow to Pats secondary if he was out.

My opinion is the winner of this game is the team best suited to beat the Patriots. I’m so sick of the Pats that this Packers fan would cheer for the Vikings if it came down to it!

I'm just soooo glad that the Jags have saved us from having to hear James Harrison's name mentioned a million times (even if he didn't play a snap) next week.

And now we get to watch Troy Aikman and Jack Buck suck out all the excitement in the game I've been looking forward to all week.

CBS guys are really ripping Tomlin for the onside kick. But really, I question how they let the Jaguars score 45 points!!

Blake Bortles is now Dan Fouts??

I think Steelers with Antonio Brown would have beaten the Pats, even in Foxboro but I'm glad that matchup isn't happening so we have a chance to have a different team representing the AFC in the Superbowl. It's hard to take what we saw today and apply that to the next matchup because NE and Pitt are so different.

The Vikings in the super bowl at home has got to be our best shot against the Pats, I'd think. Sorry Brees

Even though the Jags are good, I cannot see B.B. losing to the Brothel. However, the Vikings and Saints have me worried. Not so much the eagles without Wentz.

Vikings get 4 times as much yardage on PI in one drive than the Saints have gotten all season.

Vikings looking strong early up 10. I think they will have quite the conundrum on their hands as to which QBthey will sign for next year.