Jaguars over Steelers--a tale of two games

Jaguars over Steelers--a tale of two games

Watching Saturday night's game between Pittsburgh and Jacksonville was like getting two different games for the price of one.  The Jacksonville Jaguars dominated the first half after the Steelers opened big.  The Steelers dominated the second half, only to see the Jaguars hit the last shot for the win, 31-29.

Pittsburgh opened the game up on a high note, marching eighty yards on ten plays to draw first blood.  Roethlisberger looked great on that drive, hitting five of six passes for sixty yards.  Najeh Davenport ran the ball in the place of Willie Parker, grabbing ten yards on three carries and the one-yard score.

From that point, the first half was all Jacksonville.

Maurice Jones-Drew returned the kick-off ninety-six yards to the Steelers' one-yard line.  Fred Taylor proceeded to punch the ball in on the next play.

Jacksonville's defense came to play in the first half, intercepting Roethlisberger three times, including one returned sixty-three yards to the end zone by Rashean Mathis.  Jacksonville also sacked Roethlisberger five times in the half and held Davenport to the ten yards he gained on the opening drive.

The Jacksonville offense didn't look spectacular, but did put another seven on the board in the second quarter.  Garrard, throwing sparingly, but efficiently, completed a forty-three yard touchdown pass to Jones-Drew, giving the Jaguars a 21-7 lead heading into the half.

At halftime, the Steelers did what every good team does-they adjusted.  The Jaguars did what every team that is on the cusp of greatness fears doing-they fell apart after a great first half.

Roethlisberger regrouped to throw two second-half touchdowns.  Najeh Davenport contributed six points on his second touchdown run of the game.  Hines Ward was everywhere Roethlisberger needed him to be and caught everything thrown his way.  The Pittsburgh defense tightened up and played like everyone expected them to play, forcing David Garrard to throw two second-half interceptions and grinding the Jaguars' running game to a halt.

After the Pittsburgh Steelers bounced back from an eighteen-point deficit to take a 29-28 lead deep into the fourth quarter, the game fell upon the shoulders of David Garrard.  With 2:38 left in the game and fifty-one yards to go, Garrard completed one pass for eight yards and ultimately found himself facing a fourth and two situation.  With 1:56 to go, Garrard took the snap-and, putting the team, and the game, on his shoulders, ran.  He not only picked up the first down, but gained thirty-two yards, putting the Jaguars in perfect field goal range.

Jacksonville hit the field goal with thirty-seven seconds to go.  Pittsburgh had one more shot, but Roethlisberger lost the ball on a sack, which was recovered by Jacksonville.  One knee later and one of the wildest wild-card games in recent memory was over.  Jacksonville, picked by many as a dark-horse candidate to go far in the playoffs and possibly pick off the favorite Patriots, lives to fight another day and makes history in the process by being the only visiting team to ever win two games in Pittsburgh in one season.

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Fan Comments lets be truthful here, the jags were lucky that the steeler coaching staff were idiots. not only on the two point conversion but their last drive that could have sealed the win to avoid the historic collapse. you throw on them with ease all second half and then you decide to run a QB sweep with big ben???? and punt instead of ending the game. everybody and their dog knew the steelers would run on that last play. the jaguars knew the steelers would run on that last play. you throw a little out and the game is over. Im not sure what the steeler coaching staff was thinking because to give the game away when there was just no way the jags were going to stop a pass....??????? really if Im a steelers fan Im thinking twice about the mike tomlin hire. you bailed out one of the biggest choke jobs about to happen by del rios team. today would could be and should be talking about the monumental collapse not the team nobody wants to play. I dare say the pats arent saying that garrard. 3 interceptions during the season. what a joke stat that was. obviously he is not peyton, manning, nor roethlisburger and the fact that he had 2 yesterday shows to me that he is a fatter vince young who can complete a few more passes. if you look at the attempts compared to top QBs of the NFL, garrard being called the 3rd rated passer over manning is like saying northern teams cant win in the heat...see the giants smack that theory down today and fred taylor. 48 yards. pro bowl whiner??? its also pretty obvious their best rb is MJD and del rio is doing the other teams a favor by playing fred taylor and having their bigget weapon on the sidelines. end the end there is a reason these teams played this weekend and the others had a bye. one giant choke is the summary of this game Posted at 06/01 13:25 by kinnick1 ? Posted at 06/01 07:07 by jjp View All