Steelers can beat Patriots even without Big Ben
A quick preview as Week 7 rolls on in the NFL …
Pressure’s on: Landry Jones. As if trying to fill the shoes of injured Ben Roethlisberger isn’t enough, there’s the matter of out dueling Tom Brady. With New England’s secondary weakened, there’s a window of opportunity for a Pittsburgh offense that is so explosive (with Roethlisberger, anyway). Jones, making his third pro start, will be surrounded by ample weapons. But he had better connect with Antonio Brown – who has never caught a TD pass from anyone other than Big Ben. Of course, it will take a lot of points, adding pressure on Jones. The Steelers pass defense ranks 30th in the NFL. And now comes Brady.
Who’s hot: Sam Bradford. Consider his changing fortunes. In May, Bradford saw the writing on the wall as the Eagles drafted their quarterback of the future. Now he heads back to Philadelphia as quarterback of the NFL’s only undefeated team, completing an NFL-best 70% of his passes (among qualifiers that don’t include Tom Brady). And knock on wood: The former No. 1 overall pick whose career was derailed twice by torn ACLs with the Rams, has remained healthy. Funny, how things can happen. If Teddy Bridgewater doesn’t suffer a gruesome knee injury during the preseason, Bradford is never traded from Philadelphia to the Vikings (5-0) and Carson Wentz may not be a rookie of the year candidate. Bradford, so miffed when Wentz was picked that he demanded a trade and skipped a few days of offseason work, is the central figure in several reunions this weekend. Others include Jack Del Rio takes his Oakland Raiders to Jacksonville, where he had his first head coaching gig; Hue Jackson searches for his first win as Cleveland Browns coach at Cincinnati, where was offensive coordinator the past two years; and Brock Osweiler, the new Houston Texans quarterback, goes back to Denver, where he had an imprint on a Super Bowl title run by filling in for an injured Peyton Manning.
Key matchup: Brian Orakpo vs. Anthony Castonzo. Andrew Luck has been sacked (23 times), hit (47) and pressured (36% of passes) more than any quarterback in the NFL. Now he leads the Colts into Tennessee, where Dick LeBeau has a defense that has been crushing quarterbacks lately, with 12 sacks the past two games. Orakpo is the ringleader, with his seven sacks ranked third in the NFL. Castonzo, meanwhile, is the blindside protector who has the type of struggles – like in the waning moments at Houston on Sunday night – that prompt questions about his confidence level. He’ll need help against Orakpo, whose prowess as a pass-rusher can be as damaging with power plays as with speed moves.
Next man up: Geno Smith. With Ryan Fitzpatrick heaving an NFL-high 11 interceptions for the floundering New York Jets (1-5), the door was opened for Smith to finally seize the starting role that he lost last year when he suffered a broken jaw from a sucker punch by then-teammate IK Enemkpali in the locker room. So he’s got the job back that he won in a competition against Fitzpatrick before the crazy stuff of last year. Yet the circumstances under which Smith takes the reins for Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens are hardly ideal. The Jets have lost four in a row, and are scoring an NFL-low 15.8 points per game. Key target Eric Decker is lost for the season. Matt Forte, riddled by poor blocking, is averaging a career-low 3.5 yards per carry as the rushing attack has tanked. Amid all of that, Smith gets to show whether has progressed from the inconstant thrower who has averaged a career completion rate of just 57.9%.
Rookie watch: Hunter Henry. Since Week 3, with a heavier load as Antonio Gates nursed a hamstring injury, the second-round tight end from Arkansas has been San Diego’s leading receiver. It’s been that type of year for the Chargers, who have encountered a slew of injuries to go with their rash close losses. Henry, though, heads into Sunday’s game at Atlanta as a representative of what may be San Diego’s best draft class under GM Tom Telesco, with first-round pick Joey Bosa finally making an impact and fifth-round linebacker Jatavis Brown filling in for the injured Manti T’eo. And sixth-round punter Drew Kasar, who flubbed the hold on a potential game-tying field goal at Oakland, bounced back last week to earn AFC special teams player of the week honors.
If the playoffs were today … The Buffalo Bills would claim the AFC’s last wild-card slot to end the NFL’s longest playoff drought … and the longest non-playoff streak of any team in the four major pro sports. Buffalo (4-2), heading into Sunday’s game at Miami with a four-game winning streak, hasn’t advanced to the playoffs since 1999. This season is still early, but it took on a new persona for the Bills in Week 3 after Anthony Lynn was promoted to offensive coordinator to replace the fired Greg Roman. After the Bills averaged 75.5 rushing yards and 19 points per game during the first two weeks, Lynn has pushed the right buttons to get the running game to become the new identity. Buffalo has rushed for an average of 211.8 yards and scored 31 points per game.
Stomach for an upset: Seattle Seahawks at Arizona Cardinals. After a 1-3 start, Bruce Arians’ team has climbed back to .500 but is still desperate. A victory at home Sunday night would close Seattle’s lead in the NFC West to one game. Perhaps that’s why Arizona is favored by 1½ points. Then again, a Seattle win would be only a mild upset. The Seahawks have won three straight in Arizona, and return with their offense hitting its stride after sputtering the first two games. Carson Palmer had a nice bounce-back game on Monday night, but the Seahawks D is nothing like the unit the Jets came to town with.
Did you notice? The post-suspension rhythm of Tom Brady (76% completion rate, 782 yards, six TDs) has surely helped James White, the third-down back who has logged 19 more snaps than power back LeGarette Blount in the two games since the star quarterback returned and the Patriots opened up the offense. White, also known as “Sweet Feet,” has 12 receptions for 110 yards and two TDs, with 12 rushes, the past two weeks. That compares to 13 catches, 12 rushes the first four games, when Blount pounded away to rank among NFL rushing leaders.
Stat’s the fact: Terrelle Pryor, an undeniable bright spot in Cleveland’s winless season, has moved into Kordell Stewart’s neighborhood. With 23 receiving yards, the converted quarterback will become only the second player since the 1970 merger to amass at least 500 yards passing, 500 rushing and 500 receiving. Stewart the first, playing the role of “Slash” for the Steelers during the 1990s.