Rashean Mathis has wasted little time putting himself up there with Eric Metcalf, Carl Pickens, Steve McNair and Tom Brady on the all-time list of Steelers killers.

Even though his team is no longer a divisional opponent, the Jaguars' sixth-year cornerback has emerged as a player who seems to elevate his game when he plays the Steelers.

Consider: In the past four meetings against the Steelers, Mathis has intercepted five passes and returned two for touchdowns.

Two of the picks came on back-to-back possessions in an AFC wild-card playoff game in January at Heinz Field, the first of which was returned 63 yards for a touchdown.

In a 2005 game at Heinz Field, Mathis returned a Tommy Maddox pass 41 yards for a touchdown in overtime for a 23-17 victory -- a game in which he also partially blocked a Chris Gardocki punt to set up a field goal.

But Mathis, who has 22 career interceptions, doesn't just do it to the Steelers. He had a 61-yard interception return for touchdown against Peyton Manning in the Jaguars' victory in Indianapolis two weeks ago.

"He is a standout player," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said.

Despite his presence, the Jaguars continue to have problems in the secondary, ranking 24th in the league against the pass and allowing an average of 225 yards per game. What's more, they allow opposing quarterbacks to compile an average passer rating of 93.1, which is significantly more efficient than the 77.7 rating posted by their own quarterback, David Garrard.

One of the reasons: The Jaguars have difficulty sacking the quarterback. They have only five sacks in four games, 27th in the NFL.

The lack of pressure on the quarterback makes it even more difficult for the secondary to stay with receivers, especially when the Jaguars like to put their cornerbacks at the line of scrimmage in press coverage.

That could pose a problem against wide receiver Santonio Holmes, who is fast enough to beat cornerbacks at the line of scrimmage but suddenly has displayed a new physical mentality that makes it difficult to jam him at the line, too.

"I think my speed is one thing that keeps a lot of guys from jamming me at the line of scrimmage," said Holmes, who had his first touchdown catch of the season, a 38-yarder, in a victory against Baltimore Monday night. "But if they know they have help over the top, those guys will want to get up and press me, no matter if I beat them or not. They just want to disrupt the pass and get in there so maybe the quarterback won't even look to my side."

Thanks to an offseason weight-training program in which he added 12 pounds, Holmes is no longer just a deep threat. He is starting to play with a little of the Hines Ward mentality, running over cornerbacks and throwing big blocks on linebackers.

He did the former on his first catch against the Ravens, lowering his shoulder instead of running out of bounds after a 19-yard catch and knocking safety Haruki Nakamura 3 yards backward. And he did the latter in the third quarter when he knocked linebacker Bart Scott off his feet with a big block on a reverse by Nate Washington.

"It's been coming into play a lot more this year, and that's been noticeable because I worked out more with the weights," Holmes said.