Gerry Dulac's Two-Minute Drill: Game 6 vs. Jacksonville
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Game Ball goes to: RB RASHARD MENDENHALL
After missing last week's game with a hamstring injury, Mendenhall looked as good as new against the Jaguars, rushing for 146 yards on 23 carries -- including 113 in the first half, when the Steelers built a 17-3 lead. He scored on an 8-yard run and had a 68-yard run to the Jaguars 4 to set up a field goal. Mendenhall looked tentative in his first four games and had been averaging just 3 yards per carry. "I've been running the same way for 24 years," Mendenhall said. "You can't change your style in a week. It was the same thing."
X's AND O's
After under-throwing WR Mike Wallace on a deep pass on the first play of the series, Ben Roethlisberger finished off the Steelers' second possession with a 28-yard touchdown pass to Wallace that made it 14-0. Wallace ran a simple up-route through the middle of the Jaguars' zone in which S Dwight Lowery was slow to react from the right side. "The back-side safety bit on the over-route," Roethlisberger said. "I just couldn't wait to get the ball out of my hands because I knew he was going to be open."
THE COUNTDOWNA quick look at the top performances from Sunday's game:
1. QUICK START: For the second game in a row, the offense scored on its first three possessions, staking the Steelers to a 17-0 lead. Unlike what happened against the Tennessee Titans, the offense never produced another point and managed just 55 yards in the second half. "We have to keep our foot on the gas," said Wallace, who didn't have a catch in the second half after catching two for 76 in the first. "We have to keep going with the same intensity we had in the first half."
2. ANOTHER BIG RUN: One week after Jonathan Dwyer didn't score on a 76-yard run, Mendenhall failed to score on a 68-yard run in the second quarter. Worse, after a facemask penalty moved the ball to the Jaguars 2, the Steelers had to settle for a field goal and a 17-0 lead.
3. BAD DECISION: Leading 17-3 in the third quarter, S Ryan Mundy was penalized for roughing P Nick Harris, keeping alive a 17-play, 80-yard drive that ended with a Jaguars TD. "I acknowledge what that does to a defense when you get off and then you have to go back on," coach Mike Tomlin said.
First Published October 17, 2011 12:00 am
