Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Tennessee Titans: Keys to Victory

The Pittsburgh Steelers will look to rebound from a dud of a performance against the New York Jets by taking on the Tennessee Titans on Monday Night Football. With the extra day of practice and preparation, not to mention extra time to chew on the disappointing loss, the Steelers should have all the motivation they need to come out strong against the 2-7 Titans, we hope. To ensure victory and get back on track there are a few things the Steelers will need to make sure they either do or take advantage of on Monday night against Tennessee.

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Go after Mettenberger

The Steelers started off the game last week by deferring the kickoff and then proceeding to allow Michael Vick and the Jets march down the field for an opening drive score. Zach Mettenberger is a much easier target in the pocket than Vick so it should be a no-brainer for Dick LeBeau and the defense to blitz him till the cow’s home on Monday night. The Titans are second to last in the league in total offense so this could potentially be just what the doctor ordered for the Steelers defense, who actually ended up rather strong against the Jets but definitely need to start the game off strong this time around. Daniel McCullers is getting his first NFL start of his career for the Steelers at nose tackle, and the Titans’ offensive line is quite possibly their biggest weakness. Those two things together should allow the outside linebackers like Jason Worilds and James Harrison all the time they need to get to Mettenberger.

Don’t get cute

The Steelers played the Jets different than they played the Colts and Ravens before them, possibly because you naturally have to have a different game plan for a different team but also quite possibly because you can’t help but not respect an “inferior” opponent as much as you’d give respect to a team that has the potential to beat you. Mike Tomlin is known for a saying of him “not living in his fears” so now is not the time to be afraid to be aggressive from the opening kickoff. It’s not the time to feel anyone out or try and see what works. They have two games of Ben Roethlisberger putting up almost 900 yards of offense and twelve touchdowns to know what can work to get the team in the endzone right away. It is important to be balanced and run the ball effectively as well as pass the ball but if the ball goes horizontal instead of vertical, you’re not balanced at all. This is a team the Steelers can and should beat, step on their throats right away and don’t let up till there’s no more time left on the clock.

Protect the damn football

This should also be a no-brainer. Who would have thought that Antonio Brown would have fumbled twice after he’s been literally on fire since the start of the season? How he and Ben Roethlisberger can bounce back from those horrible mistakes made last week can set the tone for the remainder of the team. Don’t turn the ball over and no one will complain about how the team can’t beat bad teams anymore.

With these keys to victory the Steelers should be heading into their bye week in second place in the division and feeling good about the remainder of the schedule.

Here we go Steelers! Here we go!