Click here to see all recaps on a single page
| Other Week 18 Game Recaps | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JAX at PIT | NYG at TB | TEN at SD | WAS at SEA | ||||
Week 18 Game Recap: Jacksonville Jaguars 31, Pittsburgh Steelers 29
What you need to know
| Jacksonville Jaguars |
QB David Garrard did not have much success on the night. He threw two interceptions while under heavy pressure. He ended up getting the job done on the drive that counted though, converting a key fourth down and two with a 32 yard run that sealed the deal by getting Josh Scobee into comfortable field goal range.
RB Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew split time at running back. Jones-Drew had a 96 yard kickoff return which led to a Fred Taylor touchdown to answer Pittsburgh's first touchdown. Both players had big roles in other parts of the game but neither running back had much success rushing the football.
WR Ernest Wilford and Reggie Williams led the Jaguars at the wide receiver position. They were only targeted six times though. Garrard only threw the ball 21 times on the night.
| Pittsburgh Steelers |
QB Ben Roethlisberger could not get much going in the first three quarters as the team got into a hole, but ended the game on a hot streak that brought the Steelers back from an 18 point deficit, but that ended up not being enough.
RB Najeh Davenport carried the load at running back with Willie Parker injured. He failed to have any success against the tough run defense of Jacksonville. It seemed clear that the interior line of Jacksonville won the battles against the Steelers in running situations.
WR Santonio Holmes caught a 37 yard touchdown, breaking a couple of tackles along the way. Hines Ward trash talked with the Jacksonville secondary all night, and seemed to get the better of them throughout the game. He caught a two point conversion in the fourth that would have made it 25-28 and brought the Steelers within three, but there was a holding penalty which ended up costing them the two points. Heath Miller proved to be a reliable target for Roethlisberger throughout the second half, catching several key passes including a touchdown.
What you ought to know
| QB David Garrard, Pass: 9 - 21 - 140 - 1 TD / 2 INT, Rush: 5 - 58 - 0 |
Garrard struggled on the night, completing only nine of his 21 passes for 140 yards -- including two interceptions. He did have a touchdown pass to Maurice Jones-Drew. He also was able to orchestrate the game winning drive, which included an impressive 32 yard scramble on fourth and two. Pittsburgh sacked Garrard four times and pressured him often.
| RB Fred Taylor, Rush: 16 - 48 - 1, Rec: 1 - 2 - 0 (1 targets) |
Fred Taylor rushed for only 48 yards on 16 carries. He did manage to get a rushing touchdown, but there was not much to be had against the stingy Steelers rush defense. He often turned nothing into something; however there just was not much to be had.
| RB Maurice Jones-Drew, Rush: 8 - 29 - 1, Rec: 1 - 43 - 1 (3 targets) |
Jones-Drew showed his value to the team Saturday night. He was effective in the run, pass, and kick return portions of the game. He blocked extremely well. He returned his first and only kickoff 96 yards to the Pittsburgh two. He caught a 43 yard touchdown pass tiptoeing down the sideline. He also ran for a touchdown. He only ran for 29 yards on eight attempts, though.
| RB Greg Jones (2 targets) |
Jones was the fullback on the night, and ended up dropping one of the passes thrown his way which would have been for a big gain on second and long.
| WR Reggie Williams, Rec: 2 - 23 - 0 (3 targets) |
Williams caught two of the three balls thrown his way. He gained 23 yards on the night, including a key second and long eight yard catch on the game winning drive.
| WR Ernest Wilford, Rec: 2 - 39 - 0 (3 targets) |
Wilford was able to bring in two of the three balls thrown to him successfully. The third was a long pass where Wilford dove for the ball but the tip found the ground before he was able to secure it.
| WR Dennis Northcutt, Rec: 1 - 17 - 0 (3 targets) |
Northcutt was targeted three times on the night, catching one of them for 17 yards. One of the other passes was intercepted. He also served as the punt returner and had a nice 16 yard return before Jacksonville's game winning drive.
| TE Marcedes Lewis, Rec: 2 - 16 - 0 (5 targets) |
Lewis was targeted five times and caught two passes.
| TE Richard Angulo (1 targets) |
Angulo was unable to catch the only ball he was thrown in his backup tight end role.
| PK Josh Scobee 1 - 2 FG, 4 - 4 XP, 7 points |
Scobee missed a 46 yard field goal in the second quarter, he kicked it well but it was just never on line. He overcame that though by making a 25 yard game winner in the final minute of the game.
| JAX Rush Defense |
Jacksonville completely shut down the Pittsburgh rushing attack. They only allowed 30 yards on 22 carries. They did allow a couple of short touchdown runs to Najeh Davenport, but for the most part they were absolutely dominant.
| JAX Pass Defense |
The Jacksonville pass defense did a solid job against a potent passing offense. They intercepted Ben Roethlisberger three times, including a 63 yard return for a touchdown by Rashean Mathis. They sacked Roethlisberger six times, but ended up allowing 337 passing yards.
| QB Ben Roethlisberger, Pass: 29 - 42 - 337 - 2 TD / 3 INT, Rush: 4 - 13 - 0 |
Roethlisberger threw the ball early and often as the Steelers could not get anything going in the run game. He threw the ball 42 times for 337 yards, two touchdowns, but also threw three interceptions. He seemed to do things assuming the Jacksonville defense would react. Many of the times he was right, but the other times he threw into trouble and it was very costly.
| RB Najeh Davenport, Rush: 16 - 25 - 2, Rec: 2 - 23 - 0 (4 targets) |
Davenport could not get much going on the night. He tried to run directly at the strength of the Jaguars' defense, and only gained 25 yards on 16 carries. He did however score two touchdowns on short runs.
| RB Carey Davis, Rush: 3 - 3 - 0, Rec: 2 - 14 - 0 (4 targets) |
Davis played a combination of running back and fullback on the night. He dropped a pass at the 1 yard line but the Steelers still scored a touchdown on the drive.
| WR Hines Ward, Rec: 10 - 135 - 0 (14 targets) |
Ward was all over the field all night. Roethlisberger threw the ball to him 15 of the 46 times he threw the ball, and Ward earned it by catching ten balls for 135 yards. He made a great catch in the back of the end zone on a two point attempt but it was called off due to offensive holding. Ward was in the right place all night, and at one time a pass that went off of Heath Miller's hands came right to Ward who took it for a 33 yard gain.
| WR Santonio Holmes, Rec: 3 - 49 - 1 (7 targets) |
Holmes caught three balls for 49 yards and a touchdown. He was generally targeted on the deeper routes and was well covered. On his touchdown catch, Holmes broke two tackles after his catch and basically walked into the end zone.
| WR Nate Washington, Rec: 1 - 8 - 0 (4 targets) |
Washington was only able to catch one of the four balls thrown his way. He was targeted on a fade route on a two point conversion attempt that was not thrown very well.
| WR Cedrick Wilson, Rec: 1 - 10 - 0 (1 targets) |
Wilson caught the only ball thrown his way for a ten yard gain.
| TE Heath Miller, Rec: 8 - 85 - 1 (9 targets) |
Miller caught eight balls thrown his way for 85 yards and a touchdown. He was very reliable and often able to make the first defender miss. That being said, his routes were generally short and his longest gain on the night was 16 yards. The ball Miller did not catch went off of the end of his hands and was caught by Hines Ward for a 33 yard gain.
| PK Jeff Reed 1 - 1 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 5 points |
Reed made his only field goal attempt, which came from 28 yards away.
| PIT Rush Defense |
The Pittsburgh run defense was extremely solid, holding Jacksonville running backs to 77 yards on 24 attempts. They stopped the Jaguars from being able to run the clock out and gave the offense the opportunity to make their comeback. They did however, give up a long run to David Garrard on a designed draw on fourth down and two.
| PIT Pass Defense |
Pittsburgh's secondary did a great job against Garrard, holding him to nine completions on 21 attempts and forcing two interceptions.
