Pittsburgh dominated the Baltimore offense in the 2nd half with three turnovers and five sacks but it all started with the pressure in Joe Flacco's face. Take for instance the Ray Rice fumble that began the Steeler comeback, that would not have been possible were it not for James Harrison sacking Flacco and pressuring the Ravens into an obvious passing down. Then the pressure in Flacco's face causing the errant throw for an interception and the botched snap which we'll never know whose fault it was but either Flacco was too busy watching James Harrison or if Matt Birk was but know that the constant pressure in the second half is what caused the Steeler win.
The theme of the quarterback must go down, and the quarterback must go down hard was not lost on the New York Jets' defense either as they were in Tom Brady's face all night. The first interception by Tom Brady since Week 6 was caused by Calvin Pace in his face forcing Brady to lob the ball and overthrow BenJarvus Green-Ellis. Sean Ellis provided the pressure on Brady all night after being embarrassed in their previous meeting and what was most surprising is that the Jets weren't doing their usual exotic blitz schemes for their pressure, they were getting pressure with only 3 and 4 down linemen. Let's also give credit to the fantastic coverage by the Jets secondary forcing Brady to do something he rarely ever does, throw the ball away. Darrelle Revis is truly one of the best, if not the best, cornerback in the game; Antonio Cromartie isn't too shabby either. Brady, like any quarterback, doesn't get most confused with elaborate coverage schemes, its hitting the turf throughout the game that caused him to look a little uncomfortable in the game. Impressive that the Jets beat Peyton Manning and Tom Brady in back to back games and it all started with their defense.
Not much needs to be said about the other two games this weekend considering they were both blowouts but we saw the same theme. Mike Turner, a top 5 running back, was stuffed for less than 40 yards and Marshawn Lynch who went all beast mode last week got 4 carries all game. That's ridiculous for these two running backs to get shut down. Both Matts, Ryan and Hasselback, had hands in their face all game and tasted the sweet taste of turf in the game. The only difference? Ryan was having his artificial with rubber on the side and Hasselback was enjoying a cold turf aged for ripeness over heated coils.
We saw why pressure is so essential to pro game this weekend. Its what caused a quarterback to throw a pick when going 339 attempts without doing so and a running back to fumble after touching the ball over 400 times without doing so. Its why GMs will pay Julius Peppers a ludicrous amount of money, although he did embarrass rookie Russel Okung, and draft 4 defensive linemen in the same draft. Its because every team likes to see the opposing quarterback taste the sweet, sweet turf.
AP Photo/ Charles Krupa
No comments:
Post a Comment