Week 5 Breakdown

AFC Central Renewed



The Steelers (2-2) will try to end their struggles in the friendly confines of Heinz Field against the upstart Titans (3-1) The Steelers run defense took another huge hit last week against the Texans as the banged up Texans piled up over 150 yards on the ground while only giving up 138 through the air.

The Steelers have played against the Titans since the days of the Houston Oilers back in 1970. When the AFL/NFL merged in 1970 these two teams became AFC Central rivals till the re-alignment in 2002. In their 73 meetings the Steelers hold a large advantage 43 to 30; When the game is played in Pittsburgh the Steelers hold an even larger margin winning 25 and only losing 10 times. The last meeting at Heinz field was a 13-10 overtime win in 2009.

The Steelers took a huge hit this week when they lost a plethora of players to injury and will have to attempt to beat the Titans with young and inexperienced players. The Steelers have shocked fans with their poor run defense and great pass defense and this game has the chance to help the Steelers get back to their ways. They will need to shut down the upstart Hasselbeck and ever so talented Chris Johnson to do that.

TITANS SEASON STATS:
Matt Hasselbeck- 88 of 132 1,152 yards 8 touchdowns 3 interception
*Off to the best start of his career.

Chris Johnson- 69 carries for 199 yards
*Only one hundred yard rushing game this season.

Nate Washington- 23 catches for 320 yards and 1 touchdown
*Will get the bulk of the catches due to Kenny Britt injury.

Defense- The Titans are giving up 299.7 yards per game and 14 points per game with 10 sacks and 5 interceptions; they have forced a total of eight turnovers in their first four games of the season.

INJURY REPORT
Mewelde Moore- out; Cortez Allen- out; Chris Kemoeatu- out; Aaron Smith- out; James Harrison- out; Jason Worilds- out; Casey Hampton- out

FINAL TAKE
As much as I would like to be optimistic about this game, I can't. This is not the same Steelers that we are used to in the past. They are all over payed and have no real heart. I hope that I am wrong about this game but I just don't see the rush defense holding up in this game. Expect the Titans to use a lot of short dump passes to Chris Johnson and use a run heavy rotation of Johnson and Javon Ringer. With all that being said, the nay sayers will be sorry.

STEELERS WIN: 13-10