Thursday Edition
October 11th, 2012
Thursdays
Take
Starts
There’s little reason to buy into this
logic considering what we have seen from Chris Johnson thus far this season,
but if there were any better time to start the Titan’s running back tonight
could be that time. The Steelers run defense has been far from formidable this
season, even with seeing the leagues’ 8th fewest attempts per game.
The Steelers allow more than 4 yards per carry and with a couple of big holes in
the D due to injury (Polamalu, Woodley OUT) Johnson could find some running
room. I wouldn’t expect a big effort tonight, but we could see one of his
better efforts of the young season; 80 plus yards with a score.
The word out of the Titan’s camp after
last week’s disappointing loss to the Vikings was to try and get the ball more
to their tight end Jared Cook. Against the Vikings, Cook was often roaming the
secondary wide open, but a rusty Hasselbeck neglected to look his direction. We’re
expecting that to change and Cook is a very capable receiving option in the
passing game.
The Steelers running back Rashard
Mendenhall returned to action last week with a strong 2012 debut (101 total
yards and a touchdown) and fantasy owners could not ask for a better second
game matchup than the Titans. Mendenhall will square off against the leagues 28th
ranked run defense (144 yards/game) that has allowed 6 rushing touchdowns in
five games. Even if Mendenhall splits time in the backfield, expect a very
productive showing.
Big Ben is coming off a quiet week
five performance against a stout Eagles defense, but this Thursday he faces a
less than stellar secondary in the Titan’s 25th ranked pass defense.
Big Ben will line up under center and face a defense that has allowed 12
passing touchdowns and 279 yards per game in the air. The Titans struggle to
bring pressure, if you give Big Ben time he can do a lot of damage; expect to
see Roethlisberger looking downfield often.
Sits
Matt Hasselbeck will get
the start tonight, but he’s got a monumental task in front of him facing the
leagues 3rd rank pass defense. Hasselbeck is not the same passer of
old as his 3-touchdowns-to-3-interceptions and 73.6 passer rating would
indicate. While the Steelers have been able to limit their opponents to less
than 200 yards per game, they will need to improve their 8-1,
touchdown-interception ratio; tonight is a good place to start.
I can’t imagine anyone
starting the Titan’s defense in any week and tonight’s matchup is no exception.
The Steelers will use the ground game to open up the pass and with plenty of
weapons with the likes of Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown, this could be a big
night for the Pennsylvania faithful.
By David Ortega
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