Hear it? That sound.
That’s the sound of someone immediately scrolling to the comments section to say how horrible and stupid Landry Jones is.
And with that, we’re all in regular season form.
There’s no denying it’s hard to be happy, or even content, with the Pittsburgh Steelers’ first half performance against the Philadelphia Eagles last Thursday. Four interceptions in a half by one Steeler is something that has probably never happened in the modern era.
But exploring the context and there are some legitimately positives you can pull for the game and Jones’ performance.
“That’s one of the things we took from the game,” he told the media today. “It’s not like we didn’t move the ball. It was just strictly a fact of [turnovers].
Jones led the offense on two 10+ play drives. A 14 play, 71 yard drive immediately following Nolan Carroll’s pick six and a ten play, 60 yard drive two series later. Combined, even including the interceptions, Jones went 8/12 and 3/4 on third downs.
“We moved the ball well. It wasn’t like we were having issues moving the ball. It’s just turnovers. That’s it. Take care of the ball and it’s a totally different game.”
Turnovers are always going to be plastered before anything else, as they should, but it doesn’t make us blind to everything else, especially understanding that three interceptions had a ton of other influencing factors that led to the turnovers.
Still, it’s an unenviable place for a quarterback to be and Jones knows he, and his offense, needs to play better against the New Orleans Saints.
“One of those things, next game is coming and you’re only defined by your next performance.”
Jones figures to play most of the game when Ben Roethlisberger gives way – whenever that is – to him. Bruce Gradkowski and Dustin Vaughan won’t be available due to injury and Bryn Renner was just signed. At best, he sees mop up duty late in the fourth quarter. It’ll give Jones another chance to put on some solid tape and feel a bit better as we inch towards the Monday Night opener against Washington.
