Two weeks ago after a frustrating loss to the Indianapolis Colts, Pittsburgh Steelers’ veteran safety DeShon Elliott stated that the Steelers needed to be more detailed in their approach to practices throughout the week. That raised eyebrows and generated quite a few talking points about the Mike Tomlin-led team.
Two weeks later, the Steelers rolled to a dominant 32-13 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on the road, winning the turnover battle with a mark of +3, running the ball consistently and even blocking a punt, which led to a field goal. For veteran cornerback Donte Jackson, it was the best week of preparation the Steelers have had this season, which played a key role in them taking care of business on the road in front of a pro-Steelers crowd.
Speaking to reporters after the win, Jackson praised the preparation from the Steelers.
“A hundred percent, man. Come out, played a balanced game. All three phases, came out and played it up to the standard and that’s what happened. And I think that this week, that’s what the week had came for us. You know, we didn’t care about who was up or who was starting their quarterback or who was anything. We just cared about us, and we just hold each other accountable,” Jackson said, according to video via Steelers.com. “And this week was probably our best week of preparation. Really not even really worrying about the opponent, just really so worrying about us and connecting.
“Longer meetings, more talking, more everything. Just to try to get everything that we need to be cleaned up, ’cause we know we can be.”
After saying last week that the defense was “itching” to clean up the communication issues and limit the big plays, Jackson and the Steelers came through on that comment, focusing on it throughout the week, getting back on track and turning in a strong performance.
Though there were some concerns early in the game as the Raiders went down the field on their first drive and scored a touchdown, the Steelers largely dominated after that on the way to forcing three turnovers — including one at the goal line on a T.J. Watt punchout — and blocked a punt, leading to points for the Steelers.
The Steelers allowed just 272 yards of total offense and got off the field as the Raiders were just 2-for-11 on third down. It was a complete performance, one that featured contributions in all three phases.
After back-to-back losses to the Colts and Dallas Cowboys, both of which were rather ugly and concerning, especially for the defense, it was good to see Pittsburgh bounce back on that side of the football and play a complete game.
From the sound of it, based on Jackson’s comments, that came due to a great week of preparation. Hopefully whatever the Steelers did last week during practices and team meetings can be replicated moving forward.
