The Pittsburgh Steelers return back to the friendly confines of Acrisure Stadium to host the Jacksonville Jaguars in the final weekend of October. After coming away from their west coast trip with a resounding victory, the Steelers are looking to ride the momentum and log their fifth win of the season. Meanwhile, the Jaguars sit atop the AFC South division and have rattled off four consecutive wins. Jacksonville has been a quietly impressive team thus far in the young 2023 season and are looking for their third win in a row in Pittsburgh. However, the Steelers are seeming to get their act together and could be igniting a hot streak of their own. With respective divisional first place positions on the line this week, let’s get into the details.
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Steelers Mike Tomlin and Jaguars Doug Pederson meet before their 2022 preseason game.
Record History Between The Steelers And Jaguars
Since this series began in 1995, the Jaguars hold a slim lead over the Steelers in the form of a 14-13 record. Under Head Coach Mike Tomlin, the Jaguars are 5-4, with all four of those wins coming in Pittsburgh. The Jaguars have only lost once to Tomlin’s Steelers in Pittsburgh and that was in 2011. But with that said, since the Jaguars handed Tomlin his first career playoff loss in January, 2008, the Steelers are 5-2 and have outscored Jacksonville 158-134 in that span. In the month of October, the Steelers are 6-4 against the Jaguars.
How To Watch The Steelers Vs. Jaguars
Courtesy of 506 Sports, below is the full coverage map for the early slate of games this week. This week’s action will be aired on CBS Sports and will be shown on the local CBS affiliate channels in the red territory. Lucky enough for Steelers fans across the country, as the game will be shown in the majority of households early on Sunday.
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The Steelers versus Jaguars (RED) will be shown across the country in Week 8 on CBS.
Calling the game will be Ian Eagle and Charles Davis. So far in the 2023 season, good things happen to the Steelers when Eagle and Davis call the game. The Steelers have a 4-2 record since 2021 when the duo leads the broadcast for the matchup. The last time the Steelers lost in Pittsburgh with Eagle and Davis calling the action was in Week 2 of the 2021 season, where the Steelers lost to the Las Vegas Raiders.
Referee Assignment For This Week
Officiating this week’s game will be a new face and crew to Pittsburgh. Alan Eck will be making his head officiating debut at Acrisure Stadium after getting promoted earlier in the offseason. Eck is a Pennsylvania native, as he was born in Williamsport and played collegiate football at Bloomsburg University, where he holds the record for most completions thrown in a single season by a quarterback.
So far in 2023, Eck’s crew has had a close eye on offensive holding. Through the six games they’ve officiated this season, they’ve called 15 offensive holding penalties for a total of 147 yards. Their second-highest penalty yardage charged has been defensive pass interference. Eck’s crew has made six defensive pass interference calls for a total of 110 yards. However, an important note to make is that of those six penalties called, five of them came against the visiting team. Further, they’ve charged the visiting teams with unnecessary roughness penalties five times, whereas only once for home teams in 2023.
Steelers: What To Watch For
Throughout this week’s preparation, there has been a lot of talk between the Steelers receiving corps and the Jaguars secondary. Diontae Johnson was welcomed back into the fold last week and was a huge asset for Kenny Pickett. George Pickens presented his analysis earlier this week of the Jaguars defense being dependent on “hope”. Meanwhile, safeties Andre Cisco and Rayshawn Jenkins heard Pickens’ remarks and are looking to address them in their matchup. In addition, the cornerback duo of Tyson Campbell and Darius Williams have been playing sneaky-good as of late and will be looking to shut down the Steelers passing attack.
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Diontae Johnson (#18) makes a move against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2022 preseason.
On defense, the Steelers have had to experiment with new names on the depth chart within the secondary. Levi Wallace (foot), Joey Porter Jr. (calf), and James Pierre (ankle) all carry “questionable” designations into this week’s game. In turn, the Steelers welcomed rookie Darius Rush and Luq Barcoo who found themselves taking first-team reps in practice and may find themselves on the front lines on Sunday afternoon. To help alleviate the pressure on the unsettled group, T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, and the defensive front will need to force themselves into the backfield to keep Trevor Lawrence as uncomfortable as possible.
Jaguars: What To Watch For
The Jaguars offense brings a lot to the table this week against a depleted Steelers secondary. Running back Travis Etienne has proven to be an effective running mate with Lawrence and is as much as a weapon in the passing game as he is in the running game. Etienne currently sits at fourth place in the NFL in total rushing yards on the season with 504 yards. In addition to that, he has also racked up 196 yards receiving and is averaging about four targets per game.
Led by Lawrence, the Jacksonville air attack has been quietly impressive so far this season. Receivers Christian Kirk and Calvin Ridley have been effective in using their speed and have been reliable targets for Lawrence. Inside, tight end Evan Engram has been a matchup nightmare for defenses in the middle of the field. With the Steelers playing musical chairs this week in the secondary with new names and faces, there is going to be a lot to figure out for the Steelers defense to help address Kirk, Ridley, and Engram.
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Jaguars Trevor Lawrence (#16) makes a handoff against the Steelers in 2022.
Key Matchup to Watch
Although it may seem obvious to say Watt is the difference maker this week, the numbers supporting Watt on defense have been relatively quiet as of late. Leading up to the bye week, teams have found ways to neutralize Watt’s impact on defense and in turn, have been able to move the ball against the Steelers. As a result, Defensive Coordinator Teryl Austin has been devising a plan to deploy Watt in different areas of the field. Fans may have seen the Cleveland Browns Myles Garrett or the Dallas Cowboys Micah Parsons line up in different gaps along the defensive front in recent weeks. It is that scheme that may be the difference maker this week against the Jaguars.
Don’t be perplexed; Watt is playing at an incredibly high level in 2023. But with that said, he’s only managed seven tackles in the last five games and has only logged two sacks in his last three games. Earlier this week, Austin revealed plans to move Watt around the defensive formation, and even provided a taste of that against the Los Angeles Rams.
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T.J. Watt walks off the field at Sofi Stadium after defeating the Los Angeles Rams.
That movement of Watt off the line resulted in a momentous interception and led to the Steelers first touchdown of the game. While the Jaguars offensive front hasn’t been necessarily awful in 2023, they’ve given up 16 sacks to opposing defenses. Therefore, the linebacker rotation of Watt, Highsmith, Markus Golden, and Nick Herbig should be an intriguing game of chess to watch against offensive mastermind Head Coach Doug Pederson.
Current Odds
Earlier in the week, the Steelers were listed as three-point underdogs. But as we’ve been inching closer to kickoff, that line has moved to a mere 1.5-point spread in favor of the Jaguars. In addition, the point total sits at a lowly 41 points. Although Jacksonville has scored over 30 points in their last two games, oddsmakers see this being lower scoring than what others may think. Between the point total and spread, oddsmakers envision this game being a 21-19 Jaguars victory.
Final Score Prediction
It is hard to bet against Tomlin as a home underdog. He has his team on the clear upswing after their bye week and the offense is finally starting to flip the script of their season. It is going to take a lot for the defense to but a lid on the Jaguars offensive attack, but if the offense does their part in controlling possession of the football, they will emerge with a win. It will take another splash play by the defense, but it can be done. Prediction, Steelers 24, Jaguars 20.
What are you watching for this week? What do you think the final outcome will be? Let us know in the comments below!
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