Jones gets another look
personnel, Okorafor did not play well against the Jaguars.
“The way the game was going last week, I said stuff I shouldn’t say,” Okorafor said. “Being in year six, I can’t act out the way I was acting out. I don’t know what’s going to happen next week (against Green Bay). I hope I’m back out there with the guys.”
Joey Porter Jr.’s impact
Joey Porter Jr. was given the assignment of following Titans receiver DeAndre Hopkins in many instances after asking Tomlin if he could do so. It showed a lot of faith in a rookie corner making only his second start.
Hopkins was targeted 11 times but had only four catches – none in the second half when the Steelers came back from a 13-10 halftime deficit.
“It’s good that Joey wants an assignment like that, but it has to be good for us,” Tomlin said. “And there were a lot of things that made it advantageous for us.”
Tomlin said the Titans rarely run Derrick Henry or throw screen passes to Hopkins’ side of the field, so Porter didn’t have to worry about trying to tackle the 242-pound Henry or screengame fits.
“There was a young guy with some natural coverage abilities and skills, and some other components of his game are growing and developing,” Tomlin said. “By virtue of traveling with (Hopkins), some of those other things got minimized.”
League-wide woes
The Steelers, who have scored the third-fewest offensive touchdowns in the league ( 11), aren’t alone when it comes to scoring. The entire league is stuck in a scoring drought and has been since 2001. Consider: Through Week 6, there were 245 passing touchdowns and 397 total offensive touchdowns in 186 games played. Just two years ago, there were 321 passing touchdowns and more than 500 total offensive touchdowns after six weeks.
Only one team is averaging more than 30 points per game this season – the Miami Dolphins (31.6) – and 12 are averaging fewer than 20. It has been a slow decline since 2000 when five teams averaged more than 30 points per game, and only four averaged fewer than 20.
Despite having a seasonhigh 166 yards rushing and their second-highest total yards (326) against the Titans, the Steelers rank 28th in rush offense (90.5 yards per game) and 29th in pass offense (205.8 ypg). They are 25th in average yards per rush (3.7) and 28th in completion percentage (60.7).
Defensively, they are 18th in passing yards per game (244.1) and 26th in rushing yards per game (133.1). But they are third in completion percentage (59.6).
Jaylen Warren’s 22-yard run to help set up the winning TD vs. Tennessee was his first of at least 20 yards this season. Najee Harris, meantime, has four, tied for seventh most in the league.
“I thought our running game was big,” Tomlin said. “It was big because it minimized the running game of Henry and minimized their time of possession, things they do in terms of how they construct victories. We played keep away from a guy who’s really good at taking the air out of stadiums and dominating games, particularly in the second half, in the form of Derrick Henry.”