Landry Jones gives Steelers offense new life

Vick, who was evaluated for a hamstring injury, has not played well since taking over for an injured Ben Roethlisberger in Week 3, throwing for less than 300 yards in his past 10 quarters of play, including a 3-of-8 performance for 6 yards in two-plus quarters Sunday. Bryant sat out the first four games for violating the league’s substance abuse policy and missed another one with a minor knee injury.

But after Landry Jones relieved an injured Michael Vick last Sunday and led the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 25-13 victory over the Arizona Cardinals, that is exactly what has probably taken place.

Entering the game in the third quarter, Jones helped Pittsburgh rally from what had been a 10-3 halftime deficit to a rather convincing victory with touchdown passes of 8 and 88 yards to Martavis Bryant.

Jones is big (6-foot-4, 225 pounds), has a strong arm and knows the Pittsburgh offense, something Vick has also struggled with essentially on the fly. “He played pretty hard and I think he only had one mental error, so that part of it should get better”. One of the Cardinals told me in the locker room: “They can, they should, they will – until we shut that up and do something about it”. He did a terrific job staying inbounds on his 8-yard touchdown catch of a Jones pass. He then turned a 5-yard slant pass from Jones into an 88-yard touchdown play with a marvelous effort to secure the win.

-PK Chris Boswell kicked a career-long 51-yard field goal and became the first Steelers kicker since Shaun Suisham in 2013 to go 4-for-4 on field goal attempts in a game.

All four of Bryant’s receptions from Jones either ended with him in the end zone or extended drives that resulted in Chris Boswell field goals that padded Pittsburgh’s advantage. After Vick hit his head on the turf, he was forced out of the game due to a hamstring injury.

They would drive, but it would stall because of a penalty or dropped pass. These mental errors lead to the Steelers being able to win the game.

And although they’ve given up lots of passing yards, that’s partly by design, defensive end Cam Heyward said. He played very well.

“My hat is off to him”, coach Bruce Arians said. The Steelers won the game, 25-13. He’s not completely ruling out being available this Sunday when they take on the Kansas City Chiefs, but there seems to be a good shot that he’ll be sitting out for at least one week to heal.

Carson Palmer threw for 421 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.

“When your number is called you have to go out there and execute the game plan”, Bryant said.

His last game action having come on December. 28, 2014, the 35-year-old who was signed last week said he didn’t feel too bad out on the field. The 190 points through five games were the seventh-most in the history of the NFL.

The Steelers preach a next man up mentality across all positions, and their record without Roethlisberger in recent years shows the players buy into the concept.

“I am disappointed in the loss”, Arians said.

We follow the same standards for taste as the daily newspaper. If you want to be a great defense, we can’t do that. “I thought when the third-string quarterback came in, they would run the ball”.

Beachum is the second starter on the offensive line who is likely out for the season.