Pittsburgh Steelers vs Jacksonville Jaguars

23rd regular-season meeting.

A pair of picks sixes in the third quarter sparked the Jaguars’ 30-9 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field Sunday.

Their four defensive touchdowns so far are tied for the most in the league through five games of a season, dating back to the 2000 season. Pittsburgh has played well in stopping opposing pass attacks (second-best mark in the league), an area where the Jaguars have struggled. If Lee can’t go against the Steelers, Arrelious Benn will likely start in his place and Max McCaffrey is expected to see some snaps for the first time this year.

Jacksonville doesn’t generally follow bad games with good; it has covered just 19 times in the last 65 games after allowing more than 350 yards in its previous contest.

Jacksonville ended the game with 18 consecutive running plays, milking clock and grinding away with Leonard Fournette, who had 181 rushing yards and two touchdowns, including a 90-yard burst in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.

The Steelers are getting plenty of points in this one – and past history between these teams suggests that might favor the Jaguars. They ran the ball 37 times, compared with 14 pass attempts by Blake Bortles.

With his first game of multiple pick-sixes since 2006 against the Oakland Raiders, Roethlisberger hasn’t quite looked like himself since early 2016. He has posted a quarterback rating above 87 once this season and has not thrown for more than 250 yards yet.

The Steelers first priority, unquestionably, is to shut Fournette down.

After a slow start to the season, Pittsburgh RB Le’Veon Bell bounced back in a big way against Baltimore in Week 4.

Following the Fournette run, the Jaguars were in the red zone. He shredded Baltimore for 144 yards on the ground that included two scores, and added another 42 receiving yards. They would have an increased role on offense against the Steelers if Lee can’t play. Thus, the Steelers will have to look elsewhere in general-to the run game-for its offense to thrive this week, and potentially to other receivers, when Roethlisberger is throwing the ball. Two plays in particular stood out. Even more impressively: Carolina has just two combined flags in its previous two games. The Jaguars (2-2) signed Nassib after Week 2, reuniting him with his college coach Doug Marrone and former New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin. While Fowler isn’t considered a starter, he continues to get as much time as starter Yannick Ngakoue.