Quick - does anyone by chance have the tape of the Steelers’ Week 3 game vs. the Eagles?
Wait, does anyone have tapes anymore period?
The point is, everyone with a rooting interest in the Jets’ success needs to find video of that game and study it like the Warren Commission studied the Zapruder film. We need to find out exactly how Philly somehow demolished Pittsburgh two weeks ago -- how a team led by rookies at QB and feature back rang up 34 vs. the Steelers D while the Eagles yielded but a measly lone field goal to Big Ben & Co.
Was it another case of Spygate or Deflategate or some other gate? Did Philly put something funny in the Steelers’ Gatorade (Gatorgate)?
Whatever it was, the Steelers have looked like world-beaters against everyone else -- outscoring their three other opponents by nearly 20 points a game -- while they were a lukewarm mess vs. the Eagles.
If the Jets are going to have any shot of beating Pittsburgh at Heinz Field on Sunday for a much-needed second W of the season, they need to do everything Philly did -- and then some.
Alas, the Steelers are a much different team than they were just two weeks ago, because now they have Le’Veon Bell. Bell, who missed the first three games of the season on suspension after missing a mandated drug test, is among the very best running backs in football when he’s healthy and his head is on straight. No one else is as dangerous both as a runner and pass-catcher. He joins Ben Roethlisberger, who is playing as well as any QB in the world in his 13th NFL campaign, and phenomenal WR Antonio Brown to form football’s most formidable 1-2-3 punch.
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Pittsburgh’s D has also been excellent -- again, with the exception of the Eagles game. That day, QB Carson Wentz, in his third game as a pro, shredded the Steelers like, well, like he was Roethlisberger.
Wentz, who was at North Dakota State this time last year, has yet to throw an interception through his four-game career. Meanwhile, Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who this time last year was carrying the Jets to a 10-win campaign, has tossed 10 picks so far this season. 10. 10. Did someone say 10?
In short, Fitz needs to play like Wentz on Sunday, while the Jets’ defensive front needs to get after Big Ben (who basically needs to play like Fitz) early and often. It would also help if Gang Green's DBs can stay within the same area code as Brown and his fellow receivers.
It won’t be easy. It may not even be possible. But it’s what the visitors have to do to avoid a 1-4 start that’s gonna push playoff hopes well beyond the back-burner.
