Steelers: Is Landry Jones going to start?

On Sunday, the Steelers performed above expectations, and delivered a major upset against a high flying Cardinals team at home. The resurgence of the defense under defensive coordinator Keith Butler played a huge role in the game, consistently applying pressure, and causing key turnovers.

But, it wasn’t until one man entered the game, with the Steelers down 10-6 in the 3rd quarter, that a spark lit in the Steelers offense that we haven’t seen since Roethlisberger went down, and that’s Landry Jones.

Now, let it be known that I am no fan of Landry Jones. In all honesty, I’m a huge Jones skeptic, and throughout the preseason, I was celebrating the fact that we had signed Michael Vick knowing that Jones probably wouldn’t see the field. He proved me, and I’m sure many others wrong this Sunday.

In the entire 1st half, Michael Vick went 3/8 passing, and threw for a whopping 1 yard in net gains, a bit below expectations. On a 3rd quarter scamper, Vick went down after kicking himself in the hamstring, and was taken out of the game. In came Landry Jones, and he put on a clinic.

One thing that was quite evident was his involving Antonio Brown back into the offense. It was clear that Vick was attempting to associate Brown more, but he did poorly at it, and was often throwing it aimlessly and blindly into a horde of Cardinals expecting Brown to catch it.

While Jones didn’t involve Brown greatly, he did hit him on an impressive 23 yard dart that signified possibly more production out of Brown if Jones gets the start.

Other than that, it’s fair to note that Jones went 8/12 on the day, threw for 168 yards, and flung two touchdowns to a possible favorite target of his, Martavis Bryant.

It’s definitely hard to tell anything from two quarters, but if Jones still found a way to bring a struggling Steelers offense to life, and win in his first game of his young career.

With Vick and Roethlisberger both nursing injuries, and Jones’ performance receiving heavy praise from fans, and coaches, head coach Mike Tomlin has announced that they are indeed working Jones into the starting role for this upcoming week against a Chiefs team that is also missing a huge weapon in running back Jamaal Charles.

While the skeptics still loom large around Jones, it’ll be interesting to see how he does if given the first start of his career. It’s definitely a game that Steelers fans will be hoping for a win, and expecting it, especially with the mindset that Roethlisberger could be ready by Week 8 against the Bengals, so a lot of pressure lies on the shoulders of Jones.

Next: Steelers vs Chiefs: Tomlin Tuesday

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