Seattle Seahawks vs. Pittsburgh Steelers – SB40 Rematch
By Todd
What We Will See When The Steelers Have The Ball
A quick look at the stat sheet for the game between the Seahawks and the 49ers reveals a couple of interesting things. First of all, neither of these offenses are very good. Secondly, it would seem that the Seahawks devoted everything to keeping Frank Gore from beating them on the ground. They wanted Alex Smith to try to beat them and frankly, he is not up to that. Of course, one could say they should have been watching out for Ted Ginn, but that is a subject for my 49ers game preview.
Gore had 59 yards on 22 rushes, good for 2.68 yards-per-rush. Alex Smith had only 124 yards on 15 of 20 passes. A 75% completion percentage is excellent, but then again, he didn’t throw that often. Smith didn’t turn the ball over, but didn’t throw any touchdowns, either. He did, however, rush for a touchdown, the only score by the 49ers not made by a guy named Ted Ginn or David Akers.
What, you might ask, is the point of all this talk about how the 49ers performed? Well, the point is that the 49ers’ offense isn’t the Steelers’ offense. It is simply not possible that the Steelers’ offense is as bad as they looked on Sunday. A lot of credit has to be given to the Ravens’ defense, particularly their “big 4” of Lewis, Reed, Suggs, and Ngata. Watch that game again, if you can stomach it, and nearly every big defensive play was made by one of those guys.
The Steelers should be able to give Roethlisberger, who is an infinitely better, more accomplished quarterback than Alex Smith, the time he needs to find all the dangerous weapons he has in his arsenal.
There should be more running room for Mendenhall, and I predict he will gain 100 yards on the ground with a touchdown.
Overall, look for the Steelers’ offense to put a few points up. I’m going to say 24.
What We Will See on Special Teams.
The Steelers’ special teams didn’t give up a return for a touchdown, but they did try. Lardarius Webb took the opening kickoff back 37 yards. Of course, the Ravens didn’t have to rely on special teams with their offense running up and down the field on the defense like the Globetrotters against the Washington Generals. And the Steelers didn’t spend much time in kick and punt coverage. They didn’t score enough to have to kickoff (only two kickoffs for the game). The four punts they attempted were not returned.
The Seahawks didn’t do anything specatular against the 49ers, so there is no reason to think they will do anything against the Steelers. I am, however, prepared to predict that the Steelers will give up a special teams’ touchdown in this game.
W2W4
Watch for the Steelers to look like the Steelers in all areas of the game. The defense will be motivated to stop the Seahawks while the offense will be motivated to score.
Watch for good days out of Mendy (100 yards and a score) and Big Ben (250 yards and 2 touchdowns).
Watch for the Steelers to force at least one turnover while committing none of their own.
Watch for the Seahawks to have one big play on offense for their only offensive touchdown.
Watch for no controversial calls for the game.
Watch for the Seahawks to make it game thanks to a special teams touchdown, but the Steelers take the win, 24-17.