Steelers Team Headlines: Stopping Ajayi Is Key To A Steelers' Win
By Danny Cox
In the middle of October, the Miami Dolphins welcomed the Pittsburgh Steelers into south Florida and sent them home with a 30-15 loss. This was the game in which Ben Roethlisberger suffered a knee injury and was forced to miss a couple of weeks. Despite his injury, he stayed in the game and limped the Steelers to a crushing loss.
Big Ben's injury wasn't the only reason that the Steelers ended up losing the game—the biggest problem came from the defensive side of the football. In the Wild Card round of the playoffs, Pittsburgh will need to correct their mistakes against the Dolphins offense while also taking a new quarterback very seriously.
Steelers must put the brakes on running back Jay Ajayi
In the game earlier this season, a lot of factors contributed to the Steelers' loss by more than two touchdowns. Perhaps the biggest reason was running back Jay Ajayi, who ran wild for 204 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries. It was his first of three 200-yard rushing games on the season for Ajayi, which saw him surpass 1,200 total as the Dolphins' featured back.
Ajayi is a very strong runner, but he is also agile with the ability to shed tackles and plow right over defenders when the opportunity strikes. Steelers defensive end Stephon Tuitt said it best when he presented the team's plan for Ajayi this weekend: "Wrap up and rally."
In the 2016 season, Jay Ajayi broke 58 tackles -- he simply knows how to get away from defenders -- whether by brute strength or by his unexpected speed. Pittsburgh may have been without a number of starting defensive players when they lost to the Dolphins earlier this season, but those on the field simply could not stop the Miami running back.
For the Steelers to continue their quest toward the Super Bowl, they must stop Jay Ajayi in the backfield or at first contact.
Matt Moore may be a back-up, but the Steelers are preparing very seriously for him
Ryan Tannehill has missed the last few weeks due to MCL and ACL sprains suffered against the Arizona Cardinals in mid-December. Since then, the Dolphins have gone 3-1 with their only loss coming at the hands of the New England Patriots in the season finale. Tannehill has been improving, but Matt Moore is still scheduled to start in the opening round of the playoffs, and the Steelers should still see him as a very viable threat.
Pittsburgh has been preparing all week for this QB scenario as they knew the Dolphins were likely to start Moore rather than risk further injury to Tannehill by rushing his return to the field preemptively. Despite his status as a back-up, the Steelers aren't treating Moore as any less dangerous than any other quarterback in this year's playoffs. Linebacker Bud Dupree knows that the Steelers have to "make sure we contain him," and not allow Moore to get out of the pocket.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is not underestimating Moore, either.
"Moore is a savvy veteran. He's one of those backups that you really are concerned about because their experience belies their position," Tomlin said. "We've seen other guys like that in the past. But you also have to acknowledge that [coordinator] Clyde Christensen and company over there -- they do a great job of schematically aiding the quarterback position in terms of protecting it."
If Pittsburgh is going to win this game and advance in the playoffs, they will need to contain a Miami Dolphins team that has a lot of explosive and dangerous weapons.