Jaguars vs. Steelers: Highlights, recap and more

The Pittsburgh Steelers welcomed the Jacksonville Jaguars to town for a Divisional Round matchup on Sunday inside Heinz Field.

Coming into the 2017 NFL season, most people figured the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots had a good chance of meeting up in the AFC Championship Game for the second straight season. On Saturday night, the Patriots punched their ticket to the AFC title game by blasting the Tennessee Titans in front of their home crowd. On Sunday, the Steelers had their opportunity to follow suit, but they were in for a much tougher test than the one the Pats faced a day earlier.

The Jacksonville Jaguars came into Pittsburgh after beating the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card Round. While the Jags were able to advance, they looked terrible on offense, and the odds were that they were going to go into Pittsburgh and get shellacked. Well, the Jags came to play, and before you could blink, they were up 21-0 on the road inside Heinz Field.

The 2017 Steelers are one of the best teams in the NFL, so they obviously were not going to go down without a fight. Ben Roethlisberger shredded the Jacksonville defense all game long, keeping his team in the game while his defense had no answer for Blake Bortles and the Jaguars offense. The Jags actually ripped off the most points ever by an away team in Pittsburgh, showing they definitely belong in the conversation of being the best team in the AFC.

Rookie Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette got the scoring going in this one, scoring two first quarter touchdowns. Fellow back T.J. Yeldon ran one in to put the Jags up 21-0, before Big Ben hit Antonio Brown on their first touchdown score of the game. The momentum looked to be swinging the Steelers way, but a 50-yard fumble return for a touchdown put the Jaguars back up by three scores.

Pittsburgh scored before the half, cutting the lead in half, and would be the only team to score in the third quarter when Le’Veon Bell caught a 19-yard touchdown. Fournette would give the Jaguars a 14-point lead with his third score of the game, setting off a fantastic finish inside Heinz Field. The two teams exchanged touchdowns the rest of the way, and the Steelers were able to pull within seven by the two minute warning. However, the Jaguars kicked a field goal to go up ten, pulling off one of the more stunning victories of the playoffs so far.

Jacksonville’s offense matched their defense in this one, and that is a scary thought for the Patriots next weekend.

Highlights

Betting Odds

The Steelers were big home favorites in this one coming in, as they were giving the visiting Jaguars 7.5 points. Jacksonville ended up winning this one outright, and towards the end of the game, it looked like the spread should have went the other way. The over/under was set at 41.0, and the Jaguars ended up eclipsing that mark by themselves. This line will change a lot throughout the week, so head on over to OddsShark.com for any changes up until kickoff.

Three Stars

1. Leonard Fournette, Jacksonville Jaguars

The star rooking running back out of LSU did it all in this one, leading his team to their biggest playoff win since 2008. Fournette rushed for over 100 yards and three scores against a very tough Steelers defense, helping put Pittsburgh away late. If he runs the way he did on Sunday against the Patriots next weekend, the Jaguars could be pulling off another incredible upset.

2. Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers

Big Ben tossed five interceptions when these two teams met up in the regular season, but he was much better on Sunday. Roethlisberger threw for well over 300 yards against the elite Jaguars defense, while finding the end zone four times. He definitely did his part for the Steelers in the Divisional Round, but the Steelers was absolutely atrocious in this one.

3. Telvin Smith, Jacksonville Jaguars

What a huge game for Smith agaisnt the Steelers, as he racked up over 15 tackles on the afternoon. In addition to leading the way in tackles, Smith also had a big fumble recovery for a touchdown in the second quarter, as the Jaguars took back the momentum from the surging Steelers. The linebacker also had double-digit tackles in the Jaguars Wild Card Round win against Buffalo, so he is definitely playing at his best level of the season right now.

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Next Week

The Jaguars will head to Foxboro next weekend, where they will do battle against the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game. Nobody could have seen this matchup coming when the season kicked off back in September, but here we are. The Jaguars played incredibly well on both sides of the ball against Pittsburgh, and will need another herculean effort against New England next weekend.