What a difference a week makes. A few folks were breathing a sigh of relief when Michael “the terrible” Vick, the deposed and injured 2nd string quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers was replaced by Landry Jones.
Jones was the latest “relief pitcher” to step in after Ben Roethlisberger suffered a knee injury on September 27, against the St. Louis Rams in St. Louis. The Steelers had been juggling quarterbacks until they found the perfect replacement for Mike “the dreaded” Vick, in the person of the Steelers three year understudy, Landry Jones. After all, Mr. Jones was a three year student of Steelers Offensive Coordinator Todd Haley and unlike Vick he could approach the game from a more “cerebral” perspective based on the fact that he was a “smart quarterback” and could do the small things like audible at the line of scrimmage improvise just based on being in the Steelers system for an extended period of time.
When Mike Vick was ineffective and injured in the Steelers 25-13 victory against the Arizona Cardinals andJones was forced to replace Vick early in the third quarter, the legend of Landry Jones was born. When Jones completed a sort over the middle pass to Martavis Bryant who then took it to the house to preserve the Steelers victory, the legend of Landry Jones was cemented into the lore of the Pittsburgh Steelers, or so we thought.
There was no way that Jones would lose against the putrid 1-5 KC Chiefs even if the game were being played in Kansas City. Why? Here’s why. Mr. Jones had just brought the Steelers back from the abyss of mediocrity to defeat a Cardinals team armed with a smothering defense and a Madden-like, video game scoring, lights out offense. But against the Chiefs the crown of victory Landry Jones wore when he rode into Arrowhead on his proud white stallion shortly before the crack of noon on Sunday was transformed into goat horns and a dusty mule when the Steelers exited Kansas City under the shadow of defeat.
When Jones assessed his performance against the Chefs he said; “I don’t think I played very well just from the initial feeling. I gotta make more plays out there. I can’t turn the ball over. There were so many opportunities to go out there and win that game. I threw two picks, fumbled one. You can’t win when you play like that.” Landry Jones has had three years to prepare, not less than three months. That is why he is and has been the 3rd string quarterback. Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin also addressed turnovers. “They [the Chiefs] got turnovers. We gotta maintain better possession of the ball if we want to have an opportunity to win under these circumstances. And then obviously we gotta get some [turnovers]. When you don’t do either you got a chance to lose.”
No matter if the Steelers win or lose, there will be no quarterback controversy in Pittsburgh because when and if the Steelers starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is sidelined or injured, after his convalescence there will continue to be room for only one quarterback to sit at the helm of the Pittsburgh Steelers offense. That person is “Big” Ben Roethlisberger.
Aubrey Bruce can be reached at: abruce@newpittsburghcourier.com or 412.583.6741
He is also a contributing columnist for urbanmediatoday.com
Follow him on Twitter@ultrascribe
