Steeler Defense Leaves Brunell Seeing Black

The Pittsburgh Steeler defense has withstood adversity all season. So it decided it was about time to create some.

The Steelers (8-3) kept Jaguar quarterback Mark Brunell under constant siege Sunday, turning three of his four turnovers into touchdowns in a 28-3 victory decided mostly by Jacksonville’s awful field position.

Pittsburgh’s 10th consecutive home-field victory marked the return of Yancey Thigpen, who caught two touchdown passes in his first start this season. The turnover-causing defense largely responsible for the Steelers’ advance to the Super Bowl last season showed up again too.

“It was a rear-end kicking,” said Jaguar tackle Leon Searcy, who played for Pittsburgh last season. “We got our rear ends handed to us. That’s why they’re consistently in the playoffs. They make the big plays when they count. Once you have to play catch-up against them, that’s when they bring the house.”

The week before, the Steeler defensive players argued among themselves as the Cincinnati Bengals created a series of big plays in a 34-24 upset. It was the first bad game by a defense that had to replace the injured Greg Lloyd and Ray Seals the week before a season-opening, 24-9 upset loss in Jacksonville.

Brunell, the NFL’s leading passer, never had a chance. He was sacked six times for 54 yards in losses and, constantly in a rush to get rid of the ball, lost two fumbles and had two of his passes intercepted.

Carnell Lake, charging in untouched on a safety blitz, returned one of those two critical fumbles for an 85-yard touchdown that made it 21-3 in the third quarter.

Brunell went five for five as Jacksonville drove from its 23 to Pittsburgh’s seven to start the second half, but Lake was never picked up as he blitzed through the right side of Jacksonville’s line.