Sunday at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, the Jacksonville Jaguars (1-5) decided to spot the Steelers 17 points before finally coming to play, and their second half rally fell short as they lost to the Steelers 17-13. Pittsburgh (4-2) built a 17-0 lead, and was ahead 17-3 at halftime, courtesy of Rashard Mendenhall's 113 yards rushing on 12 first half carries, including an eight yard touchdown run in the first quarter. As a team, the Steelers outgained the Jaguars 315-68 in the first half.
However, Blaine Gabbert and Jacksonville showed some life in the second half (and perhaps the Steelers took their foot off the gas a bit). Despite being sacked five times, Blaine Gabbert completed 12 of 26 passes for 109 yards and a touchdown, and had a chance with a hail mary pass on the final play to pull off the upset of the heavily favored Steelers. Jacksonville's defense was solid in the half number two, keeping the Jaguars in the game by holding Pittsburgh to just 70 total yards. Unfortunately, Jack Del Rio's young team simply didn't have a consistent enough performance to defeat perennial AFC North stalwart Pittsburgh.
It should be noted that new punter Nick Harris had a pretty good day, averaging 42.3 yards on seven punts. Harris replaced punting nomad Matt Turk, released last week after a subpar showing against the Bengals (and a directional kicking chip on his shoulder).
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