JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- It's been over a year since the Steelers last lost a road game.
Yes, we know they have gone 19-5-1 since the start of the 2017 season, an impressive record to be sure. Perhaps more impressive is their 10-1-1 record in road games during that span. Add in the fact the Steelers won their final four road games of the 2016 regular season and they have now gone 14-1-1 in their past 16 regular-season games away from the friendly confines of Heinz Field.
In a league where the home teams typically win between 55 to 60 percent of the time -- even the bad teams -- that record is extraordinary. This season, home teams have won 59.7 percent of the time, going 88-59-2 going into Sunday's game.
But the Steelers have bucked that trend of late.
"That's a crazy stat," David DeCastro said when I mentioned the team's recent road success to him. "We weren’t even aware of it. We don’t pay too much attention to the stats. It’s kind of week to week, just trying to win games."
The Steelers (6-2-1) will put that record on the line when they play the Jaguars (3-6) at TIAA Bank Field Sunday.
This will mark the third time in just over a year these two teams have met. But the previous two meetings didn't go the Steelers' way. And both were played at Heinz Field.
First, the Jaguars forced six turnovers in a 30-9 win at Heinz Field in a Week 5 meeting with the Steelers last season, with Leonard Fournette finishing off the game with a 90-yard touchdown run that capped a 231-yard rushing effort for Jacksonville.
Then, in the Divisional Round of the playoffs Jan. 14, the Jaguars turned a couple of early turnovers into scores and held off the Steelers, 45-42, at Heinz Field to end Pittsburgh's season and advance to the AFC Championship.
There's no such thing as revenge in the NFL -- especially for getting knocked out of the playoffs -- but after going 0-2 against the Jaguars last season, the Steelers can use this game as a measuring stick, despite Jacksonville's struggles this season to replicate its success of a year ago.
"We’ve just got to remember how they beat us two times last year, and how they were talking trash afterward and all of that stuff," Bud Dupree told me. "We just want to win. Whatever we’ve got to do to win, that’s what we’ve got to do. We can’t take (last year) personal. We’ve got to treat it like just any other game. From here on out, every game is important to reach our goal."
Prior to last season's playoff game, the Jaguars felt they had been disrespected by the Steelers with some comments made prior to the contest.
But that was a lesson learned by last year's team. This team has been all business, especially when it comes to playing on the road.
"I like to win on the road," Alejandro Villanueva told me. "I like to play on the road. I like to learn a new city. I like to be in a different stadium and go on a silent count. Sometimes, you can anticipate a lot better and get off the ball a lot quicker. I don’t mind the environment. I like loud stadiums."
It's a sign of maturity from the Steelers. This is a team that has largely been together for a while. They know what it takes to win, even in tough environments.
"It just shows what kind of group this is," DeCastro, the leader of the no-nonsense Steelers, said.
THE ESSENTIALS
• When: 1:02 p.m.
• Where: TIAA Bank Field
• Radio: 102.5 WDVE, ESPN Pittsburgh,
• Satellite: SiriusXM channel 226, Internet 814
• Forecast: 73 degrees, sunny
• Lots open: 8:30 a.m.
• Will call open: 11 a.m.
• Gates open: 11 a.m.
• Boxscore: NFL Game Center
• Odds: MyBookie.AG
THE INJURY REPORT
Steelers: RT Marcus Gilbert (knee, out) DE Stephon Tuitt (elbow, out)
Jaguars: G A.J. Cann (hamstring, questionable), DT Marcell Dareus (triceps/back, questionable, DT Eli Ankou (calf, doubtful), OL Josh Walker (foot, doubtful), CB Quenton Meeks (knee, out)
THE KEY VARIABLE
In two games against the Steelers last season Fournette rushed for 290 yards and five touchdowns on 53 carries. He was a one-man wrecking crew.
But Fournette has struggled with injuries this season, missing all but three games. He's rushed for just 124 yards on 44 carries this season, an average of 2.8 per carry.
Fournette just returned from a nearly two-month layoff in Jacksonville's 29-26 loss at Indianapolis and gained 53 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries. But he also had five catches for 56 yards and another score.
The Steelers have been the league's best team this season against opposing running backs, limiting opposing backfields to 93.6 yards per game. And they're leading the AFC in run defense, allowing just 90 yards per game.
After being gouged by Fournette a year ago, they're intent on showing they're an improved group.
"It could be," Keith Butler admitted when asked if this game could be a litmus test for his unit's run defense. "We held them until they got that 90-yard run and then it just blew up the stats, but they did get that 90-yard run. They ran the ball when they had to. They did a good job of controlling the football. They did a good job of not getting behind on the chains. So, as a consequence, they can get makeable third downs. That’s part of the reason why they were successful against us last year, and we have to see if we can win first and second down."
Most teams have been doing that against the Jaguars this season, something that has led to the team's regression. The Jaguars are dealing with a number of offensive line injuries. Center Brandon Lindor, perhaps their best lineman, was placed on injured reserve last week, while Giants' castoff Ereck Flowers is expected to be the fourth player to start at left tackle after Cam Robinson and Josh Wells both landed on injured reserve and Josh Walker was injured last week against the Colts.
Right guard A.J. Cann also is questionable to play with a hamstring injury, leaving the Jaguars very thin on an already struggling line.
"It’s pretty much their entire offensive line, so we’ve got to go out with a mindset of not letting them run the ball," Dupree told me. "Fournette is back. We can’t let him get going. That’s what we did the last time."
After leading the NFL in rushing last season at 141.4 yards per game, the Jaguars rank 26th this season at 94.6 yards. And despite a trade earlier this season with Cleveland for Carlos Hyde to help carry the load when Fournette was out, the Jaguars have not had their running backs combine for 100 yards on the ground as a group this season.
Jacksonville has counted on the running of quarterback Blake Bortles (269 yards) and its receivers to help supplement the rushing attack.
It's been a big reason the Jaguars have bogged down in the red zone, where they are scoring touchdowns at a rate of just 45 percent.
But the Steelers will be without Stephon Tuitt, a big part of their run-stuffing efforts.
"It's everyone just doing their job," Cam Heyward told me. "If guys just do their job, we'll be fine. We've done that so far this season."
HISTORY LESSON
When the league announced the Jacksonville Jaguars as the winner of an expansion team in 1994, the new franchise wasted no time in hiring then-Boston College coach Tom Coughlin to run the team.
Coughlin had previously worked as a receivers coach with the Eagles, Packers and Giants, so he wasn't an unknown in NFL circles, but it was a leap of faith.
Coughlin spent the 1994 season scouting, going to games each week and studying the teams he would be tasked with beating in 1995. That meant he was at several Steelers games that season, watching what was then the best team in the AFC Central, where the Jaguars had been placed. He modeled his new team after the team on top -- the Steelers -- building it around defense and a running game.
The 1994 Steelers had reached the AFC Championship and were at the height of their Blitzburgh powers. But a torn ACL suffered by star cornerback Rod Woodson and an injury to quarterback Neil O'Donnell to a broken finger on his throwing hand in the opener against Detroit in 1995 left them vulnerable.
So they stumbled into their first game at Jacksonville with just a 3-2 record. The good news, however, was that O'Donnell was coming back. The Steelers were favored by 11 points.
The Jaguars entered the game at 1-4, having beaten the Oilers the previous week, 17-16, in Houston for the first victory in franchise history. And they carried that momentum into the Oct. 29 game against the Steelers, stopping them three times inside the 10 to get the first home win in franchise history.
Jacksonville jumped out to a 14-0 lead on a TD pass from Mark Brunell to Cedric Tillman in the first quarter and a six-yard run by James Stewart early in the second.
O'Donnell finally got the Steelers on the board late in the second quarter with a 16-yard touchdown pass to running back Steve Avery -- the only touchdown of Avery's career -- but Brunell quickly maneuvered the Jaguars into range for a 53-yard Mike Hollis field goal to give the home team a 17-7 halftime lead.
The Steelers drove to the Jacksonville 23 before settling for a 41-yard Norm Johnson field goal to open the second half, but the Jaguars answered with a field goal drive of their own to make it a 20-10 game.
O'Donnell found Yancey Thigpen -- who had six catches for 160 yards -- for gains of 24 and 38 yards to open the Steelers' next possession, putting the ball at the Jacksonville 7. But after Erric Pegram gained five yards on first down, Bam Morris gained just one yard from the 2 and O'Donnell's third-down pass to tight end Tracy Greene from the 1 fell incomplete.
Bill Cowher decided to kick a 19-yard field goal to make it 20-13 midway through the third quarter.
The Steelers again drove deep inside Jacksonville territory early in the fourth quarter, with Thigpen catching a 6-yard pass on first down to put the ball at the 4. But Morris was stopped for no gain on second down and O'Donnell threw incomplete on third down. The Steelers added another short Johnson field goal to make it 20-16 Jaguars.
Finally, on their next possession, the Steelers faced fourth-and-1 at the Jacksonville 7 after Avery was stopped short of the sticks on a third-down catch. Linebacker Keith Goganious, a Penn State product, stuffed Morris on fourth down and the Jaguars took possession of the ball.
The Steelers, who would go on to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl that season, got the ball back twice after that but never threatened, touching off a celebration on the Jacksonville sideline.
THE MAIN MATCHUP
The Steelers turned the ball over seven times in their two meetings with the Jaguars last season, with Ben Roethlisberger throwing six combined interceptions -- including a career-high five in the first meeting -- and fumbling another time to account for all of them.
Those seven turnovers are one fewer than the Jaguars have forced all of this season -- a streak the Steelers have to continue to give them the best chance to win this game.
Three of those turnovers were returned for touchdowns, while the Steelers also set the Jaguars up for some easy scores with the others.
"They understand what’s in front of them, the challenge that’s in front of them, and they’re excited about that challenge," first-year offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner said. "I think that the experience of having played them before (combined) with the idea that there’s some understanding, and with the fact that we didn’t play our best football. When you spot them 21 points in two games, you’re going to have a hard time winning and we didn’t."
The Steelers and Roethlisberger have been much more stingy with their turnovers this season. After a six-turnover game in a rainy opener in Cleveland, the Steelers have turned the ball over just six times in their past eight games.
"That first game, especially turning the ball over that many times, you can’t expect to win a football game," Roethlisberger said. "It wasn’t like it was, you talk about balls that are tipped and are easy, they made plays and that’s why I give them a lot of credit. They are a really good football team."
The Steelers' improved ball security has helped them increase their scoring this season. They are currently averaging 31 points per game, fourth-best in the NFL.
In addition to taking care of the football, the Steelers have had better red zone production. The Steelers are 22 of 28 scoring touchdowns once they get inside the opponent's 20, with James Conner and Antonio Brown leading the way. Those two have combined for 21 touchdowns, the most of any duo in the league.
But they'll face a tough Jacksonville defense that still ranks No. 1 in the league against the pass and has allowed just 19 offensive touchdowns this season.
The key is controlling Jacksonville's defensive front seven. The Jaguars have spent a lot of money on their defensive front and the matchup between that group and the Steelers' offensive line will be critical to helping limit turnovers.
"They’ve got studs," DeCastro said. "They have paid guys a lot of money and they’ve got really good players that can win one-on-one. When you’ve got guys like that, you’re going to be a good defense, especially when everyone you’ve got up front is either a first-rounder or a guy you paid a lot of money in free agency."
THE QUOTES
• "We tease wide receivers and tight ends when they get tackled on the 1-yard line. There’s a chance you might not get it again. When you get done there, you better make it count." -- Fichtner on his offense, which has already run the ball 13 times inside the 5-yard line after doing so just 12 times all of last season
• "Yeah, we slipped up here recently. Not executed and played like we know we can. But, like whoever, the fake fans, if y'all (the media), whoever, if y'all want to jump ship, then, look, it is what it is. But y'all going to miss us when we either gone or when stuff back popping. We don't want y'all no more." -- Jalen Ramsey, Jaguars cornerback this week on his team's critics
• "They obviously like their defense. They’re No. 1 against the pass. It’s one of those things that we feel like if we execute, we’ll be able to make plays. They’re obviously not where they want to be as far as the season goes, but the defense is still playing really good ball." -- Vance McDonald, Steelers tight end, who had 10 catches for 116 yards in the playoffs against the Jaguars last season.
THE TEN DATA POINTS
• During their five-game winning streak, the Steelers are allowing just 4.5 yards per play, the lowest in the league during that span.
• In four road games, Conner is averaging 144.8 yards from scrimmage.
• Brown has caught a touchdown pass in seven consecutive games, the longest streak since Jacksonville's Allen Hurns did it in 2015.
• Roethlisberger needs 47 passing yards to become the seventh quarterback in NFL history with 54,000 yards.
• Roethlisberger and Brown need three touchdown passes to match Drew Brees and Marques Colston with 72, the most by any duo in NFL history.
• Roethlisberger needs 122 passing yards to post the 13th consecutive 3,000-yard passing season in his career, which would match Eli Manning and Peyton Manning for third-longest streak in NFL history.
• The Steelers rank third in the NFL in third down conversions at 49.7 percent. Jacksonville's offense is surprisingly ninth at 45.1 percent.
• The Steelers lead the NFL in red zone percentage, scoring touchdowns on 78.6 percent of their trips (22-28). Jacksonville is 28th at 45 percent (9-20). The Jaguars' 20 red zone trips is tied with the Dolphins for the fewest in the league behind Buffalo (19).
• After being plus-10 in turnover ratio last season, ranking fifth in the league, the Jaguars are minus-11 this season, ranking 30th.
• Jaguars defensive end Yannick Ngakoue has five sacks this season, all in his past six games.
THE FANTASY FREE PLAY
Here are projections for the top 10 fantasy players in this game.
- Conner, 20 carries, 91 yards, one touchdown, four receptions, 34 yards
- Brown, seven receptions, 89 yards, one touchdown
- Roethlisberger, 283 passing yards, two touchdowns, one interception, two carries, eight yards
- Fournette, 18 carries, 64 yards, four receptions, 31 yards
- Bortles, 218 passing yards, one touchdown, one interception, four carries, 18 yards
- JuJu Smith-Schuster, five receptions, 74 yards
- McDonald, four receptions, 47 yards, one touchdown
- Donte Moncrief, three catches, 53 yards, one touchdown
- Dede Westbrook, four catches, 47 yards
- James Washington, three catches, 46 yards
THE STAFF PICKS
Our football coverage team offers predictions:
Dale Lolley: There might not necessarily be such a thing in the NFL as revenge for being knocked out of the playoffs, but there are statement games. And the Steelers can make a statement here. Roethlisberger's well-documented road struggles are behind him, as the teams' 14-1-1 road record over their past 16 games away from Heinz Field would suggest. This season, he's been over 300 yards three times in four road games and threw for 270 in the one game he didn't top 300. He also has seven TD passes in those games. Conner should find some running lanes, and the Steelers defense should feast on Jacksonville's banged-up offensive line. The only way the Jaguars have a shot is to turn the Steelers over three or more times, and that's unlikely to happen to a team that hasn't had a game like that since a rainy opener in Cleveland. Steelers, 26-17
Chris Carter: The Jaguars have gone from having the best rushing offense of 2017 to one of the NFL’s least effective units in 2018 and it’s evident in their 3-6 record. The turnover-creating defense of 2017 s currently ranks 26th and that puts more pressure on Bortles and the offense to succeed. Unless Fournette somehow sets the Steelers’ improved tackling back to what it was last year, I don’t see many advantages the Jaguars’ offense has. If Roethlisberger can limit the turnovers and spot the defense a lead, this could be an easier road win than anyone expected at the beginning of the season. Steelers, 31-17
Matt Sunday: The Jaguars gashed the Steelers on the ground in 2017-18, but they’re yet to even scratch anybody this season. A certainly less than 100-percent Fournette leads a pack of back who has yet to combine for 100 yards in any game so far this season. The Steelers could be the first, but it means that the Jaguars won’t have any other offense to speak of. Combine that with the last “season” of road games, going 14-1-1 as Dale pointed out, and the Steelers look like they’re in prime position to handle business. Steelers, 30-23
Dejan Kovacevic: This was the one that should have been circled the second the schedule came out, but it sure looks like a stinker now. Maybe it won’t be. But the Jaguars have next to nothing remaining from all those assets they showed most of last season. Conversely, these Steelers sure don’t look like they’re in the mood to lose focus or regress. This might be dull. Steelers, 35-13