JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- My question to Minkah Fitzpatrick was a simple one.
When the ball is tipped into the air, do things slow down for him?
You hear it so often from star players in any sport how things just seem to happen in slow motion for them. They can see things happening as if part of the cast of "The Matrix."
Fitzpatrick, who had two interceptions in the Steelers' 27-3 win over the Jaguars here Sunday, however, took it a different direction.
"It speeds up," Fitzpatrick said. "You've got to speed up to get the ball because there's probably three or four other people in the area that's trying to go get it. You know if you get a good break, you just got to go get it. It definitely doesn't slow down. You definitely have to speed up in your sense of urgency getting to the ball."
Fitzpatrick has a point -- at least with this defense. If you don't react quickly, you're not going to make the play. Not on this defense. Somebody else will beat you to the ball.
Watch Fitzpatrick on his tipped interception in the second quarter of this game, which snuffed out the Jaguars' best drive that took them to the Steelers' 11-yard line when this happened.
Now, we don't know if someone else would have gotten to that ball, but there's certainly a chance that if Fitzpatrick doesn't get there, Joe Haden at least gets a hand on it.
The Steelers limited the Jaguars to 206 yards. They managed just two possessions with more than two first downs. They didn't top 200 total yards until the Steelers pulled their starters up 27-3.
That's when rookie quarterback Jake Luton completed his final three passes -- for nine yards -- making his day look better than it was. Prior to completing those last three passes, Luton was 13-of-34 for 142 yards and four interceptions.
Save me the complaints about the Steelers playing against a rookie quarterback, and a sixth-round rookie at that. You play who you play. The Steelers did what a good defense is supposed to do against a bad quarterback. They dominated him.
If it wasn't Fitzpatrick beating his teammates to the ball, it was Terrell Edmunds posting the first two-interception game of his career. Or Stephon Tuitt beating Cam Heyward to a sack as pictured above. Or Bud Dupree doing the same. You get the idea.
The Steelers had four interceptions in this game. They could have had seven or eight.
Now, in the past two weeks, they've outscored a pair of overmatched opponents -- the Bengals and Jaguars -- by a combined score of 63-13.
The offense continues to be a work in progress, one that is sometimes maddening with its inefficiencies early in games. It goes through some lulls.
But this defense and its multitude of playmakers, allows that to happen. Sooner or later, the defense is going to get its hands on the ball. It's now forced 21 turnovers in 10 games this season.
And that allows the offense to continue to tinker with what it wants to be.
"They’re fun to watch. They’re turning the ball (over), getting turnovers for us," said Ben Roethlisberger. "I hate that we turned the ball over once today. That’s on me. (It) obviously didn't hurt us but still it’s not fun. But the turnover differential, the way they get after the quarterbacks, it’s just so much fun to watch them play.”
A heck of a lot more fun than it is to play against them.
• When Roethlisberger is calling stuff and changing plays and it works, he's a genius. When he's calling stuff and changing plays and it doesn't work, offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner doesn't know what he's doing.
Early in the second half of this game, it was obvious Roethlisberger was changing plays at the line of scrimmage. The Jaguars, especially on long situations, were having everyone on their defense standing up, walking around.
That kept the Steelers from locking in on who was coming and who wasn't. And the Jaguars were blitzing quite a bit, knowing their undermanned secondary wasn't going to hold up long.
The Jaguars had a good plan and made good adjustments at the half. And it took the Steelers -- and Roethlisberger in particular -- some time to figure those out. That led to lulls in the first and third quarters. The Jaguars won those two quarters 3-0. The Steelers won the second and fourth quarters, 27-0.
• The Steelers were expecting the Jaguars to try something on special teams to catch them off guard. After all, at 1-8 coming into this game, the Jaguars had nothing to lose.
So they weren't surprised when the Jaguars went with an onside kick after kicking a field goal to open the game. Marcus Allen had that thing sniffed out all the way.
That's a good job by special teams coordinator Danny Smith of having his guys prepared.
The Steelers got caught on some things you don't normally see in some recent games, including a throwback pass by the Cowboys and direct-snap run on a punt last week against the Bengals.
That's what happens when you're unbeaten at this point in the season. Teams are going to pull out all of the stops against you.
• Roethlisberger has not been sacked in three games despite dropping back to pass 134 times in those games.
That's the first time in his career he's gone three consecutive games without being sacked.
"It feels good," said Roethlisberger. "I believe in those guys up front, and they've gone against some really good defenses, some good d-lines, different things. I love those guys to death, and I wouldn't want anyone else out in front of me."
That's not to say Roethlisberger was untouched in this game. The Jaguars were credited with three quarterback hits.
But this line was built to block for Roethlisberger. And it's done that job well. He's been sacked just 10 times all season -- an average of once per game.
Sure, him getting rid of the ball quickly is a part of that. But the line also is protecting the team's best asset.
• The Steelers ran for 110 yards on 24 carries in this one, not counting three Mason Rudolph kneel downs at the end of the game.
If the running game can give them that the rest of the way, this team will be fine.
The biggest thing was that the Steelers converted a third-and-1, a fourth-and-1 and scored on their first shot from a first-and-goal from the 1, all on running plays.
James Conner had 89 yards on 13 carries, a 6.8 yards per carry average. That's what the Steelers need out of their running game.
"I will let you guys keep talking about that," Mike Tomlin said when asked if he was happy with the running game. "It was better today, and we will keep assessing it. We are not going to crack that nut with the first swing. It will take continual work and effort on our part to continue to work on our warts, and that is not our only wart. It's just the one you guys choose to recognize."
It's still not perfect, as Tomlin alluded. But it was much better.
• So, here come the Ravens again. And they're going to be desperate after losing in overtime, 30-24, Sunday to the Titans to fall to 6-4.
Not only would a loss against the Steelers on Thursday end any fleeting hopes the Ravens have of catching the Steelers for the AFC North title, but another loss would be Baltimore's fifth. And their previous four losses have all come in the conference. That's not good when you start talking about tiebreakers.
All of that said, you can definitely expect to see the Ravens give the Steelers their best shot Thursday night. And that might include some of those aforementioned trick plays, whether they be on special teams or anywhere else.
The Ravens are in trouble and they know it.
• Tomlin brushed off questions regarding injuries to Haden and JuJu Smith-Schuster. And there's little doubt both will play against the Ravens. Haden returned to the game briefly after his injury, while Smith-Schuster kept his helmet in hand while standing on the sideline after turning his ankle in the fourth quarter.
All things considered, even if they couldn't play, those are the two positions where this team has extraordinary depth.
• So, the Steelers navigated their way through this "trap" game, but that won't stop people from talking about the next one.
I guess that would be in Week 13 against the Washington Football Team or in Week 15 against the Bengals.
Of course, it's hard to imagine the king of checkdowns, Alex Smith, beating this defense. And now with Joe Burrow out and Ryan Finley starting the rest of the way for the Bengals, they have as much chance of beating the Steelers as the 0-10 Jets have of making the playoffs.
It's a shame Burrow's season ended the way it did, but that's life in the NFL. Everyone is one play away from having their season shut down.
That's why if the Steelers get to 15-0 in Week 17, there's not a doubt in my mind they'll rest players if they've got home field advantage wrapped up.
They honestly don't care about going 16-0.
"There is pressure in our business. I don't know if you call it more pressure or not," Tomlin said when asked if pressure was building with the team now 10-0. "I know regardless of the record, we would be committed to winning this game we are walking into play on Thursday. Again, I think that is more some outside fodder. That is storylines, if you will, and gives you guys something to talk about during the week. We respect our process. We are going to prepare and step into the stadiums (in which) we play. There is urgency to that. There is pressure associated with that."
That said, the Steelers are just the 17th team since 1970 to start the season 10-0. All of the 16 previous teams made the playoffs. Six of those teams won the Super Bowl. Four others lost in the Super Bowl.
So, 10-0 guarantees nothing, just like 15-0 would guarantee nothing if the Steelers get to that point.
This team has a goal of winning the Super Bowl. And if resting starters would make more sense in accomplishing that goal, that would be what the Steelers would do.
• The lack of holding penalties called when the Steelers defense is on the field has been well-documented by me on this site. They drew just one on Sunday, despite several occasions where pass rushers were tackled to the ground by an overmatched offensive line.
But pass interference penalties? The Steelers are definitely getting their share of those when their offense is on the field.
Chase Claypool has been the main beneficiary of that. He drew two more on Sunday, accounting for 50 yards in penalties. That gives the Steelers 15 pass interference penalties drawn this season for 292 yards. That leads the league on both counts.
Roethlisberger wants more.
"Well, we'd rather have a touchdown, obviously, and I reiterate that to him," Roethlisberger said of Claypool. "The penalty's nice, but we'll take the touchdown. He's working through fighting guys holding onto him because he's such a big body and strong and runs (well). He's understanding that you don't just want to get the penalty, you want to get the touchdown, too. He's going to keep growing in that area because he's special down the field."
• The run defense still isn't where it was at earlier in the season. The Steelers allowed James Robinson to run for 73 yards on 17 carries, an average of 4.3 yards per game.
Now, the Jaguars didn't have anyone else gain a rushing yard, so the 73 yards allowed looks much better than the 548 rushing yards they had given up in their previous three games. But without Devin Bush, the Steelers are vulnerable at times on the ground, particularly when they're in their nickel and dime packages.
The Jaguars had some success in this game running when the Steelers went to their nickel, taking advantage of the fact the Steelers have just two 300-pound players on the field in those situations. And when the Steelers played their base, the Jaguars threw the ball, attacking Robert Spillane.
When Bush is available, he helps clean some of that up because he's more adept in coverage.
That's an issue that isn't going away anytime soon, not that it necessarily hurt them in this game.