In Week 11, the Jacksonville Jaguars (1-8) host the Pittsburgh Steelers (9-0) at TIAA Bank Field at 1 p.m. Sunday's contest marks Jacksonville's 25th regular season game against the Steelers and 27th overall. Below are some key stats and quotes to get you ready for game day.
CLASSIC RIVALRY: Including the postseason, Sunday will be the 27th time Jacksonville has played Pittsburgh with plenty of classic matchups along the way. The Jaguars' second win in franchise history came against the Steelers on Oct. 8, 1995 when they defeated their then-division foe, 20-16, led by QB Mark Brunell and RB James Stewart. The two teams competed against each other in the AFC Central from 1995-2001 until the Jaguars joined the AFC South and the Steelers joined the AFC North.
Even though the two teams changed divisions, the timeless matchups continued with two of those clashes coming in the postseason. The Jaguars defeated the Steelers, 31-29, in the 2007 postseason on a 25-yard game-winning field goal from K Josh Scobee. Ten years later, Jacksonville beat Pittsburgh, 45-42, in the 2017 AFC Divisional round. QB Blake Bortles threw for 214 yards, and his 14-yard TD to FB Tommy Bohanon with 4:19 remaining in the game gave the Jaguars a two-possession lead. LB Myles Jack registered six tackles and one INT in the contest.
QUOTABLE: "If you didn't get up for any other game -- excluding the Titans in that -- you had to get up for the Steelers … It's a rivalry built on respect." – Former RB Fred Taylor
JAKE'S JOURNEY: QB Jake Luton's third career NFL start on Sunday will come against the league's sixth-ranked defense (318.1 yards per game allowed). This week's game will be Luton's second career game at TIAA Bank Field, where he threw for 304 yards and one TD in his first career NFL start in Week 9 against Houston. Luton's 304 passing yards were the most by a Jaguars rookie in their first career start. He also became the first Jaguars rookie to throw for a TD and run for a TD in his first career game.
Luton's first career completion was a 73-yard TD to WR DJ Chark Jr., the longest pass by any rookie in the NFL this season.
QUOTABLE: "[Jake Luton] started off his career already against Houston, a rivalry of this franchise, and he had to go up to Green Bay and face Aaron Rodgers in horrible, windy conditions for a quarterback. Now we just have to face the [9-0] Steelers, so it'll be a great challenge for him, but I know he's going to be ready to go. I think it's very important for our entire offense to understand this challenge and really raise their game up, hopefully to a level we haven't seen yet." – Offensive Coordinator Jay Gruden
SPECIAL SPECIALISTS: Jacksonville's special teams impressed in Week 10 at Green Bay as WR Keelan Cole Sr. returned a punt for a 91-yard TD, P Logan Cooke placed three of his six punts inside the 10-yard line and K Chase McCLaughlin connected on both of his field goal attempts, including a career-long 52-yarder, in his Jaguars debut. Cole's score marked the longest punt return in franchise history and the longest punt return by any NFL player over the last two seasons. Cooke, who also placed two punts inside the 10 against the Texans in Week 9, has posted seven punts inside the 20 over the last two weeks, tied for the highest mark in the NFL in that span.
McLaughlin improved to 4-for-4 on 50-plus yard field goals since 2019, and he is one of three kickers in the NFL to connect on 100 percent (min. four attempts) of field goals from 50-plus yards since 2019.
QUOTABLE: "I didn't know how Chase [McLaughlin] was going to do. I think he deserves something for coming in there and really feeling good about, 'Hey, let's go kick this 52-yarder, I believe in you' and then after that you just feel like he's going to go out there and do anything. But during the week, we were going to go with him as a kicker if we didn't feel good about him, I'm talking about Logan [Cooke]. I think it gives you an idea of the type of athlete Logan is. [He] always has a really good demeanor, never really gets rattled, can come back if it's a poor kick because everyone's going to have those from time to time. But [he] has really been a solid draft pick, solid guy, guy that we've gotten production out of and he had a great year last year in the net. He continues to play well, and I think he'll be a guy that's in this league for a very long time." – Head Coach Doug Marrone
RECORD-SETTING ROOKIE: RB James Robinson enters Sunday's game 83 scrimmage yards away from making history. Robinson, who leads the Jaguars this season with 917 scrimmage yards (689 rushing and 228 receiving) this season could become the first undrafted rookie in NFL history to total 1,000 scrimmage yards in their first 10 career games.
The Illinois State product is no stranger to putting his stamp on record books. He finished his collegiate career ranked No. 2 in school history in all-purpose yards (5,218), rushing yards (4,444), total TDs scored (46) and rushing TDs (44). He played his prep career at Lutheran High School in Rockford, Ill. and holds Illinois High School Association career records for rushing yards (9,045), rushing TDs (158) and points scored (948).
QUOTABLE: "He's a real humble guy, he's real quiet, awesome dude, but I think he should definitely be in the discussion [for NFL Rookie of the Year]. To be in his position to come out as an undrafted guy and step on the field Week 1 and to play like he has, to run the ball like he has, and bring the physical element and the big play-ability that he's brought all year long, I think he should definitely be in the conversation. If I was on the committee to make that decision, he would get that vote for sure." – QB Jake Luton on RB James Robinson
SCHO-TIME: LB Joe Schobert is set to face off against the Steelers for the eighth time in his career and his seventh time as a starter. In Week 11 against Pittsburgh in 2019, he posted 10 tackles, two INTs and 1.0 sack. Schobert is the most recent player in the NFL to total 10-plus tackles and two INTs in a single game, and in his two games against Pittsburgh last year, he posted 17 tackles, four passes defensed, two INTs and 1.0 sack.
A member of the Cleveland Browns from 2016-19, Schobert has tallied 49 tackles, six passes defensed, two fumble recoveries and two INTs in his seven games against Pittsburgh. He signed with the Jaguars in the 2020 offseason and has recorded a team-leading 71 tackles and one INT this season.
QUOTABLE: *"Just going against [Ben Roethlisberger] two times a year for the last four years, he's very good at like the backyard, school yard football kind of plays where things break down and him and his receivers have a good understanding of what to do post their initial routes, whether they're turning up the field or they're coming back, and he's able to put the ball on them. It's really hard for defenses to cover guys for more than two, three, four seconds, so he's really good at extending plays. He's been big and strong his whole career. He can move around just enough. He has the arm talent to be able to put the ball out there and he has the guts to be able to make the gutsy throws." – LB *Joe Schobert
