Williamson’s All-22 wild-card round: Le’Veon Bell, Jay Ajayi showdown

[DKphin]

Teams that can move the ball on the ground do well in the playoffs.

That’s why one of the premier matchups of the wild-card weekend may be happening in Pittsburgh. The Steelers feature the wonderful Le’Veon Bell, who may be the best pound-for-pound back in the NFL. The No. 6 seed and underdog Miami Dolphins will counter with Jay Ajayi.
The Steelers know all about Ajayi. With his season-high rushing total at just 42 trough Week 5, Ajayi exploded on Pittsburgh in Week 6. He ran for 204 yards in a stunning 30-15 Miami win. The game signified Miami getting out of its early-season funk and the Steelers falling into their midseason funk.
Now, both are playoff teams and the Dolphins will surely try to ride Ajayi to the upset victory. Miami had starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill in Week 6. With Tannehill injured and backup Matt Moore playing, the emphasis will be even more on Ajayi for Miami.
For Pittsburgh, the Steelers will have the benefit of having quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who was injured against Miami. While the Steelers have more varied offensive weapons than the Dolphins, they will likely try to wear down Miami’s defense (the Dolphins were 30[SUP]th[/SUP] against the run this season) on the ground. That means plenty of doses of Bell, of course.
Bell had just 53 yards against Miami in October and was outshined by Ajayi. For the season, Ajayi finished fourth in the NFL in rushing with 1,272 yards. Bell was fifth, just 4 yards behind Ajayi at 1,268 yards. Sunday, these two will surely be trying to outrun one another in their quest to move onto the AFC divisional round.
Below is the rest of Williamson’s All-22 unit for the wild-card round . This is not an all-star team, but is a list of key players at each position this week:
OFFENSE

Running back Jay Ajayi, Miami: See above.


DEFENSE


Defensive end Cameron Wake, Miami: Wake has 11.5 sacks at the age of 34. Beware, Big Ben.


Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, Miami: Suh heard the talk about being a dirty player again this week after the New England game. Will Pittsburgh players say the same thing in a few days?

https://www.all22.com/nfl/all-williamson-wild-card-round-leveon-bell-jay-ajayi-run-down

 

[phinasota]

I haven't been this excited to watch our boys in a long time. Trying to convince myself that even if we lose, its been a good season. Although I know ill be mad if we do.

 

[phinmania]

I haven't been this excited to watch our boys in a long time. Trying to convince myself that even if we lose, its been a good season. Although I know ill be mad if we do.[/QUOTE

Same here, i was trying to stay level headed, but as the week goes on, I want a win dammit!!! :hump:

it was nice to see some dolphins on that list though....

 

[Superself]

They will sell out to stop Ajayi. Our WRs should be able to get open for chunk yardage. We will score at least 30.


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[.....]

They will sell out to stop Ajayi. Our WRs should be able to get open for chunk yardage. We will score at least 30.


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That's what I'm hoping for. If we can do that, and if our defense can somehow get one or two big stops, then we might have a puncher's chance.

 

[ChrisTRD]

Landry, Parker and Stills need to be on top of their game.

 

[NyPhan23]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyiprZJ-5ac

Edit: Oops... I thought I was in the weather forecast thread when I posted this haha

 

[LordTua]

Matt Moore better bring it! This game will be won on his shoulders, no more lame duck bs. Put some heat on those out routes and dial up the accuracy because they are selling out to stop the J-Train! Let's go Fins!!

 

[BSQ]

The way the article reads one would think Ben didn't play against us in the week 6 game. The truth is the injury happened halfway through the second quarter. Ben went straight into the locker room and Landry Jones finished the half, I believe it was 2 series of downs. The third quarter came and Ben was back under center and for the duration. Ben missed about 7 minutes.

 

[Danny]

They will sell out to stop Ajayi. Our WRs should be able to get open for chunk yardage. We will score at least 30.


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The reason I don't believe we'll score 30 points is really because of our defense. Yes because of our defense. If our defense plays the way they've been playing which is they give up first down after first down then our offense won't have enough time on the field to score 30 points. While our defense is out there, our offense is on the sidelines getting cold. Hard to get going that way. If somehow we win this game it'll probably be a low scoring game. We will need to control the ball to keep our horrible defense off the field. They will stack the LOS so play action on first down with quick passes would be ideal. The problem is that's not what MM does best. This is not going to be easy.

Ozzy rules!!

 

[VBCheeseGrater]

Same here, i was trying to stay level headed, but as the week goes on, I want a win dammit!!! :hump:

I hear that. Pats game was similar....closer it got to game time, the more I wanted to see a win. Making the playoffs was great, but as we get closer to Sunday, I know ill be rooting for a win just the same!....if the offense shows up, we can win this.