ESPN NFL

Posted by ESPN.com's Paul Kuharsky

ESPN Stats & Information gives us some excellent insight into what did and did not happen for the Titans Thursday night in Pittsburgh, starting out with evidence that the four-man pass rush may not have been as effective as I thought it was.

Pass rush: A four-man rush helped produce interceptions by both Cortland Finnegan (on a Hail Mary at the end of the first half)and Vincent Fuller the Titans gave up a whole lot of passing yardage.

Ben Roethlisberger, by type of pass rush Standard Added pressure Comp/Att 27/35 6/8 Pass yards 320 43 TD/INT 1/2 0/0 Sacked 2 2

Kerry Collins was solid but unspectacular, with one touchdowns and one interception. Our researchers broke down how he did before and after safety Troy Polamalu was knocked out of the game with a knee injury.

Kerry Collins, before and after Troy Polamalu injury Before After Yards per attempt 5.7 8.3 TD/INT 0/1 1/0 Rating 53.7 110.2

Versus four-man pass rush:

With Polamalu: 6-for-11, 67 yards, the interception and a 35.0 passer rating.

Without Polamalu: -- 7-for-9, 116 yards, the TD and a 155.8 passer rating.

Out of shotgun:

With Polamalu: 27.8 completion percentage and 72.1 passer rating.

Without Polamalu: 47.1 completion percentage and 130.2 passer rating

Middle and right runs: Titans running backs Chris Johnson and LenDale White ran for 80 yards on 16 attempts up the middle and to the right. When running behind or outside left tackle Michael Roos, the tandem gained just five yards on seven carries.

Loaded box versus Big Ben: Of Roethlisberger's 43 pass attempts, 14 came against a loaded box. Roethlisberger struggled when his blockers were outnumbered and excelled when his offensive line had the advantage.