Steelers Today – A Pittsburgh Steelers blog

The football gods finally smiled upon the Pittsburgh Steelers. It seemed like each time the Steelers were in a close game this season, fate would snatch victory from their hands. Not this time, though.

The Steelers got a masterful performance from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Roethlisberger had thrown eight interception in the Steelers’ last 3 games. His play had been so bad, that some fans had even called for Big Ben to be benched in favor of backup Byron Leftwich. But in this game, Roethlisberger played like a virtuoso. He completed 31-41 pass attempts for 308 yards. More importantly, he threw no interceptions.

Big Ben was accurate with his passes, and perhaps more importantly, he was quick with his reads. Roethlisberger made quick slant passes early and often. When the Chargers showed blitz, Big Ben was quick to change the play to a quick slant pass to either Santonio Holmes or Matt Spaeth. This ability to make the hot reads has been one of Roethlisberger’s (and Offensive Coordinator Bruce Arians’) shortcomings this year.

Roethlisberger completed passes to 7 different receivers. That’s right, seven. That may not be a shocking stat for Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, but it is very unusual for Big Ben. Roethlisberger even completed a pass to third string tight end and backup fullback Sean McHugh. That’s not something you see everyday.

Roethlisberger ended the game with a 96.4 QB rating. By contrast, Chargers’ QB Philip Rivers ended the game with 2 interceptions and a 43.6 QB rating. Rivers had entered the game as the AFC’s highest rated passer, and the NFL’s leader in touchdown passes. Playing the NFL’s top-rated defense can certainly screw up a quarterback’s stats.

The Steelers welcomed back running back Willie Parker who had missed time this season due to knee and shoulder injuries. In his return to action, Parker rushed for 115 yards. Parker’s running probably helped to keep the Chargers’ defense honest, and made it easier for Roethlisberger to have a great passing day.

Perhaps the unsung hero of the game was backup tight end Matt Spaeth. Spaeth, who started in place of injured Heath Miller, caught 6 passes for 55 yards. Most of those seemed to be for 1st downs. Spaeth appeared to be Roethlisberger’s “go to” receiver anytime he anticipated a blitz. The strategy worked beautifully.

Of course, Steelers Offensive Coordinator Bruce Arians also gets credit for calling a brilliant offensive game. We have written an entire article about Arians’ performance, which can be found here.

Despite 308 passing yards from Roethlisberger, 124 receiving yards by Hines Ward, and 115 yards rushing by Willie Parker, the Steelers’ offense actually failed to get into the endzone. Can you believe that? Neither could I. The Steelers’ offense was stifled more by penalties than it was by the Chargers’ defense. The Steelers were penalized 13 times for 115 yards.

On defense, the Steelers showed why they have the NFL’s #1 ranked defense. They held LaDainian Tomlinson to a paltry 57 yards rushing, and held Rivers to 159 yards passing and no touchdown passes. Linebacker James Harrison added a sack, a forced fumble, and an interception to his already impressive statistics. If he’s not the NFL’s Defensive Player of The Year, I don’t know who is.

Safety Troy polamalu also added an interception. He made an amazing play on the ball that had to be reviewed before the Chargers (and the referees) were convinced that it was actually an interception. Troy dived for the ball, and just barely got his fingers under the ball before it hit the ground. He maintained control of the ball, rolled over, and got up running.

Polamalu was also stout against the run. He had several plays against LaDainian Tomlinson that were reminiscent of their Nike commercial.

Despite the low score, and the lack of a Steelers touchdown, this was a dominant performance by both the Steelers offense and their defense. It was just an odd game that ended up with an odd score. In fact, according to the NFL, this was the first time that a game had ever ended up with a score of 11-10. The football gods even had the referees call back a touchdown by Troy Polamalu that would have led to a more reasonable score of 17-10. After the game, the refs acknowledged that they had blown the call. But in this game, it was probably fitting. An odd game like this deserved an odd score. 11-10, that’s one for the books.

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Before reading this article, please read our Steelers-Chargers post-game analysis found here.

This website has been critical of Steelers’ Offensive Coordinator Bruce Arians for most of the season. In our opinion, Arians has failed to make in-game adjustments to counter the constant blitz schemes that the Steelers have faced. As team after team followed the same script when playing the Steelers, Arians seemed to stubbornly refuse to implement the quick passes that are the obvious counter-attack to constant blitzing. In the game earlier this year against the Philadelphia Eagles, Arians didn’t implement this strategy even after the Eagles’ 50th blitz and sack of Ben Roethlisberger (I believe the Eagles sacked Roethlisberger 700 times during that game, but I could be mistaken). We, along with most Steelers fans, were shocked when the Steelers came out in the second half of that game, and showed no sign of offensive adjustments of any type.

With this as background, we felt compelled to give Arians kudos for a job well done. In the Steelers’ odd 11-10 win over the San Diego Chargers, it was really Bruce Arians who was the hero of the game.

Some fans may ask, “how was Arians the hero of a game in which Ben Roethlisberger passed for 308 yards, Willie Parker ran for 115 yards, and Hines Ward had 124 yards receiving”? Well, the answer is simple. Bruce Arians called a nearly perfect game, and he is the reason that each of the above players had the exceptional performance that they did.

In the passing game, Arians had Roethlisberger executing the quick slant pass as effectively as I’ve seen any quarterback execute it. It is that particular play that is the bread and butter play for Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. In fact, the Patriots use that play as a defacto running game.

Rothlisberger repeatedly got rid of the ball quickly in the face of a Chargers’ blitz. Usually, the recipient of those quick passes were Santonio Holmes or Matt Spaeth. In fact, it was this strategy which was responsible for Spaeth catching 6 passes during the game. Steelers Today has always believed that Arians under-utilizes the tight end, we were pleasantly surprised to see Spaeth play such an active role in the offense.

Arians called a diverse game that resulted in Big Ben completing passes to 7 different receivers. That is a very rare statistic for the Steelers offense.

Besides calling a brilliant passing game, Arians also used the running game to eat up the clock and to wear down the Chargers’ defense. Willie Parker’s 115 yards, and the Steelers 36:31minute – 23:29 minute time of possession advantage, is proof of this fact.

Arians also showed a willingness to keep experimenting until he found something that worked. Early in the game, he had Willie Parker attempt to gain short yardage, only to watch him get stuffed. Mewelde Moore met with the same fate. So Arians gave little-used running back Gary Russell an opportunity on third down. Not only did Russell gain the needed yardage, but when called upon to do it again later in the game, Russell did it again. By showing flexibility, Arians may have found a new third down back. Moreover, he has found a way to give valuable playing time to a back who has shown potential, but has been given few chances to prove himself.

The Steelers offense failed to get into the endzone. But that does not mean that they weren’t dominant. Bruce Arians called a near-perfect game, and the offense dominated the Chargers to a much greater degree than was reflected on the scoreboard.

Ben Roethlisberger, Willie Parker, Hines Ward, Matt Spaeth, Troy Polamalu, and James Harrison all had excellent games on Sunday. But in our opinion, the game ball for this win goes to Bruce Arians. Way to go, Bruce!

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Let’s review. The Steelers defense plays like men possessed. They dominated Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts offense. They hold them to 62 yards rushing. James Harrison adds to his sack total. Aaron Smith picks up a sack as well. The Steelers march the ball 62 yards for an easy touchdown on their very first offensive series. The Steelers’ offense maintains control of the ball for almost 10 minutes more than the Colts. Mewelde Moore rushes for 2 touchdowns.  Big Ben throws for 284 yards.  Clearly, that narrative ends with a decisive Steelers victory, right? Wrong.

In the normal universe, that game would have been an easy win for the Steelers. But in this bizarro universe that is the Steelers’ 2008 season, such performances sometimes result in losses.  Too often, the cause of those losses proves to be Ben Roethlisberger. 

In this unusual season, in which the Steelers were supposed to be overwhelmed by the NFL’s most difficult schedule, they instead find themselves with a 6-3 record. Moreover, they could easily be 8-1.  Two of the losses, the ones to the Giants and Colts, should have been wins, had it not been for the poor play of the Steelers’ $100 million quarterback.

Yesterday, Ben Roethlisberger gave up two costly interceptions.  The first, with only 1:30 remaining in the 1st half, gave the Colts great field position, and ultimately resulted in a Colts touchdown.  So instead of going into halftime leading the Colts 17-7, the Steelers found themselves only leading by 3 points, 17-14.

The second costly interception came in the middle of the 4th quarter.  With the Steelers leading 20-17, Roethlisberger threw his second interception of the game.  Four plays later, the Colts had another touchdown, and led the Steelers 24-20.  That would be the final score of the game.

It’s not fair to place the entire burden of the loss on Ben Roethlisberger’s sore shoulders.  Afterall, it was coach Tomlin who allowed him to start despite missing practice most of the week.  It was Offensive Coordinator Bruce Arians who had Roethlisberger launch 42 passes with a sore shoulder.  Most of those passes were off-target or fell woefully short of the intended receiver.  I could see that as a spectator.  Why couldn’t the Steelers coaching staff see as much?

History has shown us that Big Ben is a warrior, and he is willing to play through injuries.  However, history has also shown us that Ben usually plays badly while hurt.  Does anyone remember the awful 2006 season when Roethlisberger came back too soon from a motorcycle accident and an emergency appendectomy?  Sure, it was courageous of him to try to be there for his teammates.  But after throwing his 200th interception (okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a bit), Coach Cowher should have benched him and let Charlie Batch play until Ben was fully recovered.  The same is true this year.  An injured Ben Roethlisberger is an ineffective Ben Roethlisberger.  When will the Steelers’ coaching staff learn that lesson?

On two separate occasions this season, Byron Leftwich has come into the game and been more effective than Big Ben.  That is not to say that Leftwich is better than Roethlisberger.  He’s not.  But Byron Leftwich at 100% is better than Ben Roethlisberger at 80%.

While Big Ben’s ego may not like the idea of being benched temporarily, it is the best decision for his long-term health.  The Steelers have invested a lot of money in their franchise quarterback.  It’s time to start protecting that investment.  And it’s time to stop losing winnable games.

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On Monday night, the Steelers continue their trek through the NFC East, when they face the Washington Redskins.  Pittsburgh has not done very well against the NFL’s toughest division, going 0-2 so far this season.  The Steelers have already lost to the first place team in the division (the New York Giants), and the last place team (the Philadelphia Eagles).  Now they must face the remaining two teams, the Washington Redskins, and the Dallas Cowboys.

Despite their losses to their first two NFC East opponents, the Steelers had an opportunity to win both games.  The Steelers were winning each game, but turnovers and mental errors doomed them in each contest.  Both the Eagles and the Giants used a heavy pass rush to pressure Ben Roethlisberger.  Until Bruce Arians can prove that he can put together a game plan to counter the all-out-blitz, the Steelers should expect to see more of the same from the Redskins.  Fortunately, the Redskins are one of the worst pass rushing teams in the NFL, and have only 10 sacks on the season.  That’s 4th worst in the league.

The Redskins are in 2nd place in the tough NFC East.  However, they are coming off a difficult 25-17 win versus the lowly Detroit Lions.  The Redskins are 6-2, and present an interesting challenge for the 5-2 Steelers.

The Steelers last faced the Redskins back in 2004, when they defeated them 16-7.  The Steelers have won the last three contests against the Redskins.  However, the Redskins lead the historical series 42-30-3.

The Redskins are a team that appears to be finally gaining their stride after struggling early on under new head coach Jim Zorn.

The storyline of the game will probably be the Steelers defense (#1 in the NFL) versus Redskins’ running back Clinton Portis, the leading rusher in the NFL this season.  Portis is averaging 118 yards per game, and already has almost 1,000 yards rushing this season, with 944 yards.  Meanwhile, the Steelers’ stingy defense is only allowing 71.6 rushing yards per game.

On defense, the Redskins are no slouches, boasting the NFL’s #6 ranked unit.  They are #11 against the pass, and #5 against the run.

Meanwhile, the Steelers have the NFL’s #25 ranked offense.  They’ve been so woeful at times, that they are ranked just ahead of such terrible offenses as the Oakland Raiders (#26), and the Kansas City Chiefs (#27).  Offensive coordinator Bruce Arians has seemed incapable of putting together a game plan that establishes an effective passing game.  The Steelers’ passing attack is ranked # 24 in the NFL, averaging only 184.4 passing yards per game.  Historically, this would not have been a problem, since the Steelers have always had one of the most powerful rushing attacks in the NFL.  However, with a suspect offensive line and Willie Parker being injured for much of the year, the Steelers are averaging only 107.3 rushing yards per game.  This un-Steelerlike rushing attack, combined with a poor passing attack, leads to the Steelers’ low offensive production.

Fortunately, the Steelers’ defense has contained opposing offenses so effectively, that their offense has not needed to be particularly productive.   As the Steelers hit the half-way point in their 2008 schedule, it would be great to see the offense finally get it’s bearings and become the innovative attack that most expected when Bruce Arians was hired.

The Steelers’ offense should be helped by the return of bong boy wide receiver Santonio Holmes. Holmes was suspended last game due to an arrest for marijuana possession. Holmes is the Steelers’ best deep threat, and his return should be a welcome addition for quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

For further analysis of the Steelers-Redskins game, please see my article on the key match-ups by clicking here.

Steelers Injury Report

Willie Parker has missed 4 games with a knee injury, but he says he is ready to play this week.  If he is not able to go, Mewelde Moore will once again be a capable replacement.

Chris Kemoeatu has a sprained ankle, and will probably be replaced by Trai Essex.

LaMarr Woodley injured his calf against the Giants, but he expects to play Monday night against the Redskins.

Ryan Clark is not expected to play, and will probably be replaced by Tyrone Carter, but Anthony Smith may also see some playing time.

Marvell Smith is still suffering from back spasms, and Max Starks will get the start.

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