Steelers Today - A Pittsburgh Steelers blog

The Steelers defense has not played up to the standard that they set last year.  They have allowed opponents to make 4th quarter comebacks, and have not been the dominant unit that they were last year.

Much of the problems has been due to injury.  Lawrence Timmons started the season with an ankle injury.  Then Troy Polamalu went down with a knee injury.  And finally, Aaron Smith was lost for the season due to a shoulder injury.

But lost in the rash of injuries and defensive letdowns has been the extremely consistent play of Steelers linebacker James Harrison.

Because of his consistency, Harrison has been named AFC defensive player of the month for the month of October.

Steelers LB James Harrison

Harrison is second in the NFL in sacks with 8.  He trails only the surprising Elvis Dumervil of the Denver Broncos.  He also leads the NFL in forced fumbles, a category he also led the NFL in last season.

With 8 sacks already, Harrison is on a pace to break the Steelers single season sack record.  The record is 16 sacks, and was set by Harrison in 2008.

Frankly, I was surprised to hear of Harrison’s award.  Harrison has not seemed to be the dominant force that we grew accustomed to watching last year.  While he has been very consistent, Harrison has not had any of the completely dominant games that we saw from him so often last year.

He is still being held on almost every play, and referees continue to disregard the obvious holds.

With that in mind, I strongly believe that Harrison’s best play is still ahead of him.  That should be a welcome thought to Steelers fans, and a nightmare for the rest of the NFL.

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Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings were undefeated when they entered the game with the Steelers.  By the time they left the game, they were undefeated no more.

The Steelers beat the Minnesota Vikings 27 - 17, in a game that probably didn’t go the way that either team had scripted it.

After last week’s offensive outburst, many fans expected to see another high scoring performance by Big Ben and the Steelers offense.  Instead, it was the Steelers defense that led the team to victory.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger followed up last week’s 417 yard passing performance with only 175 passing yards this week.

Hines Ward, who entered the game as the NFL’s leading receiver had only 1 catch for 3 yards.

On the ground, the Steelers weren’t much more successful, as they were only able to gain 106 yards.  Rashard Mendenhall led all Steelers rushers with 69 yards.  Unfortunately, Mendenhall hurt the team when he decided to go airborne on a run from the Vikings 9 yard line. The Vikings defense hit Mendenhall while he was in the air and forced a fumble that the Vikings recovered on their own 4 yard line.  What a painful way to end what had otherwise been a very nice drive by the Steelers.

I understand that Mendenhall was trying to make a play, but not even Superman can dive 9 yards.  What did he think he was doing?  There was no way his dive could get him to the endzone, so why make such a risky play?

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin obviously didn’t think it was a smart play either.  He benched Mendenhall for the rest of the game.

Fortunately, just as I predicted in my Steelers vs. Vikings Preview, the Steelers defense was the difference in the game.  The defense only yielded one touchdown (the other was scored against the Steelers special teams).  More importantly, the Steelers defense scored 2 touchdowns of their own.  Yes, that’s one more touchdown than the Steelers offense was able to muster.

What was most significant about the defense’s scoring was that it occurred in the 4th quarter.  For much of the season, the Steelers defense has seemed to disappear in the 4th quarter.  It was good to see the defense finally step up and change the game during the 4th quarter.

With 6:47 remaining in the 4th quarter, Brett Keisel sacked Brett Favre, and causes a fumble.  LaMarr Woodley scooped up the fumble and rumbled 77 yards for a touchdown.

Woodley scores a TD

Was it just me, or did it seem like Woodley was never going to reach the endzone?  That must have been the slowest 77 yard run in history.  I’m not complaining, but I’m just saying…..

Not to be outdone, the Vikings Percy Harvin returned the ensuing kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown.  Harvin probably should have been stopped early in his return run, but Jeff Reed forgot that he was playing tackle football and not “two hand touch”.  Reed got in front of Harvin on his return run and clearly tagged him with two hands.  Reed seemed perplexed as to why the referees didn’t whistle the play dead.

We seldom hear the words “wimpy” and “Steelers” used in the same sentence.  But I have to say that that may have been the wimpiest play that I have ever seen from a Steelers player.  Ever!  Shame on you, Jeff Reed!

This was pretty wimpy too.

Fortunately, the Steelers defense wasn’t finished yet.  With 1:15 left in the game, and the Steelers leading 20-17, the Vikings were marching up the field.  I don’t know about anyone else, but I started getting nervous that the Steelers might blow another game in the 4th quarter.  But backup linebacker Keyaron Fox had other ideas.  Fox intercepted a Brett Favre pass and returned it 82 yards for a touchdown.  Suddenly, the score was 27-17 with only a minute left in the game, and Steeler Nation breathed a collective sigh of relief.

I don’t think anyone who watched the game could have felt disappointed.  It was an extremely entertaining game that either team could have won.  Both teams played so hard that it seemed unfair that either team had to lose.

But somebody did have to lose, and that team was the Vikings.  So Minnesota is undefeated no more, and the Steelers have their first statement victory of the season.  Now they go into their bye week and prepare to play the undefeated Denver Broncos.

Here we go Steelers, here we go!!!!

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Perhaps the writing was on the wall when the Steelers failed to sign him to a new contract during the off-season.  Willie Parker’s days as the Steelers starting running back seem to have come to an end.

Parker returned to the playing field last Sunday despite a toe that is still not completely healed.

Prior to the game, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was non-committal as to who would get the majority of carries.  Both Tomlin and offensive coordinator Bruce Arians used the same neutral reply; “we’re just happy to have both running backs available to play”.

Fans, on the other hand didn’t seem to be quite so neutral.  Many Steelers fans had already grown tired of Parker’s inability to gain short yardage between the tackles.  Parker’s running style was often seen as being “feast or famine”.  Parker would either get to the outside and picks up significant yardage, or he would be stopped for little to no yardage.

Fast Willie Parker

Personally, I’ve always felt that Parker’s game was rather one-dimensional.  Parker is fast.  Period.  He isn’t a powerful runner, which is why he is often unsuccessful running between the tackles.  He also isn’t particularly elusive.  He has never been known for having much “swivel in his hips”, and his running style will never be confused with Barry Sanders’.  Oh yeah, and he can’t catch.

But despite the collective thoughts of much of Steeler Nation, the Steelers coaches decided to make it an open competition.  And after a one game competition, the winner is Mendenhall.

Mike Tomlin announced that Rashard Mendenhall will get the majority of the snaps for the foreseeable future.  “Rashard has earned the right to take the majority of the snaps as we move forward”.  And with those words, a baton was passed in Steelers running back history.

Parker doesn’t quite see it that way.  He seems to think that the reason that he is not starting is because he is not healthy.

“I am not ready to take the load right now,” Parker said. “When I am ready, we will make another decision.”

Perhaps Parker is right.  However, if that were the case wouldn’t Mike Tomlin have said that Mendenhall will start “until Parker is healthy” ?  Instead, he said that Mendenhall had “earned” the right to take the majority of the snaps.  That sound like Tomlin believes that Mendenhall has proven that he is the better choice (at least for now).

Mendenhall is averaging  5.1 yards per carry, compared to 3.1 yards/carry for Parker.  Moreover, they have almost the same number of carries.

(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

But before we get too excited about Mendenhall’s future, we have to remember that most of his yards were gained during starts against the Detroit Lions and the Cleveland Browns, two of the worst teams in the NFL.

We have to remember that Mendenhall does have a history of fumbling.  Even during his impressive games against the Lions and Browns, TV commentators mentioned how loosely he was holding the ball.

Besides those two dynamic games against lesser foes, Mendenhall doesn’t have much of an NFL resume.  Fans quickly forget that Mendenhall was all but invisible during the preseason.  In fact, most fans were calling for an undrafted rookie named Isaac Redman to become the Steelers’ starting running back at the end of the preseason.

The bottom line is that the ball belongs to Rashard Mendenhall….for now.  He still needs to show what he can do against quality NFL defenses.

In Willie Parker, we have a back who has proven himself over a long period of time.  In Mendenhall, it is still not clear what we have.

Perhaps Tomlin and Arians were right prior to their commitment to Mendenhall.  Perhaps we all should have just been happy to have both backs available to play.

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The Steelers’ schedule is about to get interesting.  On Sunday, they face the undefeated Minnesota Vikings.  Then after a bye week, they must face the currently undefeated Denver Broncos.

Steelers fans have been longing for a true measure of how good their team is.  They’re about to get it.

The last time the Steelers faced two undefeated teams in back-to-back games was in 2004.  The Steelers defeated the undefeated Patriots, ending their 21 game winning streak, and then defeated the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles the following week.  They were the only NFL team in history to ever achieve that feat so late in the season.

Getting a win this week won’t be easy.  The Vikings are a team that is very similar to the Steelers.  In recent years, the Vikings have been a team that primarily depended on a strong running game and strong defense to win games.  However, this year they find themselves with a suddenly potent passing attack led by a brash, gunslinger quarterback.  Sound familiar?

The Vikings’ potent running attack is led by Adrian Peterson, one of the best running backs in the NFL.  Peterson leads the NFL in rushing, and he torched the Baltimore Ravens’ defense for 143 yards last week. Peterson’s combination of size and speed will pose a daunting task for the Steelers’ defense.

After struggling in the passing game with QB Tavaris Jackson for the last several years, the Vikings’ passing attack is suddenly revived after the addition of legendary quarterback Brett Favre.

Vikings QB Brett Favre

Steelers fans know how great a season Ben Roethlisberger has been having so far.  Yet Favre has a higher passer rating and has thrown for more touchdowns than Roethlisberger.  Think about that for a moment.

The Vikings defense was the only defense in the NFL that allowed fewer rushing yards than the Steelers last year.  The Vikings’ run defense ended the 2008 season ranked #1 in the NFL, while the Steelers were ranked #2.

Are you starting to see the similarities between these two teams?

Fortunately, the Steelers are starting to come into their own.  The offense is on fire behind the arm of QB Ben Roethlisberger.  More importantly, the Steelers’ running game is finally starting to show signs of life.

Since inserting Rashard Mendenhall into the starting lineup, the Steelers’ running attack has been noticeably better.  Mendenhall seems to be more capable of getting the tough, short yardage that Willie Parker often struggled to get.

Based on Mendenhall’s performance the past 2 weeks, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has decided to name Mendenhall as the starter for the foreseeable future.  “Rashard has earned the right to take the majority of the snaps as we move forward”, said Tomlin.  This is welcome news to many Steelers fans who had been calling for Mendenhall to replace Parker in the starting lineup.

Steelers RB Rashard Mendenhall

While both teams have potent offenses, the real difference in the game should be the Steelers’ defense.  The Steelers defense is among the best in the league.  They are strong against the run and the pass.  Contrarily, while the Vikings defense is stout against the run, they have proven to be vulnerable to the pass.  The Vikings are ranked #24 against the pass.  That’s not a good thing when you are about to face the NFL’s leading passer (I still can’t get used to saying that about a Steelers’ quarterback).

I predict that the Steelers will bring the Vikings winning streak to an end by a score of 24-17.

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In an impressive display by both the offense and the defense, the Steelers defeated the Cleveland Browns for the 12th consecutive time.  A home crowd at Heinz Field saw the Steelers defeat their longtime rivals by a score of  27-14

The big news of the game was the return of Steelers safety Troy Polamalu.  Polamalu has been out since suffering a knee injury during the first game of the season.

Polamalu made his presence known almost immediately when he intercepted a pass from Browns’ quarterback Derek Anderson.  Unfortunately, he came down hard on his knee when making the interception, and came up limping.  This gave Steelers fans a scare, but Polamalu stayed in the game.

Polamalu wasn’t the only member of the defense that had a good game.  Linebacker Lawrence Timmons recorded 2 sacks during the game.

The entire Steelers defense played well as they held the Browns to only 197 net yards for the game.  The defense was accountable for only 7 of the 14 points scored by the Browns.  The other 7 points came on a 98 yard kickoff return by Joshua Cribbs.

While the Steelers defense turned in an excellent performance, the real heroes of the game were quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers offense.

Steelers TE Heath Miller

The offense accumulated 543 net yards of offense.  Nope, you didn’t read that wrong.  I did say 543 yards of offense.  That is a not a very Steeler-like output, but these are not your father’s Steelers.  As Big Ben is so fond of telling reporters, this Steelers offense is primarily a passing attack. 

As if to prove the point, Roethlisberger passed for 417 yards and 2 touchdowns.  Even more unbelievably, Roethlisberger finds himself leading the NFL in passing yards.  Roethlisberger is ahead of such prolific passers as Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers, Kurt Warner, Tom Brady, and Brett Favre. 

Big Ben has also completed more passes of 20+ yards than any quarterback in the NFL this season.  This is a testament to the incredible receiving weapons that the Steelers have armed Roethlisberger with.  Both Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes had over 100 receiving yards for the game.  Tight end Heath Miller also contributed 80 receiving yards, and rookie Mike Wallace had 50 yards.  Nope, these are definitely not your father’s Steelers.

To cap off an already great day, the Steelers got further help from each of their division rivals.  While the Browns were losing to the Steelers, the Baltimore Ravens lost to the Minnesota Vikings and the Cincinnati Bengals lost to the Houston Texans.  This leaves the Steelers tied with the Bengals for 1st place in the AFC North.

So the Steelers beat the Browns and are in first place in the AFC North.  Sounds pretty typical to me.  Wouldn’t you agree?