Below are the Steelers coverage stats for the week 8 Sunday afternoon game against the New England Patriots. They are broken down by play and include down and distance, line of scrimmage, direction, yards gained, yards after catch, personnel the offense used, defensive package, number of pass rushers and whether or not the defense blitzed on the play. The big thing that sticks out this week is how good the defense did for the most part at not allowing many yards after the catch against a team that has made a living off it this season. On 24 completions the Patriots had 91 yards after the catch, Read more [...]

A fast and furious day as far as Steelers injury news goes concerning their linebacker unit as Ed Bouchette is now reporting that right outside linebacker James Harrison will play next Sunday night against the the Baltimore Ravens baring a setback. Harrison has missed the last four games after fracturing his right orbital bone against the Texans back in week 4. Harrison had surgery the following Wednesday and head coach Mike Tomlin speculated at the time that Harrison would miss a month at that time. Bouchette talked to Bill Parise, Harrison's agent, and was told that Harrison's eye improved Read more [...]

Pretty much as expected, defensive lineman Corbin Bryant cleared waivers following his release on Saturday and has been re-signed back to the Steelers practice squad today. Bryant was waived Saturday to make room for linebacker Mortty Ivy, who was promoted from the practice squad to the 53 man roster. The Steelers needed the inside linebacker depth with James Farrior down with a calf injury and with the recent news that Farrior could be down for a few more weeks, Ivy is likely to stay on the roster for a while. Bryant had previously been promoted last Saturday from the practice squad when defensive Read more [...]

Season 2, Episode 37 of The Terrible Podcast is up and David Todd and I spend 50 minutes recapping the Steelers impressive 25-17 over the New England Patriots. We open with a nod to history and a look at what we thought might happen on Sunday. As we discussed during the week, the Steelers went to much more press coverage and multiple looks on defense and on offense the Steelers spread the Patriots and attacked much like teams often try to attack Pittsburgh. It all worked like a charm. Ben Roethlisberger put up big numbers and the Steelers were able to contain Tom Brady and the Patriots offense Read more [...]

Ed Bouchette reported this morning that inside linebacker James Farrior could be out until December with a torn calf. Farrior was inactive yesterday against the Patriots, so Larry Foote started in his place and Stevenson Sylvester started along side him in the Steelers base defense. Farrior injured his calf against the Cardinals. In addition to Farrior, outside linebacker LaMarr Woodley looks to be questionable this week after suffering a hamstring injury yesterday. Woodley is claiming he will be fine and referred to the injury as a cramp. He remained sidelined however after leaving the game. There Read more [...]

I have gone back through the Steelers game against the New England Patriots now a few times and jotted down some more observations that I did not include in the post game recap. I do this every week as it is impossible to see everything just one or two times through a game. Many will judge off of a stat sheet and it is what sets this site apart from the rest as we actually watch the games more than just one time. Here we go. The Patriots were so protective against the long ball early on that is opened up the middle of the field for Heath Miller and Ben Roethlisberger took it. The Steelers Read more [...]

It was a great day in Steeler Nation on Sunday as the Steelers knocked off the hated New England Patriots today at Heinz Field 25-17. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was 36 of 50 passing on the day for 365 yards and 2 touchdowns and he attempted 32 of them in the first half alone. The touchdown passes were to running back Mewelde Moore and Antonio Brown, the first of his career in the regular season. Tight end Heath Miller was a huge factor early in the game as the Patriots poor pass defense concentrated early on taking away the deep pass from Mike Wallace. Miller caught 4 of his 7 passes Read more [...]

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin held his post game press conference following the 25-17 win over the New England Patriots today at Heinz Field. As far as injuries go, Tomlin said linebacker LaMarr Woodley suffered a hamstring injury, right tackle Marcus Gilbert had an ankle injury, cornerback Keenan Lewis injured his shoulder and cornerback Ike Taylor suffered a shoulder injury as well as a stinger. Tomlin says they will evaluate those guys in terms of moving forward for next week. Tomlin praised young guys Cortez Allen, Chris Carter and Stevenson Sylvester play today and said they better keep Read more [...]

Below are the 7 players that will be inactive and not dress today for the Steelers and the New England Patriots. The Steelers officially ruled out James Harrison, Jason Worilds, Doug Legursky and Chris Hoke on Friday. Hines Ward and James Farrior were downgraded to out earlier this morning. For the Patriots, Josh Barrett and Dane Fletcher were ruled out prior to the game. Inactives are officially released and announced starting 90 minutes before kick-off. Steelers WR Hines Ward LB James Harrison LB Jason Worilds G Doug Legursky NT Chris Hoke LB James Farrior QB Dennis Dixon Patriots S Read more [...]

Not surprisingly, Steelers veterans Hines Ward and James Farrior have been downgraded to out this morning according to several reports. Ward suffered a sprained ankle last week versus the Cardinals while Farrior suffered a calf injury. With Ward out, second year receiver Emmanuel Sanders will now start opposite Mike Wallace. Jerricho Cotchery will now slide up to the 4th receiver spot. With Farrior sidelined, Larry Foote will likely call the defensive signals inside and will be joined by second year inside linebacker Stevenson Sylvester in base defense sets. The Steelers also promoted Mortty Read more [...]

If you have not checked out the new Steelers Nation 24 hour radio station, you really are missing a treat. It can also be heard via the IHeartRadio app as well. I love it. Nick Richetta sat in for David Todd on the latest episode of The Terrible Podcast and we previewed the New England Patriots game in depth. Ed Bouchette writes that the slow start that Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall has gotten off to might cost him when it comes time to talk contract extension. In my opinion, there is no guarantee he gets extended prior to the start of the 2012 season. Mike Reiss reports that Read more [...]

Taking baby steps, but at least I had another winning week against the spread with an 8-5 ATS. Straight up was respectable as well as I was 9-4 to boot. On the season I am 41-62 ATS and 64-39 straight up. Let us see if I can make it 3 straight winning weeks and continue to chew away at that awful start I had against the spread. Falcons, Bears, Packers, Jets, Raiders and Buccaneers are on the bye this week. Good luck everyone and GO Steelers. Week 1 Picks Week 2 Picks Week 3 Picks Week 4 Picks Week 5 Picks Week 6 Picks Week 7 Picks Tennessee Titans 23 Indianapolis Colts 20, 1:00 p.m. Read more [...]

Four players have already been ruled out on Friday for the game against the New England Patriots and it is not looking good for Hines Ward or James Farrior this week either. Let's have a look at the injured players and predict the other inactives this week. The official inactive list are released 90 minutes before kick-off and I will have them up on the site as soon as they are announced. G Doug Legursky - Legursky will be down yet another week with his dislocated toe suffered against the Jaguars a few weeks back. There is still no real time table on his return, but best guess right now is that Read more [...]

Week 8 is here and it is indeed Patriots week as the Steelers come back home to Heinz Field to host the New England Patriots. The Steelers will once again be without James Harrison, Doug Legursky and Chris Hoke this week, while Hines Ward and James Farrior are looking less likely to play by the hour. While not a must win game for the Steelers, it certainly will not hurt things if they were to win this week and settle the score next week against the Ravens. It would give them the inside track at winning the AFC North based on the remainder of the schedule. As I do each and every week, here are my Read more [...]

Mark Kaboly is reporting via Twitter that Steelers defensive end Ziggy Hood has been fined $7,500 for an infraction against the Arizona Cardinals this past week. Hood is being fined for illegal hands to face/facemask and he makes the second Steelers player fined this week as left guard Chris Kemoeatu was fined $15,000 for 2 infractions against the Cardinals. One was for a late hit and the other was for a facemask, illegal hands to the face penalty as well. The Steelers fines now equal $127,500 this year and that includes preseason in addition. Read more [...]