Dale Lolley pointed out today on Twitter that Steelers second year wide receiver Antonio Brown leads the NFL in catches over the last 4 weeks with 26. I double checked the numbers and it is indeed a true stat. Brown has been targeted 40 times in the last 4 games and has caught 65% of them for 364 yards. Catches are fine and dandy, but perhaps an even greater stat is that 22 of the 26 balls he has caught have resulted in a first down or a touchdown. That is 85% of balls caught producing more than just a catch. He is averaging 14 yards per catch over that span and 9.1 yards per target in addition. Mike Read more [...]

Any AFC North win is a great and it is even better win you get them on the road. I recapped the Steelers 24-17 win over the Cincinnati Bengals last night and now have had time to go back over the game a few more times as I do every week and below are more of my in-depth observations from the game. The Steelers won the toss and decided to defer once again. The Steelers defense answered the bell this time and William Gay clearly had put the Ravens game behind him quickly by defending two passes on the first two Bengals drives. This of course would not be the only impact Gay would make in the game. Right Read more [...]

Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall showed some good balance and hard inside running on his second touchdown of the day that ended up being the game winner against the Cincinnati Bengals. The play in question that I broke down below was on 1st and goal from the Bengals 9 yard-line with just over 2 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. The play is one of the numerous counter pike runs that the Steelers run. Below is a 10 picture breakdown of the play. You can see the full video replay here. Read more [...]

The Steelers got their first AFC North divisional win this season on their third try Sunday as they beat the Cincinnati Bengals 24-17 on the road this afternoon at Paul Brown Stadium. The Steelers defense sealed the win this week as cornerback William Gay stepped in front of an Andy Dalton pass intended for Jerome Simpson with 2:33 left in the game. Gay also was responsible for the other interception in the game as he tipped another pass intended for Andre Caldwell that was ultimately intercepted by linebacker Lawrence Timmons. It was the first time this season the Steelers defense forced two Read more [...]

The Steelers are still stinging from their Sunday night loss in the finals seconds to the Ravens, but must regroup quickly for another division game on the road against the AFC North leading Cincinnati Bengals. This is a must game if the Steelers still want to have any shot at winning the division as a loss would make them 0-3 in division play. The Bengals are the surprise team in the division and should not be faulted for playing an easy schedule to start the season. As I do each and every week, here are my 7 things to watch for this week against the Bengals as the Steelers look to move to Read more [...]

The offensive line breakdown report from the Sunday night game against the Baltimore Ravens is now complete and I had to even do this twice because of the tremendous grades that I gave the first time through. This was by far the best the offensive line has played as a unit all season and the best against the Ravens in some time. All 5 starters scored in the 90% range and that is just unheard of. The sack allowed on 3rd down however in the redzone can't be ignored though as it was a huge play in the game and the Steelers had to settle for a field goal because of it. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger Read more [...]

Ryan Clark was on 93.7 The Fan last night and talked about the penalties in the game against the Ravens and defended his hit on tight end Ed Dickson. Clark also talks about the game winning touchdown where Clark says he was to blame for being out of place on that play and says mis-communication was partly to blame. It is Wednesday and that means the latest pre game release is up on steelers.com and as usual it loaded with great information. One nugget that sticks out is tight end Heath Miller needs just eight receptions to tie Elbie Nickel (329) for the most receptions by a tight end in Steelers Read more [...]

The Steelers are 6-2 at the half way point of the 2011 season so I thought it would be fun to hand out some mid-season awards before they take on the Ravens tonight. I was going to post these Friday night, but thought it would be fun to poll Steeler Nation first to see what they think as opposed to just putting up my selections. Here are the links to all the polls I put up and I have my selections and reasoning below for each in addition. Best Offensive Lineman My Choice - Max Starks - Many would think this is a slam dunk award for center Maurkice Pouncey, but since Starks has returned, the Read more [...]

Below are the Steelers formation & personnel rushing and passing stats from the week 8 game against the New England Patriots along with the year to date formation stats through the first 8 games of the 2011 season. I have disclaimered how we do the formation stats in previous post so you should know the drill by now. If you are just finding this info, please refer to the previous weeks post for clarification. If you want to get a better look at the personnel used on a certain page, please refer to the offensive participation charts. Looking at the Patriots game from a personnel standpoint the 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 [...]

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 [...]

Below are the formation rushing and passing stats from the week 7 game against the Arizona Cardinals along with the year to date stats through the first 7 games of the 2011 season. One word of caution. The formations are different from the actual personnel on the field as my game charters will list an h-back player at the snap as a running back. This would mean that players like Hines Ward, David Johnson or Heath Miller for example were charted formation wise as being a running back as this gives you a better picture of the formation actually used on a play. The same goes if Miller or a running Read more [...]

My offensive line breakdown from the week 7 game against the Arizona Cardinals is complete and I was fooled a bit from my initial views. I stated earlier that I thought it was a roller coaster type performance, but after going through it thoroughly, I found a pretty consistent showing. I think the play of Chris Kemoeatu made it seem like the line was worse than what it actually was. While I thought the run blocking was adequate, there were not huge holes or big creases as the Cardinals did a great job of avoiding second level traffic and did a good job loading the box to outnumber interior blockers. Read more [...]

Voting is now open for the 2012 Pro Bowl game that will be played Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012 at Aloha Stadium in Hawaii. The Steelers have several players you can vote for per the usual and here is the rundown of the players that can ve voted for on offense, defense and special teams. You can vote here. Steelers Offense: Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger - After a rough start against the Ravens he has really come on strong the last few weeks. Running Back Rashard Mendenhall - Certainly not the best start and he missed a game due to a hamstring injury. Fullback David Johnson - Plays both tight Read more [...]