The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the St. Louis Rams 27-0 Saturday at Heinz Field and improved their record to 11-4 on the season. I have made it back through the game again twice and here are my further observations from the game not included in the regular game recap. The opening stop of Rams running back Steven Jackson by Troy Polamalu, as he blew by the attempted block of wide receiver Danario Alexander, set the tone for the type of day he would have. Polamalu finished the game with 6 total tackles, second most on the team. he was all over the field Saturday. Ike Taylor would have had the Read more [...]

Below are the Pittsburgh Steelers coverage stats for their week 15 Monday night loss against the San Francisco 49ers. These stats 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. Keep in mind that the Steelers do play quite a bit of zone coverage, so the coverage stats are not really reflective of play. 49ers quarterback Alex Smith had only 3 completions in this game that were thrown more than 10 yards Read more [...]

Below is the defensive participation chart for the Pittsburgh Steelers week 15 Monday night game versus the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park. The Steelers were in their base defense a whopping 48 of the 61 non-penalty plays Monday night against the 49ers. 8 times they were in nickel, 3 times in dime and 2 times in goal-line. In the dime, linebacker Lawrence Timmons was the linebacker off the field. Both Troy Polamalu and Ryan Clark were pulled very late in the game and that is how Ryan Mundy and Will Allen got their snaps. Stevenson Sylvester was also in for the final 2 kneel downs Read more [...]

Several Pittsburgh Steelers players will have cameo roles in in the newest Batman movie, Dark Knight Rises, that was filmed in Pittsburgh. A member of the Steelers ownership group, Thomas Tull, is the film's executive producer and a football game scene was filmed at Heinz Field for the movie. Wide receiver Hines Ward is one of the many Steelers players that have a cameo in the football game scene and Ward has surfaced in the latest leaked trailer for the film that you can see below. Ward is running into the endzone with the football as the ground collapses behind him and he turns around to see Read more [...]

The Dallas Cowboys game Saturday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was pretty much a laugher from the get-go, but two Pittsburgh Steelers players did not get a laugh out of the Cowboys final defensive play of the game. On 4th down and 12 from the Buccaneers 18 yard-line, Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman threw a pass down the right sideline to wide receiver Michael Spurlock, who had a step on Cowboys cornerback Terence Newman. The ball seemed to be slightly overthrown and Spurlock let up when he caught Cowboys safety Abram Elam closing out of the corner of his eye. The pictures below show Read more [...]

There were several great play by the Pittsburgh Steelers defense last Thursday night in their 14-3 win over the Cleveland Browns and I wanted to focus in on the 3rd down and goal play from the Steelers 1 foot line with just over 10 minutes left in the first quarter. This play followed the great touchdown saving tackle of Browns quarterback Colt McCoy by James Harrison, that was originally ruled a touchdown. The Steelers are in goal-line personnel on this play and the first picture has the Steelers players numbered that are on the field so you can see who is where to begin with. Read more [...]

Pittsburgh Steelers defensive captain James Farrior joined Jim Rome on his radio show today for an interview and he was asked about the suspension of fellow linebacker James Harrison, and if he thought the team needed to change the way they play going forward. Farrior was asked specifically if Harrison should change the way he plays despite telling former Steelers running back Jerome Bettis earlier in the week that he wouldn't. Farrior said he hopes so and that he hopes Harrison is not that stubborn to continue doing stuff like that. Farrior was also asked about if the Steelers are being treated Read more [...]

Cleveland Browns rookie defensive Phil Taylor said on Wednesday that he has been fined $15,000 by the league for his roughing the passer penalty on Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger this past Thursday night. Taylor was penalized in the first quarter for delivering a blow to the head of Roethlisberger. This makes the second player disciplined from the Thursday night game as Steelers linebacker James Harrison was suspended for one game on Tuesday for his helmet-to-helmet hit on Brown quarterback Colt McCoy. There is still no word if Steelers linebacker James Farrior will be Read more [...]

Below are the Steelers coverage stats for the week 14 Thursday win against the Cleveland Browns. These stats 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. Keep in mind that the Steelers played quite a bit of zone coverage in this game so the coverage stats are not really reflective of play. The Steelers defense held both Colt McCoy and Seneca Wallace to a 53% completion rate in the game and picked Read more [...]

The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Cleveland Browns 14-3 Thursday night at Heinz Field and here are some of my post game observations after going through the game again. Lawrence Timmons bit hard on the play action on the early long completion to Evan Moore and never recovered in coverage. On the second big completion to Josh Cribbs, Troy Polamalu guessed wrong and Cribbs was wide open on the seam route. It was James Harrison that prevented Colt McCoy from getting into the endzone for the touchdown that was overturned after McCoy was clearly down. Harrison fought off his block to get a foot. Read more [...]

The Pittsburgh Steelers look to take one step closer to earning a playoff spot Thursday night at Heinz Field against the Cleveland Browns. A win by the Steelers on the short week will have spirits high and they will have a mini bye week of sorts to get ready for their week 15 Monday night game on the road against the San Francisco 49ers. A slip up against the lowly Browns would almost certainly put an end of any hopes of winning the AFC North and a conference loss could come into play down the road should they drop another game or two in their final three. This is a game they should and better Read more [...]

The Steelers wrapped up their on-field practice preparations on Wednesday in preparation to play the Cleveland Browns Thursday night at Heinz Field and the game will be broadcast on the NFL Network. The final injury report of the week is now out and it shows that nose tackle Chris Hoke (neck), linebacker Chris Carter (hamstring), running back Jonathan Dwyer (foot), wide receiver Arnaz Battle (hamstring) and wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders are all listed as out as expected. Hoke will be placed on injured reserve very soon thus ending his season and perhaps his career. Dwyer injured his foot against Read more [...]

The Pittsburgh Steelers hit the practice field Tuesday for the first time this week in preparation for the week 14 Thursday night game at Heinz Field against the Cleveland Browns. The Tuesday practice was a walk-through and the team was not in pads today. The injury report is now out and it shows linebacker LaMarr Woodley (hamstring), wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders (foot), running back Jonathan Dwyer (foot), nose tackle Chris Hoke (neck) and linebacker Chris Carter (hamstring) all sat out today. Offensive coordinator Bruce Arians said earlier in the day that Sanders will likely sit out against Read more [...]

Below are the Steelers coverage stats for the week 13 Sunday win against the Cincinnati Bengals. These stats 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 Steelers defense held both Andy Dalton and Bruce Gradkowski under a 50% completion rate on the day. 5 of the 14 completions were of the screen variety. The secondary also allowed only 2 explosive plays of 20 yards or more on the afternoon, with Read more [...]

The Steelers first injury report for the week is up for their week 14 game Thursday night against the Cleveland Browns. The Steelers did not practice today so the first injury report is a speculative one based on if the Steelers would have practiced. Listed on the Monday speculative report is wide receiver Arnaz Battle (hamstring), linebacker Chris Carter (hamstring), safety Ryan Clark (shoulder), wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery (knee), running back Jonathan Dwyer (foot), linebacker James Farrior (thumb), linebacker Larry Foote (hamstring), guard Ramon Foster (ankle), linebacker James Harrison Read more [...]