Below is the defensive participation chart for the Pittsburgh Steelers Wild Card game loss versus the Denver Broncos this past Sunday in Denver. The Steelers were in their base defense for 44 of the 55 non-penalty plays Sunday against the Broncos. Just 11 plays in the nickel sub-package. Nose tackle Casey Hampton left after just 2 plays with his ACL knee injury and left defensive end Brett Keisel left with an injured groin after 11 non-penalty snaps. Steve McLendon, Ziggy Hood and Cameron Heyward all finished out the game on the defensive line. LaMarr Woodley saw 37 snaps and Jason Worilds Read more [...]

Season 2, Episode 64 of The Terrible Podcast is up and with David Todd busy tearing up the blackjack tables in Las Vegas, I have Nick Richetta back in the co-host chair this week as we recap the Steelers 13-9 win over the Cleveland Browns to close out the 2011 regular season. Before we get into talking about the game, Nick and I talk about the injuries suffered by Rashard Mendenhall, Keenan Lewis and Cortez Allen yesterday. Mendenhall is out for the season with a torn ACL in his right knee, but we do not think he was the biggest injury of the three. We explain who was and why. We discuss the Read more [...]

The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Cleveland Browns Sunday to close out the regular season at 12-4. As I do every week, here are my deeper post game observations after going through the game tape a few more times. The sack by Lawrence Timmons on the Browns opening saw Timmons come on a delayed blitz and he took on fullback Owen Marecic. Marecic did not hold his block long and Timmons spun away back inside for the sack. Jason Worilds should get a little credit on the play for taking right tackle Artis Hicks up the field to open up the lane. Great tackle on Josh Cribbs by Keenan Lewis on the Read more [...]

The Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Cleveland Browns today in Cleveland at Cleveland Municipal Stadium as the Steelers look to move to close out the regular season 12-4. Ben Roethlisberger will get the start today at quarterback and Maurkice Pouncey will get the start at center. The Steelers will dress three quarterbacks today. Chris Kemoeatu will start at left guard and Jason Worilds will start at left outside linebacker. The Steelers ruled out two players on Friday and below are the rest of the 7 inactive players today on the inactive list released 90 minutes before kickoff. Steelers RB Mewelde Read more [...]

The Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Cleveland Browns Sunday at Cleveland Municipal Stadium as they look to close out the regular season at 12-4. Most of the inactives for this week are pretty easy to decipher with two players already ruled out on the Friday injury report and one listed as doubtful. The big question is who is the 7th inactive this week on the list? As I do every week, here is the prediction of the 7 game inactives for Sunday and a few notes on each of the players. The official inactive list of players will be announced 90 minutes before kickoff and I will have them posted on the Read more [...]

I have tracked the TOX stat all season long as it relates to wins and losses every week in the NFL as I love the stat. Half of that stat revolves around explosive plays, plays of 20 yards or more, and the ability of teams in the NFL to not only create them on offense, but not allow them on defense. Many have criticized the Steelers run defense all year long, especially how it relates to allowing explosive runs this year. The defense allowed just 1 run last year of 20 yards or more and this year they have allowed 7. That might seem like a big deal, but it really isn't when you factor in that Read more [...]

The Steelers defense created 35 take-aways in 2010 as opposed to just 14 so far this season. I went back and watched all off the takeaways from last year to refresh myself with how they were created. 8 of them were caused by getting to the quarterback in some shape or form. 6 were results of good hits on either a ball carrier or strip after a catch. 8 of them were results of bad throws by the opposing quarterback, 5 were nice plays where the Steelers defender jumped the route. 4 were balls that originally came off of a receivers hands and 4 more came on special teams. Below is a play-by-play Read more [...]

Although the play did not end in a sack, it was fun to watch Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison almost get a sack of Rams quarterback Kellen Clemens by using left tackle Adam Goldberg to do it with. Below is the breakdown of the play in pictures that shows just how strong Harrison is. Remember that Goldberg goes about 6'7", 305 lbs and Harrison around 6'0", 242 lbs. Roughly 7 inches and 63 lbs difference in the two. The situation is a 3rd and 7 from the rams 40 yard-line with 5:36 left in the first half. The Steelers are in their nickel defense and will rush 5 on the play as linebacker Read more [...]

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 [...]

The Pittsburgh Steelers take on the St. Louis Rams today at Heinz Field as they look to move to 11-4 on the season. The inactives for this week are pretty easy to decipher with three players already ruled out on the Friday injury report. The Steelers will once again likely dress all three quarterbacks for this game as well. As I do every week, here is the prediction of the 7 game inactives for Saturday and a few notes on each of the players. The official inactive list of players will be announced 90 minutes before kickoff and I will have them posted on the site as soon as they are announced. RB Read more [...]

Mark Kaboly is reporting via Twitter that Pittsburgh Steelers starting right outside linebacker James Harrison is now back at the Steelers facility following his one week suspension for hitting Cleveland Browns quarterback Colt McCoy helmet-to-helmet back in week 14. The suspension to Harrison was handed down last Tuesday and Harrison has not been allowed at the Steelers facility for a week. Harrison appealed the suspension, but it was denied. The suspension did not keep Harrison out of the public spotlight as he has been very vocal on his Twitter account, that included remarks on several hits Read more [...]

The Pittsburgh Steelers lost to the San Francisco 49ers 20-3 Monday night and dropped to 10-4 on the season. I have made it back through the game again and here are my further observations from the game not included in the regular game recap. The first drive started well and included several quick, short passes that were easy throws for Ben Roethlisberger. The interception was him forcing the ball as neither David Johnson nor Mike Wallace had any separation. The throw he should have made was to Antonio Brown underneath on the shallow cross. Roethlisberger also showed the predictable early signs Read more [...]

Power outage! OK, I got the easy one out of the way, but in reality it was a lost opportunity as the Pittsburgh Steelers lost 20-3 to the San Francisco 49ers Monday night at Candlestick Stadium. The kickoff of the game was delayed thanks to a power outage caused by a transformer and the Steelers own transformer, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, was short on his own consistent power in the loss. Roethlisberger made the start despite an injured left ankle suffered in week 14 against the Cleveland Browns and he just wasn't right all night. He was 25 for 44 on the night for 330 yards, but threw 3 Read more [...]

Gerry Dulac is reporting tonight that Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is now expected to start Monday night against the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park with his injured left ankle. Dulac reports that the decision to start Roethlisberger had nothing to with the Baltimore Ravens Sunday night loss to the San Diego Chargers. The loss by both the Ravens and the Houston Texans on Sunday put the Steelers in control of their own destiny as far as the number one overall seed in the AFC goes. With that seed comes home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Roehtlisberger is Read more [...]

The Monday night game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the San Francisco 49ers will be short several key players as the Steelers will be without center Maurkice Pouncey, linebacker James Harrison and possibly even quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and the 49ers look to be missing their best linebacker Patrick Willis. Should the Baltimore Ravens lose Sunday night to the San Diego Chargers, the Steelers will have a chance to take back over the lead in the AFC North with a win. The 49ers are still fighting to preserve a first round bye in the playoffs and recover from their loss last week against Read more [...]