The Pittsburgh Steelers saw their 2011 season come to an abrupt end Sunday in Denver with 29-23 overtime loss to the Denver Broncos in the AFC Wild Card game. Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow hit wide receiver Demaryius Thomas on the first play in overtime for a game-winning 80-yard touchdown pass to give the Broncos the win. Tebow had 316 passing yards and two touchdowns in the game and the Broncos now advance to play the New England Patriots in a divisional playoff game Saturday night in Foxboro. The Broncos finished with 447 total yards against the Steelers No. 1 defense that allowed an average Read more [...]

The playoffs begin today for the Pittsburgh Steelers as they take on the Denver Broncos in the 2nd AFC Wild Card game of the weekend in Denver. With a win, the Steelers will move on to face the New England Patriots next Saturday. As I have done each and every week this season, here are my 7 things to look for against the Broncos. Also included is my score prediction for the game. Seeing Red - Isaac Redman will make his second career start at running back now that Rashard Mendenhall was lost for the season last week with a torn ACL in his right knee. His first start came back in week 5 against Read more [...]

Maurkice Pouncey and Jerricho Cotchery were both interviewed on 93.7 The Fan and Pouncey made it very clear several times that he is very tired answering questions about Tim Tebow and that he does not date Tebow. Cotchery talks about being part of the Steelers and the upcoming game against the Denver Broncos. Cotchery also was on WFAN in New York and talked about New York Jets wide receiver Santonio Holmes and the problems going on with the Jets. Cotchery is even on the latest episode of Steelers Speaks with Teresa Varley. Rick Smith, the agent for Rashard Mendenhall, said that Mendenhall's Read more [...]

By Jeremy Hritz Sure, the ankle of Ben Roethlisberger is hurt. Probably even more so than it was last week. Yes, Rashard Mendenhall is done for the year, and possibly until October. Correct. The up-and-coming corner Cortez Allen is out, and Keenan Lewis, though he will play, is dealing with a hamstring. Combine all of this with the return of Doug Legursky and LaMarr Woodley, both who may still have lingering effects from their injuries, and what you have is a recipe for Mile High loss, right? Wrong. The Pittsburgh Steelers of 2011 are a team who have, won in the face of adversity and overcome Read more [...]

When the Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Denver Broncos this Sunday in their AFC wild card matchup they will do so with all undrafted running backs in uniform. Starter Rashard Mendenhall was officially placed on injured reserve Tuesday with a torn ACL in his right knee that he suffered in the final regular season game against the Cleveland Browns and that means Isaac Redman, the Steelers undrafted running back out of Bowie State, will make his second career start. Redman was originally signed as an undrafted free agent in 2009 after offensive coordinator Bruce Arians saw him on tape after a Read more [...]

Below are the offensive personnel packages, play counts and participation chart for the Pittsburgh Steelers week 17 win on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns. It is not surprising that Hines Ward saw 26 snaps in this game as they looked to feed him the ball to get him to his 1,000th career reception. Emmanuel Sanders saw 23 non-penalty snaps in his return to action. Rookie running back John Clay received extra playing time due to the early ACL knee injury to Rashard Mendenhall, and saw 15 non-penalty snaps. Personnel wise we saw the return of the 0 personnel grouping this past week with Read more [...]

The Pittsburgh Steelers have promoted running back Chad Spann to the 53 man roster on Tuesday from the practice squad and signed running back Albert Young to the vacant spot on the practice squad. There is no word as of yet to what the corresponding roster move from the 53 man roster was to make room for Spann. Spann was originally signed to the Steelers practice squad on the 12th of December after he spent time with the Colts and the Buccaneers. He was undrafted in 2011 and played his college ball at Northern Illinios. He measures in at almost 5 foot 8 and weighs 201 pounds and played all four Read more [...]

The Pittsburgh Steelers as expected today placed running back Rashard Mendenhall on the season ending injured reserve list today and signed back defensive back Anthony Madison to the 53 man roster to fill the spot. Mendenhall tore the ACL in his right knee on the last play of the first quarter against the Cleveland Browns this past Sunday. The surgery date for Mendenhall has yet to be determined. Madison is being brought back to help on special teams primarily as the Steelers will likely be without rookie cornerback Cortez Allen, who is recovering from a shoulder injury suffered on Sunday, against Read more [...]

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin met the media today for his weekly press conference in preparation for the Steelers AFC wild card game this coming Sunday on the road against the Denver Broncos. Tomlin previewed the Broncos on both offense and defense and updated the injury status of running back Rashard Mendenhall, cornerback Keenan Lewis, cornerback Cortez Allen, running back Mewelde Moore, guard Doug Legursky and linebacker LaMarr Woodley to name a few. Injury wise, Tomlin said Mendenhall (knee) is done for the year with his ACL injury and they are working towards specifics of when 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 [...]

Ed Bouchette reports via Twitter that the right knee injury suffered by Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall yesterday against the Cleveland Browns on a first half run is indeed a torn ACL and he will be lost for the rest of the playoffs. Bouchette reports that the good news is that there is no other damage in the knee and that Mendenhall will have surgery to repair the torn ACL over the next couple of weeks, presumably after the swelling goes down. The injury happened on on the last play of the first quarter as Mendenhall attempted to plant his right leg and cut back inside on Read more [...]

Ed Bouchette reports today that the injuries suffered by Pittsburgh Steelers cornerbacks Keenan Lewis and Cortez Allen yesterday against the Cleveland Browns are a hamstring and separated shoulder respectively. Lewis injured his hamstring some time in the second half and was replaced by cornerback Bryant McFadden when the Steelers used their nickel sub-package. Allen hurt his shoulder on a tackle during a punt return. Both Lewis and Allen are key special teams players for the Steelers as gunners and it looks like one or both could be in jeopardy of missing the AFC wild card game on Sunday against Read more [...]

The Pittsburgh Steelers are in the playoffs and will play the Denver Broncos Sunday afternoon in Denver in one of the two AFC wild card games with the Cincinnati Bengals taking on the Houston Texans Saturday in Houston in the other first round AFC wild card game. The New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens both received the first round byes and are the 1st and 2nd seeds respectfully. The Steelers are the 5th seed and the Bengals are the 6th. The Texans are the 3rd and the Broncos are 4th. Should the Steelers beat the Broncos on Sunday in Denver, they will travel to Foxboro to take on the Patriots 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 had another close game to finish out the 2011 regular season, but they held on to beat the Cleveland Browns 13-9 Sunday at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger started despite his left ankle still not being 100% and threw for 221 yards on 40 attempts. He was sacked twice on the afternoon, but did not turn the ball over in the win. Wide receiver Antonio Brown finished out his spectacular sophomore season by hauling in 6 catches for 90 yards. Brown also chipped in 73 yards on 3 kickoff returns in the game and he went over the 1000 yard mark in return Read more [...]