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 [...]

If you are looking for a good pregame read, make sure to check out the Steelers official game release for the Saturday game against the St. Louis Rams. Undrafted rookie running back John Clay was promoted to the 53 man roster from the practice squad on Friday and gave an interview to his hometown paper after he heard the news. Clay says he was told he will be on the punt return team on Saturday against the Rams. Rookie tight end Weslye Saunders sat down with Teresa Varley for an interview in the latest edition of Steelers Speak. Saunders really gives a good interview and tells about how he Read more [...]

It seems like the Pittsburgh Steelers just returned back from blacked out San Francisco and now they must turn around quickly, lick their wounds and host the 2-12 St. Louis Rams today at Heinz Field. Starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will not start this game due to his bad left ankle, but could be in uniform just in case of emergency. The Rams are a very depleted squad and that certainly will be just what the Steelers need on a short week. As I do every week, here are my 7 things to look for against the Rams as the Steelers look to move to 11-4 on the season along with my score prediction. No Read more [...]

The 2011 Pittsburgh Steelers Christmas carol videos are beginning to be posted on steelers.com and today the first of four videos is now up. It opens with head coach Mike Tomlin giving Christmas greetings to all Steelers fans. The Steelers defensive linemen open up the carol singing by performing "Winter Wonderland" and Chris Hoke steals the show as usual with Ziggy Hood a close second. They also get help from defensive line coach John Mitchell, but Casey Hampton is nowhere to be found. The tight ends are up next with a very off key rendition of "Sleigh Ride" and the specialist follow them with 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 [...]

The Pittsburgh Steelers were back on the practice field Thursday in preparation for their week 15 Monday night game against the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park. The first official injury report of the week was released on Thursday and it shows that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (ankle), center Maurkice Pouncey (ankle), wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders (foot), linebacker Chris Carter (hamstring), tackle Marcus Gilbert (illness) and safety Troy Polamalu (hamstring) all did not practice. Roethlisberger, Pouncey, and Polamalu were all injured in the Thursday night game against the Cleveland Read more [...]

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin met the media today for his weekly press conference in preparation for their Monday night game against San Francisco 49ers. The hot topic was of course the one game suspension of linebacker James Harrison that was announced this morning following his helmet-to-helmet hit on Cleveland Browns quarterback Colt McCoy. Tomlin also addressed the injury status of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, center Maurkice Pouncey, linebacker LaMarr Woodley, defensive end Ziggy Hood, safety Troy Polamalu, wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, wide receiver Arnaz Battle and linebacker Read more [...]

Below is the defensive participation chart for the Pittsburgh Steelers week 14 Thursday night game versus the Cleveland Browns at Heinz Field. Rookie Cameron Heyward saw a season high 33 non-penalty snaps in this game and that was likely because Ziggy Hood suffered a groin injury early. Heyward mostly played on the left side. Not much work for rookie Cortez Allen in this game with just 2 non-penalty snaps. Larry Foote got some early work, but none in the second half. Have to wonder if he aggravated his hamstring. Troy Polamalu came off for the final 9 plays after tweaking his hamstring. The Read more [...]

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and center Maurkice Pouncey both had their MRI test done Friday on their injured ankles and the results on both were not deemed to be Grade 3 sprains, but high ankle sprains instead according to Gerry Dulac. Dulac says the injuries are "not good" according to his source. Both players are currently in walking boots and will likely wear them way into early next week. Roethlisberger went down in the second quarter of the Thursday night win against the Cleveland Browns after being sacked by the Browns defensive lineman Scott Paxson. Roethlisberger Read more [...]

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger showed why he is the toughest quarterback in the league Thursday night as he returned from a high ankle sprain suffered in the second quarter to lead the team to a 14-3 win over the Cleveland Browns. The gimped up Roethlisberger was 16 of 21 passing on the night for 280 yards with 2 touchdown passes to Jerricho Cotchery and Antonio Brown. He also had one interception in the game. He left the game with just under 6 minutes left in the first half after being sacked by Scott Paxson. On the play Roethlisberger had his ankle twisted severely during Read more [...]

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin addressed the media in his post game press conference following the 14-3 Thursday night win over the Cleveland Browns at Heinz Field. Tomlin said he was happy with the redzone defense and that was the reason they won the game. Tomlin said they worked against themselves tonight in many ways. They negated some plays with penalties that stopped drives and they lost the turnover battle significantly. That is why the game unfolded the way it did. Tomlin said they are in the club house with the win headed into the weekend and they like that. Injury wise, Read more [...]

The Pittsburgh Steelers moved to 9-3 on the season with their 35-7 thrashing Sunday of the Cincinnati Bengals at Heinz Field. I have gone through the game a second time and here are my notebook observations from the game. The Steelers special teams were very special indeed on Sunday. Rookie Cameron Heyward really sparked things on the block of the early field goal attempt and fellow rookie Curtis Brown had two nice solo tackles and assisted on another. You can see why he was touted as such a good special teams player at Texas. Stevenson Sylvester caused the fumble that was recovered by Emmanuel Read more [...]

Part two of the LaMarr Woodley feature on NFL.com was posted yesterday and in this episode Woodley and his family reminisce about his humble upbringing as they throw a surprise 78th birthday party for his grandmother during the bye week back home in Michigan. Ike Taylor joined John Harris again this week and talked about the interception against the Chiefs and how Woodley was teasing him before the game that he might need to use some Stickum. Safety Ryan Mundy joined 93.7 The Fan yesterday to talk about the game he had against the Chiefs. Packers safeties coach Darren Perry has expressed Read more [...]

The Steelers beat the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday night 13-9 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City and I have now had a chance to back through the game a second time and jot down my observations from the game not found in the game recap. Away we go! Before leaving the game with a concussion, Troy Polamalu had not got into the groove just yet as he failed to wrap up on a couple of early tackles. When he finally did on the tackle eligible pass, it resulted in his injury. He was all over the field early mostly down in the box. After not playing a defensive snap against the Bengals two weeks ago, Read more [...]