Polamalu gets to Welker in the 25-17 win
They have exercised the demons.
For now at least.
A day before the 7th anniversary of the 2004 Halloween white wash of the New England Patriots, the Steelers Sunday flexed some muscle on both sides of the ball, finally stopping Tom Brady and New England in a hard fought 25-17 win.
The victory puts the Steelers at 6-2, still 1/2 game up on the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC North. They also are the first AFC team with six wins. The Patriots fall to 5-2 and in a first place tie with the Buffalo Bills, who shutout the Washington Redskins in Toronto.
The Steelers dominated the game, much like the October 31st 2004 game in which they stopped the Patriots NFL record 21-game winning streak by winning 34-20.
This win was more impressive, as it came with the Steelers missing a number of key players, including James Harrison, James Farrior, and during the game they lost LB LaMarr Woodley, who had two sacks of Brady.
Ben Roethlisberger was 36-for-50 for 365 yards with two touchdowns and a pick that at the time allowed the Pats to get back in the game. They got to him during the game, as Roethlisberger was sacked five times.
Brady was for the most part held in check, as he ended the day 24=for-35 for 198 and two touchdowns. He got the Pats within 23-17 with 2:35 left when he hit Aaron Hernandez with a 1-yard TD.
Bill Belichick decided to go for an onside kick, despite having three timeouts. The kick didn’t go the needed 10 yards, and the Steelers ran it down to 19 seconds before punting.
On the first play, Brett Keisel got to Brady, and the ball ended up being slapped out of the end zone for a safety by Ziggy Hood to make it the final of 25-17.
Pittsburgh nearly doubled the time of possession, holding the ball for 39:22 to 20:38. Rashard Mendenahll ran for 70 yards, and overall the Steelers outgained New England 427 yards to 213.
Their physical style was too much for Brady and the Pats, as it was a hard hitting game, and the Steleers controlled both lines of scrimmage.
They also made clutch plays when needed, as they went 10-for-16 on 3rd down conversions, holding the Pats to just 3-of-10 in that stat.
The defensive backfield flew around to the ball, made tackles when they needed to, and never let the Pats play the wide open style they try to and seem to end up playing each week.
With a now four-game win streak under their belt, the Steelers will get ready for a huge prime-time Sunday night showdown with the Baltimore Ravens next Sunday at 8:20pm.
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George H
October 30, 2011 at 8:38 pm
HERE WE GO STEELERS!!!
Peter
October 30, 2011 at 8:50 pm
I wonder if Jay is still squatting on firemiketomlin.com? Probably. Ravens are next. Injuries are mounting up right now. Going to be tough but the steelers are improving every week. So is the offensive line. Looked better.
blackNgold4life
October 30, 2011 at 9:00 pm
EXCELEENT GAME PLAN..BOTH SIDES OF THE BALL..left too many points on the field though
The Tony
October 30, 2011 at 10:10 pm
Did anybody get the count on how many play actions there were
Matt Loede
October 30, 2011 at 10:57 pm
Can’t wait to start hearing crap from Thomas Crowley, who after next Sunday night is going to be crying in his crabcakes as the Ratbirds will be a game and a half out.
Thomas Crowley
October 30, 2011 at 11:05 pm
We’ll see about that loede. If the ravens do win i’m gonna rub in nonstop just cause of that comment.
Thomas Crowley
October 30, 2011 at 11:14 pm
1 important thing to point out. The ravens defense definetly isn’t the pats d. Ravens won’t be scared to go after ben like the patriots were today.
Mike
October 30, 2011 at 11:16 pm
Eat shit and die Crowley. I hope you choke to death on a crab cake this week. YOur mothers a whore that should have swallowed…cunt.
Thomas Crowley
October 30, 2011 at 11:22 pm
Whoa Mike just because you were touch in the wrong places as a child. Doesn’t mean you need to take it out on me dude.
The Tony
October 31, 2011 at 10:21 am
This is a football blog, let’s keep the personal attacks away from this site.
DrGeorge
October 31, 2011 at 12:31 pm
First, a tip of the hat in gratitude to The Tony for trying to restore a little civility to the site. Well done!
On the offense: In the Dr. Jekyll – Mr. Hyde world of Bruce Arians, we got a welcome return of Dr. Jekyll. Meaning the game plan against the Patriots looked like the first half of the Titans game. Ben played within the offense, taking his short passing game to new heights, and running the football to keep the D honest. Except for a little backsliding in the 2nd Qtr. when Ben took a 9 yard sack after a deep drop and followed it with a horrendous interception, and again late in the 4th Qtr, when he reverted to his gunslinger personna and took unnecessary sacks, he played disciplined football, and it paid off in consistency. We knew Bruce could call a game like this one, but I personally doubted that he would. He even ran the ball. And those little dinks and dunks to the wideouts and backs will go into the books as passes, but functionally, they are long handoffs and spread the D very nicely. They have the same effect as running the ball. I suspect Tomlin had a hand in this change, and I congratulate him for it. The results speak for themselves.
But the real hero of the Pats game is Dick LeBeau. For a long time, I’ve been lamenting the lack of speed in the secondary. The switch from the former zone defense to the aggressive man-to-man we saw most of the day against the Pats was not done over night. LeBeau must have been planning this little surprise for weeks and getting the young guys ready. Except for a few unfortunate penalties for pass interference, it worked to perfection.
I have also agonized here over the need for the younger guys to step up, especially Hood and Heyward. Both did play better. But we also got very big (and unexpected) contributions from C. Allen, K. Lewis,C. Carter, and S. Sylvester, plus improved play from Gay and Mundy. Our young guys are stepping up, and they are giving the secondary the extra speed and energy I’ve been looking for. The difference was apparent from the first and lasted all day. In the months ahead, I think we will look back on this game as a watershed moment for the changing of the guard and the style of play on defense. At least, I hope so. The fact that all this was accomplished without Farrior, Harrison, A. Smith, and even Woodley for part of the game speaks volumes. A job well done!
Finally, Matt, you might ask the site editor to put the “S” back in Pittsburgh in the Sports Gab Network htmls to the right.
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