Brown bags Ravens
AFC divisional playoffs: Steelers 31, Ravens 24
By Mike Batista
The Baltimore Ravens looked scary during the offseason, having acquired wide receivers Anquan Boldin and T.J. Houshmandzadeh. This gave them some pop in their offense to go with their always stellar defense.
The Steelers, however, trumped the addition of those two stars with a sixth-round draft pick.
With the score tied 24-24, the Steelers faced a third-and-19 from their own 38 with 2:07 left in the game. The first playoff overtime under the new rules loomed -- until Ben Roethlisberger found Antonio Brown.
The rookie from Central Michigan caught the ball on a fly pattern, then went all David Tyree and used his helmet to secure the ball before going out of bounds at the Ravens' 4.
Since returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown in the Steelers' 19-11 win at Tennessee in Week 2, Brown has been overshadowed by draftmate Emmanuel Sanders, who was chosen in the third round.
Sanders had 28 catches this season. Brown had 16. Sanders dressed for 13 games this season. Brown dressed for nine.
But on Saturday, Brown did what Boldin and Houshmandzadah couldn't. He held on to the ball when it mattered most.
The Ravens could have gone ahead 28-24 with four minutes left, but Boldin dropped a 6-yard Joe Flacco pass at the goal line, so they settled for a game-tying field goal.
After Rashard Mendenhall's 2-yard touchdown run gave the Steelers a 31-24 lead, the Ravens' last chance came on fourth-and-18 from their own 44. Flacco threw what would have been a first-down pass right into Houshmandzadeh's chest, but proving you can take the player out of Cincinnati, but you can't take the Cincinnati out of the player, Houshmandzadeh let it bounce to the ground.
Game over. Steelers back in the AFC championship game.
The Steelers, however, dropped the ball their fair share of times on Saturday. In fact, infamy beckoned as they faced a 14-point deficit.
An immeasurable comeback
This was one of those games that gets me in a ranking mood.
The Steelers' dramatic win, in which they came back from a 21-7 halftime hole, got me going through the file cabinet of my mind, trying to think of other Steelers playoff comebacks and where this ranks.
I've been watching the Steelers since 1979, but I must admit I needed the Internet the morning after to jog my memory and dust off the Steelers' 36-33 win over the Browns in a 2002 AFC wild-card game. Maybe it's because it was pre-Roethlisberger and pre-Polamalu, but I kind of forgot about that game.
Mathematically, that was a bigger comeback. They trailed 24-7 in the third quarter and 33-21 with less than five minutes left in that one.
But Saturday's comeback can't be measured with a calculator, a slide rule or an abacus. The Steelers not only needed to come back on the scoreboard, they needed to come back emotionally.
In a play that would have been talked about for decades had the Steelers lost, the Ravens' Cory Redding picked up a fumble at the Steelers' 13 and ran it in for a touchdown late in the first quarter.
Terrell Suggs hit Roethlisberger and forced the fumble, although the ball was fumbled forward, making it look like an incomplete pass. Even though there was no whistle, everyone on both teams stood around thinking the play was over.
Except Redding.
The Steelers' flub gave the Ravens a 14-7 lead and was reminiscent of blooper clips from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' first year as an expansion team. Or maybe the Steelers of the 1930s and 1940s.
Bucco Bruce would have been proud.
They once were lost
The Steelers and Ravens entered this game so closely matched that their previous four games all were decided by three points. The Steelers had won nine of their 17 meetings since 2003, and in those games both teams had scored 302 points.
So in a game where just a blink or a twitch could have been the difference, here was this big, fat gaffe that gave the Ravens seven points.
It was like a guy being on a date and getting caught looking at the women's breasts right after they sit down at the table. Makes it awfully hard to get a second date. The guy's probably one and done.
So it seemed with the Steelers. But their first-half ineptitude didn't end with that play. In the second quarter, Rashard Mendenhall, playing in his first playoff game, fumbled at the Steelers' 16. That led to a 4-yard touchdown pass from Flacco to Todd Heap and a 21-7 Ravens lead.
Even on the fumble, there didn't seem to be much awareness that there was a fumble. It seemed odd that the pile of bodies wasn't untangling like it usually does after an ordinary play. It turns out it was no ordinary play, and the Steelers were again asleep at the switch.
After the play, Mike Tomlin stared wide-eyed at the scoreboard. His mouth opened briefly, revealing the green gum he chewed throughout the game. But no words came out. He was out of challenges, although that didn't matter because Mendenhall clearly fumbled the ball.
Tomlin, as well as his team, seemed lost.
Now there's a turnabout
The second half didn't start out much better. The Steelers didn't do much with their opening possession and had to punt.
Then, CBS showed its little graphic saying the Ravens had seven road playoff wins, tied for third most in the NFL all-time.
It's funny how having your ass kissed by CBS often turns into the kiss of death in the NFL.
Right after that, James Harrison sacked Flacco. Two plays after that, Ryan Clark forced a Ray Rice fumble, and LaMarr Woodley recovered at the Baltimore 23.
I watched the game at Bob Hyland's Sports Page in White Plains, which is not far from Rice's hometown of New Rochelle. The fumble quieted Rice's homies, who weren't wearing Ravens gear, but to that point had a lot more to cheer about than the dozen or so of us wearing black and gold.
It also led to a 9-yard touchdown pass to Heath Miller, cutting the Ravens' lead to 21-14.
Late in the third quarter, Clark intercepted Flacco at the Ravens' 42. The pick, along with the forced fumble, absolved Clark for his role in the Steelers' first-half follies, when he tried to help out Ike Taylor covering Derrick Mason and hit Taylor instead, nearly taking him out of the game.
This turnover set up an 8-yard touchdown pass to Hines Ward, tying score at 21.
Flacco, clearly shaken by the events of the third quarter, fumbled a snap at his own 23 two plays into the Ravens' next possession. Brett Keisel recovered, and it turned into Shaun Suisham's 35-yard field goal, which gave the Steelers a 24-21 lead early in the fourth quarter.
After the Steelers held the Ravens to the field goal thanks to Boldin's drop, Mendenhall provided the winning points on his 2-yard run.
Bang for the buck
Mendenhall had only 46 yards on 20 carries, but most of those yards came at crucial times. His winning TD was his second short-yardage score. He opened the scoring with a 1-yard run on a second effort in the first quarter.
More than half of Mendenhall's yards came on two carries that sparked the Steelers' touchdown drives in the third quarter.
Immediately after Rice's fumble, Mendenhall ran 14 yards to the 9. Then came the 9-yard pass to Miller that made it 21-14.
On the first play after Clark's interception, Mendenhall went 13 yards to the Ravens' 12. Three plays later, Ward tied it with his touchdown.
It was the first time the Steelers came back from 14 points down in any game since their last playoff loss, in 2007 at home to Jacksonville. They trailed 28-10 in that game and took a 29-28 lead before losing 31-29.
But that Steelers team was decimated by injuries and not expected to go very far in the playoffs.
Expectations are much higher for this team, a team that on Saturday not only escaped the Ravens, but also infamy.
Showing posts with label Ryan Clark. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ryan Clark. Show all posts
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Star power
Steelers 41, Browns 9
By Mike Batista
It was up to Steelers coach Mike Tomlin whether Troy Polamalu would play Sunday.
If he sat Polamalu, who had been sidelined with an Achilles injury, the hope would have been to give the defensive difference maker five full weeks of rest if the Steelers could beat the Browns without him and clinch a first-round bye in the playoffs.
If he played Polamalu, he would have risked a re-injury and losing him for the playoffs. What good would a first-round bye be in that case?
I don't think any of this had to factor into Tomlin's decision. He could have been swayed by astrology, because it seemed the stars were aligned for Polamalu to play in this game.
How else do you explain Polamalu, No. 43, intercepting a pass to set up a Steelers' touchdown 43 seconds into the game? Or that Mike Wallace, No. 17, scored that touchdown with 14:17 left in the first quarter after catching a Ben Roethlisberger pass?
Furthermore, the uniform numbers of Wallace and Polamalu add up to 60, as in "Steelers football is 60 minutes," which Tomlin gushed after the Steelers won Super Bowl XLIII (that's 43) two years ago. Or as in "60 Minutes," the show hosted by a Mike Wallace almost four times the age of the Steelers receiver.
The Steelers, who by the way allowed 43 rushing yards on 17 carries, didn't need 60 minutes to finish off the Browns and secure the AFC North title and a first-round bye. They scored touchdowns on their first four possessions and got tough in short-yardage situations for a change.
Rashard Mendenhall punched in the first of his two 1-yard touchdown runs to give the Steelers (12-4) a 14-0 lead with seven minutes left in the first quarter.
The Browns (5-11) seemed poised to make it a game on their next possession, moving the ball to the Steelers' 2. But on second down, Polamalu showed that he really is healthy again by dusting off one of his trademark spectacles: The Line of Scrimmage Leap.
On the first play of the second quarter, Polamalu timed the snap and vaulted the line of scrimmage like a missile. Browns' quarterback Colt McCoy rolled to his right, almost back to the 20, after getting out of Polamalu's flight path and threw an incomplete pass. After another incomplete pass, the Browns settled for a field goal.
Polamalu's work was pretty much done. The Steelers only needed him for a half, thanks in part to fellow defensive backs Ryan Clark and Anthony Madison, whose interceptions set up 10 points. Clark's pick led to a 4-yard touchdown pass to Heath Miller to increase the Steelers' lead to 28-3. Madison set up Shaun Suisham's 41-yard field goal to make the Steelers' halftime lead 31-3.
And Polamalu could start washing his hair.
The offense didn't earn its rest until it put together a clock-churning drive to start the second half. The 13-play, 77-yard march ended with a little flair. Antwan Randle-El took a pitch from Roethlisberger and threw a 3-yard TD pass to Hines Ward. The play popped the cork on some vintage 2005, when Randle-El connected with Ward in the Super Bowl and the Steelers won big in Cleveland during the holiday season.
With the Steelers up 38-3, most of their key offensive players were done for the day. Unfortunately, Pro Bowl center Maurkice Pouncey wasn't one of them. He left the game with a neck stinger and is the only new health concern that came out of this game.
Speaking of Pouncey and the offensive line that the 21-year-old rookie pretty much runs, Roethlisberger was unsacked for the first time since the Steelers' first meeting against the Browns. Roethlisberger was sacked 32 times in 12 games this season. That's a pace of about 43 sacks over a full season. That would have been the fewest times he's been sacked since 2005.
It was oddly comical, then, when Byron Leftwich was sacked on his first play. Leftwich was brought down twice, but did a good job minding the store along with the likes of running back Jonathan Dwyer, linebackers Stevenson Sylvester, Keyaron Fox and Larry Foote and defensive backs Will Allen and Keenan Lewis.
The Steelers put three more points on the board to hang 40 on an opponent for the first time since 2007. This was after becoming the first team to score 30 on the improved Browns this season.
What the Steelers do to teams like the Browns and Panthers, however, won't matter a whole lot in two weeks.
As Tomlin would say, it's time for "January Football."
Steelers 41, Browns 9
By Mike Batista
It was up to Steelers coach Mike Tomlin whether Troy Polamalu would play Sunday.
If he sat Polamalu, who had been sidelined with an Achilles injury, the hope would have been to give the defensive difference maker five full weeks of rest if the Steelers could beat the Browns without him and clinch a first-round bye in the playoffs.
If he played Polamalu, he would have risked a re-injury and losing him for the playoffs. What good would a first-round bye be in that case?
I don't think any of this had to factor into Tomlin's decision. He could have been swayed by astrology, because it seemed the stars were aligned for Polamalu to play in this game.
How else do you explain Polamalu, No. 43, intercepting a pass to set up a Steelers' touchdown 43 seconds into the game? Or that Mike Wallace, No. 17, scored that touchdown with 14:17 left in the first quarter after catching a Ben Roethlisberger pass?
Furthermore, the uniform numbers of Wallace and Polamalu add up to 60, as in "Steelers football is 60 minutes," which Tomlin gushed after the Steelers won Super Bowl XLIII (that's 43) two years ago. Or as in "60 Minutes," the show hosted by a Mike Wallace almost four times the age of the Steelers receiver.
The Steelers, who by the way allowed 43 rushing yards on 17 carries, didn't need 60 minutes to finish off the Browns and secure the AFC North title and a first-round bye. They scored touchdowns on their first four possessions and got tough in short-yardage situations for a change.
Rashard Mendenhall punched in the first of his two 1-yard touchdown runs to give the Steelers (12-4) a 14-0 lead with seven minutes left in the first quarter.
The Browns (5-11) seemed poised to make it a game on their next possession, moving the ball to the Steelers' 2. But on second down, Polamalu showed that he really is healthy again by dusting off one of his trademark spectacles: The Line of Scrimmage Leap.
On the first play of the second quarter, Polamalu timed the snap and vaulted the line of scrimmage like a missile. Browns' quarterback Colt McCoy rolled to his right, almost back to the 20, after getting out of Polamalu's flight path and threw an incomplete pass. After another incomplete pass, the Browns settled for a field goal.
Polamalu's work was pretty much done. The Steelers only needed him for a half, thanks in part to fellow defensive backs Ryan Clark and Anthony Madison, whose interceptions set up 10 points. Clark's pick led to a 4-yard touchdown pass to Heath Miller to increase the Steelers' lead to 28-3. Madison set up Shaun Suisham's 41-yard field goal to make the Steelers' halftime lead 31-3.
And Polamalu could start washing his hair.
The offense didn't earn its rest until it put together a clock-churning drive to start the second half. The 13-play, 77-yard march ended with a little flair. Antwan Randle-El took a pitch from Roethlisberger and threw a 3-yard TD pass to Hines Ward. The play popped the cork on some vintage 2005, when Randle-El connected with Ward in the Super Bowl and the Steelers won big in Cleveland during the holiday season.
With the Steelers up 38-3, most of their key offensive players were done for the day. Unfortunately, Pro Bowl center Maurkice Pouncey wasn't one of them. He left the game with a neck stinger and is the only new health concern that came out of this game.
Speaking of Pouncey and the offensive line that the 21-year-old rookie pretty much runs, Roethlisberger was unsacked for the first time since the Steelers' first meeting against the Browns. Roethlisberger was sacked 32 times in 12 games this season. That's a pace of about 43 sacks over a full season. That would have been the fewest times he's been sacked since 2005.
It was oddly comical, then, when Byron Leftwich was sacked on his first play. Leftwich was brought down twice, but did a good job minding the store along with the likes of running back Jonathan Dwyer, linebackers Stevenson Sylvester, Keyaron Fox and Larry Foote and defensive backs Will Allen and Keenan Lewis.
The Steelers put three more points on the board to hang 40 on an opponent for the first time since 2007. This was after becoming the first team to score 30 on the improved Browns this season.
What the Steelers do to teams like the Browns and Panthers, however, won't matter a whole lot in two weeks.
As Tomlin would say, it's time for "January Football."
Monday, September 27, 2010
Jolly good fun
Steelers 38, Buccaneers 13
By Mike Batista
The Steelers' September Sweatfest Tour took them from the heat of Tennessee last week to the heat of Tampa Bay on Sunday.
If Tennessee had been a House of Horrors for the Steelers before they punched the Titans in the mouth last week, Raymond James Stadium has been a Fun House for the franchise over the past decade.
The Steelers' last two visits to the home of the Jolly Roger included a Super Bowl victory two years ago and an electrifying Monday-night mugging of the Super Bowl-champions-to-be Buccaneers in 2002.
On Sunday, the Steelers returned to their favorite Florida getaway and came back with more cherished memories for the scrapbook.
Charlie Batch will be able to tell his grandkids (and I wouldn't be surprised if he actually was a grandfather) about the game he had Sunday. In his first start since the meaningless regular-season finale in 2007, Batch completed 12 of 17 passes for 186 yards and three touchdowns. It was one of the best games of his workmanlike, 13-year career.
Batch overcame an interception on his first throw with TD passes to Mike Wallace for 46 and 41 yards.
In between those touchdowns, Batch highlighted a drive by scrambling 24 yards to the Bucs' 24. Then, as if to prove he didn't need an oxygen mask after the longest run of his career, the 35-year-old Batch threw 21 yards to Heath Miller on the next play, setting up Rashard Mendenhall's 3-yard touchdown run and a 14-6 Steelers lead.
Playing behind an offensive line that had Max Starks back at left tackle and Doug (The Big) Legursky replacing injured Trai Essex at right guard, Batch wasn't sacked. It was the Steelers' first sack-free game since their Week 12 loss in Baltimore last season. Of course, they were protecting lightning-quick Dennis Dixon in that game. While Batch obviously doesn't have the mobility of Dixon, "slippery" might be a good word to describe his presence in the pocket.
Batch's third TD pass came with 19 seconds left in the first half, a 9-yard connection with Hines Ward to give the Steelers a 28-6 lead.
When watching the game at Public House, a Steelers bar in Manhattan, I saw Batch going into the locker room before the end of the half. I thought maybe he was hurt, but was relieved to find out he apparently just wanted to get an extra minute or two out of the brutal Florida sun.
You know things are going well for the Steelers when you worry about Charlie Batch going into the locker room.
Batch isn't the only Steeler who had a once-in-a-lifetime game.
Brett Keisel, a 285-pound defensive end, 315 pounds if you count the beard, opened the fourth quarter by intercepting a tipped pass and returning it 79 yards for a touchdown and a 38-6 Steelers lead.
The Steelers entered the game with an NFL-high eight forced turnovers and added two on Sunday. This is what was missing last season. Turnovers aren't just window dressing for a defense, they are a necessary element of winning. In the vast majority of NFL victories, the winning offense gets to work with a short field at least once or twice. Making teams punt the ball away is nice, but it's too passive of an approach for a championship defense.
Ryan Clark grabbed the Steelers' other turnover Sunday, recovering a fumble that was forced by James Farrior. It set up Wallace's second touchdown.
Troy Polamalu, who had an interception in each of the first two games, had an interception Sunday, too. It just didn't count.
Polamalu got off work early in the fourth quarter with the game well in hand when Bucs' quarterback Josh Freeman threw the ball out of bounds. Polamalu, with his helmet off and the Head & Shoulders locks in full regalia, caught the ball.
Not that the Steelers needed to provide any other form of entertainment for their fans on this afternoon, but Polamalu's off-duty catch added a few laughs to the show.
Along with the surprises of a clean game by the O-Line, Old Man Batch's scramble and Diesel Keisel's ramble, there was also the standard fare of Dancing With Rashard, and for once Mendenhall's steps were not just fancy but also functional.
Three plays before Batch's run, another 35-year-old figured prominently when Bucs' cornerback Ronde Barber tried to close in on Mendenhall. The running back spun his way into a different route, avoiding any contact with Barber, and completed a 15-yard run.
Mendenhall ran for 143 yards on 19 carries with a touchdown, a big reason why the Steelers finally found a way to put some real points on the board without Ben Roethlisberger, who will be back in the locker room a week from today.
More games like that will be expected from Mendenhall long after Roethlisberger comes back. Batch's body of work in Pittsburgh, on the other hand, is nearly complete. After almost being cut before the start of the season, Sunday's performance was an Abe Vigoda-like resurrection of his distinguished seven-year career as the Steelers' backup quarterback.
All he has to do is mind the store on offense for another week. If the Steelers can beat the Ravens at home on Sunday, it will give them their first 4-0 start since 1979. Regardless of the outcome, another game as the starter (and I think we'll be spared any hemming and hawing this week about who will start) will enhance Batch's role as sideline counselor to Roethlisberger.
If Roethlisberger hadn't already learned his lesson, hopefully he learned it Sunday. Like the one kid who couldn't go on the class trip, he missed out on a fun day for the Steelers.
Steelers 38, Buccaneers 13
By Mike Batista
The Steelers' September Sweatfest Tour took them from the heat of Tennessee last week to the heat of Tampa Bay on Sunday.
If Tennessee had been a House of Horrors for the Steelers before they punched the Titans in the mouth last week, Raymond James Stadium has been a Fun House for the franchise over the past decade.
The Steelers' last two visits to the home of the Jolly Roger included a Super Bowl victory two years ago and an electrifying Monday-night mugging of the Super Bowl-champions-to-be Buccaneers in 2002.
On Sunday, the Steelers returned to their favorite Florida getaway and came back with more cherished memories for the scrapbook.
Charlie Batch will be able to tell his grandkids (and I wouldn't be surprised if he actually was a grandfather) about the game he had Sunday. In his first start since the meaningless regular-season finale in 2007, Batch completed 12 of 17 passes for 186 yards and three touchdowns. It was one of the best games of his workmanlike, 13-year career.
Batch overcame an interception on his first throw with TD passes to Mike Wallace for 46 and 41 yards.
In between those touchdowns, Batch highlighted a drive by scrambling 24 yards to the Bucs' 24. Then, as if to prove he didn't need an oxygen mask after the longest run of his career, the 35-year-old Batch threw 21 yards to Heath Miller on the next play, setting up Rashard Mendenhall's 3-yard touchdown run and a 14-6 Steelers lead.
Playing behind an offensive line that had Max Starks back at left tackle and Doug (The Big) Legursky replacing injured Trai Essex at right guard, Batch wasn't sacked. It was the Steelers' first sack-free game since their Week 12 loss in Baltimore last season. Of course, they were protecting lightning-quick Dennis Dixon in that game. While Batch obviously doesn't have the mobility of Dixon, "slippery" might be a good word to describe his presence in the pocket.
Batch's third TD pass came with 19 seconds left in the first half, a 9-yard connection with Hines Ward to give the Steelers a 28-6 lead.
When watching the game at Public House, a Steelers bar in Manhattan, I saw Batch going into the locker room before the end of the half. I thought maybe he was hurt, but was relieved to find out he apparently just wanted to get an extra minute or two out of the brutal Florida sun.
You know things are going well for the Steelers when you worry about Charlie Batch going into the locker room.
Batch isn't the only Steeler who had a once-in-a-lifetime game.
Brett Keisel, a 285-pound defensive end, 315 pounds if you count the beard, opened the fourth quarter by intercepting a tipped pass and returning it 79 yards for a touchdown and a 38-6 Steelers lead.
The Steelers entered the game with an NFL-high eight forced turnovers and added two on Sunday. This is what was missing last season. Turnovers aren't just window dressing for a defense, they are a necessary element of winning. In the vast majority of NFL victories, the winning offense gets to work with a short field at least once or twice. Making teams punt the ball away is nice, but it's too passive of an approach for a championship defense.
Ryan Clark grabbed the Steelers' other turnover Sunday, recovering a fumble that was forced by James Farrior. It set up Wallace's second touchdown.
Troy Polamalu, who had an interception in each of the first two games, had an interception Sunday, too. It just didn't count.
Polamalu got off work early in the fourth quarter with the game well in hand when Bucs' quarterback Josh Freeman threw the ball out of bounds. Polamalu, with his helmet off and the Head & Shoulders locks in full regalia, caught the ball.
Not that the Steelers needed to provide any other form of entertainment for their fans on this afternoon, but Polamalu's off-duty catch added a few laughs to the show.
Along with the surprises of a clean game by the O-Line, Old Man Batch's scramble and Diesel Keisel's ramble, there was also the standard fare of Dancing With Rashard, and for once Mendenhall's steps were not just fancy but also functional.
Three plays before Batch's run, another 35-year-old figured prominently when Bucs' cornerback Ronde Barber tried to close in on Mendenhall. The running back spun his way into a different route, avoiding any contact with Barber, and completed a 15-yard run.
Mendenhall ran for 143 yards on 19 carries with a touchdown, a big reason why the Steelers finally found a way to put some real points on the board without Ben Roethlisberger, who will be back in the locker room a week from today.
More games like that will be expected from Mendenhall long after Roethlisberger comes back. Batch's body of work in Pittsburgh, on the other hand, is nearly complete. After almost being cut before the start of the season, Sunday's performance was an Abe Vigoda-like resurrection of his distinguished seven-year career as the Steelers' backup quarterback.
All he has to do is mind the store on offense for another week. If the Steelers can beat the Ravens at home on Sunday, it will give them their first 4-0 start since 1979. Regardless of the outcome, another game as the starter (and I think we'll be spared any hemming and hawing this week about who will start) will enhance Batch's role as sideline counselor to Roethlisberger.
If Roethlisberger hadn't already learned his lesson, hopefully he learned it Sunday. Like the one kid who couldn't go on the class trip, he missed out on a fun day for the Steelers.
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