Steelers Report Card vs. Giants @ Metlife Stadium

Taken from the grade book of a teachers who is re-learning the lesson that its far better to issue grades when performance is fresh in mind, here is the Pittsburgh Steelers report card for the victory over the Giants. As a caveat, even at this late date, no other Steelers report cards have been consulted.

Quarterback

For the first time in several games, Ben Roethlisbergerfaced real pressure and gave up four sacks. The fumble he got charged with looked to be bogus, but he also probably had another fumble incorrectly ruled down by contact. Roethlisberger did throw another dumb interception, but his execution on the Steelers scoring drives was excellent. Grade: B+

Running Backs

When Isaac Redman started the season averaging 2.something yards a carry much of Steelers Nation knew, he could do better. Against the Giants he proved it, barreling through the line for 147 yards including the go ahead touchdown and an impressive 28 yard burst to kill the clock. What those numbers do not reveal is that Redman consistently refused to be taken down on the first hit, and added yards and inflicted punishment with each extra effort. Neither Baron Batch, nor Chris Rainey, nor Will Johnson did much with their carries, but the team didn’t need them to. Grade:  A

Wide Receivers

Mike Wallace decisively demonstrated the value of a receiver who can take it to the house on any given play. Emmanuel Sanders only had two catches – but guess what? His first put the Steelers ahead by 7, and his second iced the game by converting on 3^rd and 9 with the Steelers needing to kill the clock. Not bad. Jerricho Cotchery and Heath Miller claimed 4 balls, and Antonio Brown caught two before leaving injured. Grade:  A-

Offensive Line

There was good in bad for this group. Mike Adams appeared to struggle in pass protection and in general the line’s pass blocking was a notch below what it has been thus far this year. On the flip side, this unit’s run blocking is improving to the point where it is getting scary. Now that Willie Colon has settled into his spot a guard, the only question is why did Bruce Arians balk at moving him there? Grade:  B

Defensive Line

Brett Keisel led the unit with 4 tackles. Casey Hamptonhelped set the tone by making the Steelers first tackle of the 4^thquarter for a loss. Ziggy Hood had one tackle. This unit did not wrack up a lot on the stat sheet but neither did anyone on the offense. And that’s the point, and it all starts up front. Grade:  B

Linebackers

Larry Foote led the unit with 7 tackles. James Harrison isn’t making a lot of “splash” plays, but he is winning his 1-1 match ups, which is making everyone else look a lot better. The Giant’s 4^thquarter drives were bookended by Lawrence Timmons and LaMarr Woodley sacks. Grade:  B+

Secondary

Ryan Clark led the team in tackles including one for a loss that helped force a Giants field goal. Ike Taylor, Keenan Lewis, and CortezAllen all registered passes defensed while Ryan Mundy kept his name from being mentioned for the wrong reasons. New York went an abysmal was 2-11 on third downs, and that only happens if the Steelers secondary is doing a lot of things right. Grade:  A-

Special Teams

By the time the game was over, the Steelers were down to their third string return man, but Emmanuel Sanders delivered, with a 63 yard kickoff return and an 11 yard punt return. Chris Rainey also turned in returns of 51 and 30 yards. Although the coaches rather than the players deserve criticism for the botched fake field goal attempt, the kicking team nonetheless came up short, dropping the grade just a smidge.  Grade:  A-

Coaching

The Steelers were traveling on the same day of the game, playing against the Super Bowl Champions on the road, lost their number two receiver, and were playing again with only one of their starting caliber running backs. But The Standard Remained the Standard. Mike Tomlin had his team focused, and both of his coordinators deployed excellent game plans. Amos Jonesmanaged limit (most) of the penalties that have plagued his unit and in turn the return game delivered results. The fake field goal call was a mistake, however. Grade:  B+

Unsung Hero

His play hasn’t always been consistent this year, but against the Giants he was all over the field, dropping people in the backfield, getting in Eli Manning’s face, and getting to the quarterback when it counted and for that Lawrence Timmons is Steel Curtain Rising’s Unsung Hero for the victory over the Giants.

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Steelers Upset New York Giants 24-17 @ the Metlife Stadium

The Pittsburgh Steelers started 2012, in a word, slowly to the tune of letting three fourth  quarter leads slip away as Steelers Nation watched in anguish.

Rumblings began:

• Have NFL offenses found the antidote to Dick LeBeau’sdefense?
• Did father time finally catch up with that self-same defense?
• Has Haley robbed the Steelers of their ability to play physical football in the trenches?

Yes, Pittsburghresponded with strong victories vs. the Bengals and Redskins. But neither team has a winning record.

• A victory over a contender still eluded the Steelers.

The Giants appeared to offer the perfect measuring stick, and the game in New Yorkgave the team a chance to measure themselves against the defending Super Bowl Champions, as well as providing a different sort of test for the Steelers - one where they proved to be more than worthy to the task.

“We focus on the things that we can control” – Mike Tomlin, on many occasions

NFL coaches prepare for any and every contingency. 

• Mike Tomlin studies film for hours, probing for weakness
• Dick LeBeau and Todd Haley painstakingly lay ground work to defend or exploit a formation which they might see just once in a game
• Position coaches like Scotty Montgomery or Carnell Lakedrill players ad nauseam to capitalize on minuscule tendencies that will win them a crucial 1-1 match ups

 All of this is necessary for victory, but it is not sufficient because factors outside the control of players and coaches influence outcomes in football. The question is never “if” those factors will come into play in a big game but “when” and more importantly, how will you react?

Starting Out Old School

The Steelers and the Giants are two of the NFL’s oldest and most tradition-steeped  franchises, so its fitting that the game started out as a slug fest, with both teams probing for weakness, but failing to land blows.

That changed late in the first quarter when Steve McLendonpressured Eli Manning into a quick throw, which Ike Taylor was only too happy to intercept.

After that Isaac Redman powered the Steelers down into the Red Zone where Ben Roethlisberger connected with Emmanuel Sanders in the End Zone to put the Steelers ahead.

The Steelers defense had forced a turnover, and the offense converted it into money. Everything seemed to be going the Steelers way….

Beware Zebras Waving Yellow Flags...

But then the uncontrollables appeared:

• Keenan Lewis got flagged for a tickky-tacky pass interference call
• Ryan Clark leveled Victor Cruz and got flagged for helmet-to-helmet contact despite the fact that no part of Clark’s body touched Cruz’ head
• Andre Brown scored a touchdown although even on replay it looked like he was down before crossing the goal line

That was just the warm up act. Three plays after New York’s touchdown, the officials struck again.

Had Ben Roethlisberger’s name been “Peyton Manning” or “Tom Brady,” then the stat sheet simply now simply read “incomplete pass.”  

Credit Michael Boley for hustling. Several players on both sides also appeared to think the ball was incomplete rather than a fumble. But Boley played to the whistle, charging 70 yards for what was ultimately, and incorrectly ruled, a touchdown.

The Steelers had started the game against the World Champs by taking control, and they were suddenly down by 7, due to little fault of their own.

It happens. Welcome to the NFL. Now, what do you do about it?

“Games like this don’t build character, they display it.” – Bill Cowher 11/5/95

Anyone who understands Steelers knows they were not about to wallow in self-pity.  Mike Tomlin teams do not do that. 

• But feeling sorry for oneself is one thing, staying focused is something else.

 Focus at times has not been a team strength (see Oakland, see Tennessee).

• The Steelers made it immediately clear that history would not repeat itself in New York.

The Giants threatened to close out the half with another score, this time on their own merits, but the Steelers defense held, aided by a missed field goal.

With 30 seconds and one time out, Ben Roethlisberger put the Steelers in field goal position to narrow the Giants half time lead to four.

It would be poetic to say that the Steelers from this point on represented a model of composure and controlled the game from there on.

But they didn’t.

Chris Rainey and Emmanuel Sanders made potentially game-changing returns, but the Steelers squandered them with a Roethlisberger interception and a failed faked field goal attempt.

While this was happening, however, the defense quietly delivered. Case in point, New Yorkreturned Roethlisberger’s interception to the 5, but the defense forced the Giants to settle for a measly three.

• And so it was, the Steelers opened the fourth quarter, not defending a lead, but down by ten.

The offense awoke. The fact that they came back to defeat the defending Super Bowl Champions is good, but the way they did it offers even more hope.

Since Ken Wisenhurst’s departure the debate over the proper Run-Pass balance that should define the Steelers offense has consumed Steelers Nation.

• Such debate misses the point.

Neal Coolong of Behind the Steel Curtain observed last season, the Steelers need a dynamic offence, that can either run or pass when the situation warrants.

The Steelers fourth quarter performance reveals a dynamic offense par excellence.

• Ben Roethlisberger first connected with Mike Wallace for a catch-and-run quick strike.
• Pittsburghthen mixed passes and runs to four different ball carriers, with IsaacRedman  punching it in from the one
• Finally, the Steelers iced the game on a clock killing drive that featured a 16 yard completion on third down and 28 yard scamper by Redman

 And what of the defense?

• The unit  was simply spectacular, forcing New Yorkto go 3 and out on all three of their final possessions.

Versus the Giants the Steelers had multiple opportunities to flinch. But they chose to focus instead, and in the process the played their best regular season game in over a year.

Not a bad place to be at the season’s half way mark.

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