Unlike the Week 15 meeting, Pittsburgh dominated Saturday night’s rematch with Jacksonville, but just like the first game, the Steelers furious comeback in the second half wasn’t enough to close out a win. The Jaguars beat the Steelers for the fourth straight time, and advance in the AFC playoffs.  

And so it ends. Not with a whisper, but with a bang.

Jacksonville became the first team to ever beat the Steelers twice in one season in Pittsburgh, scoring a 31-29 victory in an explosive game that had everything a football fan could have wanted.

The Jaguars were in Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger’s head for most of the game, and the AFC Pro Bowl passer needed a gutty performance - even by his standards - to bring the Steelers within one score of a Divisional round berth.

Instead, he dug himself a huge hole early, tossing three interceptions in the first half, and 2007-08 became the first season in which Roethlisberger qualified for the playoffs, but didn’t win a game. He finished 29-for-42 with 337 yards and two touchdowns along with the three interceptions, and is now 5-2 in the playoffs all time.

Jack Del Rio won his first playoff game as the Jaguars head coach.

Jacksonville’s offense, so highly touted going into Saturday night’s game, was dominated by the Steelers defense. They locked down sentimental hero Fred Taylor, allowing just 48 yards on 16 carries, and Jacksonville’s receivers might as well not have been on the field.

The problem was Jags QB David Garrard. And it was his legs, not his arm, that did it. The Steelers defense got four sacks - two by rookie LaMarr Woodley and 1.5 from James Harrison - but Garrard rushed for a game-high 58 yards, 32 of them at the most critical point of the game. In fact, it was one of the only two offensive plays that Jacksonville provided much of anything.

Jacksonville was out of timeouts, and facing a 4th-and-2, Garrard hauled past OLB James Harrison and SS Troy Polamalu (apparently, neither were held on the play) and waltzed past FS Tyrone Carter (who seemed to just let Garrard run past him), setting up a 25-yard Josh Scobee chip shot to seal it.

To be fair, the officials were largely keeping the flags in their pockets in regards to the battles along the lines all game.

Perhaps perfectly in line with the Steelers season, Roethlisberger was sacked from his blind side and fumbled the ball at the end of the game. It was the team’s fourth turnover.

Saturday was another example of how the Steeles simply could not run games out in 2007. They had the ball 1st-and-10 with a 29-28 lead with about three minutes left. Two Davenport runs went for nothing, and on third-and-8, they ran some sort of power sweep with Roethlisberger calling his own number. Granted, Ben usually looks as if he’s running in sand, and while the play went for two yards, he did seem to have a seam if he continued to follow his blocks. He cut up seemingly well earlier than he should have, and was chum for the incoming predatory Jaguars. A first down likely would have sealed the game, considering how poorly Garrard had been passing, and the fact they had no timeouts left.

This was largely caused by Del Rio’s dubious decision to challenge a clearly incomplete pass to WR Ernest Wilford. It was his second lost challenge of the night. The Steelers were 1-for-1, successfully challenging that Mathis was touched after going to the ground on his second interception.

(It didn’t seem he was touched, but rather, that his exposed dreadlocks landed on the white chalk of the sideline. A man sitting next to me at that point made an excellent point, it seemed the officials said he was touched because they did not want to verbalize something to the effect of “his hair was out of bounds.” However, this would have been fair, as the rules state a player’s hair is a part of his uniform. The league doesn’t really seem to want to acknowledge hair at all.)

Getting that 21-7 lead wasn’t difficult for the Jaguars, considering those scores didn’t all come through traditional means. Despite their power running game having such a huge advantage over the Steelers, They needed a 96-yard kick return to Pittsburgh’s 1-yard line - which Taylor punched in for his only meaningful carry of the game - a Rashean Mathis pick-six (he had two interceptions in the game) and a Maurice Jones-Drew touchdown reception off Roethlisberger’s second interception of the game to get the halftime lead.

The P-G’s Blog and Gold says this about the Steelers special teams, as usual, showing up for four quarters:

During training camp, one of the more entertaining things to watch was special teams coach Bob Ligashesky frothing raving mad rants like some kind of a rabid Tourette’s patient. Clearly that worked …

Best of luck in your job search, Coach Ligashesky.

Playoff competition was evident

Jacksonville took a commanding 21-7 at halftime, but led by Ward’s abuse of the Jaguars’ secondary over the third and fourth quarters, Pittsburgh took the lead with a Najeh Davenport touchdown run. Ward and rookie safety Reggie Nelson got into several skirmishes, most likely caused by the fact the rookie - and the rest of Jacksonville’s secondary - had no answer for Ward. This photo on the front of the P-G’s sports page says it all…a flag was thrown, but not on Nelson. C Sean Mahan was whistled for holding, thus negating perhaps the finest catch of Ward’s career. He finished with 10 catches for 135 yards, both of which were higher than all of Jacksonville’s wide receivers combined.

Jacksonville advances to play at New England if San Diego beats Tennessee Sunday. They will travel to Indianapolis if the Titans win at San Diego.

Big Al’s future

The No. 1 storyline coming out of Pittsburgh for the next few months will be the future of All Pro LG Alan Faneca. Despite being part of an overall poor offensive line this season, Faneca is the bedrock on which the offense has been built over the past several seasons, and it would be a shame to see him leave.

However, $20 million guaranteed is a lot to give a 31-year-old lineman. SS Troy Polamalu got around $16 million guaranteed. Roethlisberger is in line for an extension, and he’ll bury that total by probably $10 million. LT Max Starks is also a free agent, and LT Trai Essex (who probably deserves a B grade last night, despite a few lapses here and there) is a restricted free agent.

Stay tuned on that situation.

Mahan is the next Chukky Okobi

The least mentioned major aspect of this game was the fact the Jaguars lost DT John Henderson early in the game, and the Steelers still could not get a push on the interior defensive line. It’s obvious Mahan is not a starter at the center position.

The only logical move right now would be to re-sign RT Max Starks, and shift the right side of the line inward. Put Starks back at right tackle (the biggest mistake of the year was benching him, says Dale Lolley), move Willie Colon to right guard, and Kendall Simmons to center. Keep Mahan on the roster to provide some depth at center and guard. Maybe have him compete with Marvin Phillip.

Clearly, this line was not good enough to seriously compete this year. Mahan doesn’t have enough strength to keep huge tackles at bay, and isn’t quick enough to out-maneuver them either. Simmons could do this, and judging by Colon’s suspect one-on-one pass blocking skills and his above-average power, he is a more natural fit at guard.

Prediction

Not that it matters, but I just want to get it on paper…Patriots over Seattle in Super Bowl XLII.

Stats That Matter:

The Steelers had 340 yards of offense, compared to the 217 yards they had in their Week 15 loss to Jacksonville

Pittsburgh gave up 135 yards on the ground Saturday, and 217 in Week 15.

David Garrard had 32 of those 135 yards on the biggest play of the game.

Rookie LaMarr Woodley had two sacks and two pressures, and was active for most of the fourth quarter.

Pittsburgh will draft 24th overall in the first round on April 26. They drafted Maryland CB Chad Scott with the 24th overall pick in 1997. They haven’t drafted in the top 10 since 2000, where they took Michigan State WR Plaxico Burress.

Neal Coolong is the author of Die Hard Steel for Sports Cartel, and is a contributor to Steel City Insider and Real Football 365.

Pittsburgh’s theory of resting its key players in Week 17 backfired with injuries to Max Starks and James Harrison. Given the team’s precarious depth at tackle, Starks was probably the one player on the field Sunday they couldn’t lose. Jacksonville comes to town for Saturday night’s rematch of Week 15, the first time these two teams have met in the post-season.  

No only did the Steelers miss out on the first undefeated AFC North season since 2002,  they managed to add injury to injury.

They were already without LT Marvel Smith, possibly for the remainder of the 2007 season, because of a back injury. Then, his replacement, Max Starks went down out with a knee injury in Week 17.

It sure is a good thing no other key Steelers played in Sunday’s 27-21 loss at Baltimore. Well, assuming you don’t consider Team MVP OLB James Harrison a key player. He left with a shoulder injury. Status is unknown as of Sunday night for both players.

Disaster looms over the wild card round. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said “hopefully” Starks “will be ok.”

If not, the Steelers go into the playoffs with Trai Essex at LT and Willie Colon at RT.

As for Sunday, Pittsburgh suited up without Smith, Ben Roethlisberger, Hines Ward and Troy Polamalu, and the Steelers responded by playing perhaps their worst first half of the season. This was highlighted by the soon-to-be-former Steelers WR/”return man” Willie Reid, who’s fumble on the opening kickoff turned the game due south.

The understaffed Ravens ran all over the Steelers, rookie QB Troy Smith doing the most damage. He had 83 yards on the ground, and could have put incumbent QB Kyle Boller out of Baltimore.

The Steelers trailed 27-7 going into the fourth quarter, but Charlie Batch touchdown passes to Santonio Holmes and Cedrick Wilson flanked an onside kick recovery by Nate Washington, making it a game late into the fourth.

Batch threw an interception to seal it, and give the Ravens their first win since October. It ended the Steelers’ six-game winning streak in the AFC North, dating back to last season.

Jaguars at Steelers II

The game meant nothing outside of the heated rivalry of these two teams, as San Diego locked down the No. 3 seed in the AFC Playoffs with a 30-17 thrashing of Junior NFL member Oakland.

It sets up Jacksonville, the No. 5 seed, to return to Pittsburgh. They mauled the Steelers in Week 15, but the 29-22 score didn’t reflect the carnage.

The Jaguars rested all their key players, losing 42-28 to Houston in Week 17.

Kickoff is set in Pittsburgh for 8-8:30 p.m. ET Saturday, and will be broadcast on NBC.

Stats That Matter:

The Steelers have lost three of the final four games of the regular season

Najeh Davenport scored the first Steelers rushing touchdown in Baltimore since 2003

Santonio Holmes led the team in receiving yards with 942 in 2007 - the first time since 2001 someone other than Hines Ward carried this distinction (Plaxico Burress)

Pittsburgh led the league in total defense in 2007, giving up 266.4 yards per game

Ben Roethlisberger finished second in passing in the NFL, with a rating of 104.1

Interesting Links:

Batimore Sun’s David Steele says it’s the end of a Ravens era 

Jason at Blitzburgh Report hasn’t given up on Willie Reid yet

Behind the Steel Curtain says the Jags are known to disappoint in the playoffs

Christmas Ape says Silverback and Starks both left early Sunday

Sam at Doubt About It is a fellow 2% milk drinker. Pittsburgh should have some

Football Brainiac just got Roadhouse Blues in my head

Neal Coolong is the author of Die Hard Steel for Sports Cartel, and is a contributor to Steel City Insider and Real Football 365.

Despite losing the NFL’s leading rusher Willie Parker on his first carry of the game, the Steelers used Najeh Davenport and AFC Pro Bowl QB Ben Roethlisberger to light up the Rams offensively. Steelers fans can now root for the Bengals; a Cincinnati win over Cleveland gives the Steelers the AFC North.  

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said at the beginning of his first year at the helm of the team, “we’re going to ride Willie Parker until his wheels fall off.”

It took 15 games and one running play for that to happen.

Parker, the NFL’s leading rusher, will miss the remainder of the Steelers season after his broke his right fibula in a somewhat gruesome tackle on his first carry in a 41-24 win at St. Louis Thursday night.

He was replaced admirably by Najeh Davenport, who rushed 24 times for 123 yards and a touchdown. Even FB Carey Davis got in the action getting a career-high six carries for 27 yards, as the Steelers ran all over the Rams.

Davenport had 178 yards against the Rams in 2004, when he was with the Green Bay Packers.

That dominant running effort was keyed off of QB Ben Roethlisberger’s record-tying third perfect passer rating game of his career, as he shredded St. Louis’ overmatched secondary. He finished 16-for-20 for 260 yards and three touchdowns.

The Steelers started off the game with a deep pass to Santonio Holmes. A defender had fallen right in the top of the pocket, not giving Roethlisberger an opportunity to step into his throw. Had he been able to, it would have gone for a 96-yard touchdown pass. Holmes couldn’t quite outrun CB Ron Bartell, and he was tackled at the St. Louis 13. Roethlisberger later hit WR Nate Washington for one of his two touchdown receptions on the night.

Roethlisberger hit Davenport for his third scoring pass a few drives later. Holmes finished with a career-high 133 yards on four catches. It was his fourth 100-yard receiving game in his career, and his first since Week 9.

Hines Ward had six catches for 59 yards, and three huge first downs in the second half. Arguably the best chain-stretching WR in the game, Ward helped the Steelers ice the game with an 13-play drive over the fourth quarter that ended with a Jeff Reed field goal. They were able to take 7:39 off the clock, and gain a two-possession over the Rams.

The Steelers defense, while allowing a few big runs to RB Steven Jackson, did manage to break two dubious streaks. They got their first interception in three games when ILB James Farrior picked off Marc Bulger. Granted, it was a Hail Mary into the end zone at the end of the first half, but CB Ike Taylor did snare a Bulger pass in the fourth quarter, returning it 51 yards for the touchdown.

After the play, cameras caught Rams coach Scott Linehan with something of a laughing smirk on his face, discussing something with Bulger. WR Torry Holt saw this, and began screaming at Linehan.

Linehan played down the incident after the game.

“It’s not a big deal, not to me,” Linehan said. “It something said in the heat of the battle to his coach and it’s over as far as I’m concerned.”

Apparently it wasn’t a big deal to him, and that could have been why Holt was frustrated. The Rams fell to 3-12 on the season.

Pressure is on Cleveland

A statement most Steelers fans wouldn’t have thought they would hear themselves say…GO BENGALS!

Cincinnati hosts Cleveland Sunday, and a Browns loss gives Pittsburgh its first AFC North title since 2004. They are now one-half a game behind the Steelers in the AFC North standings. The Browns are playing great football right now, as rumors fly around Cincinnati about the internal problems being caused by WRs Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh. There’s plenty of evidence to suggest Bengals coach Marvin Lewis may be let go at the end of a very disappointing season in Cincinnati. They haven’t beaten Pittsburgh or Cleveland this season, but did beat equally underwhelming Baltimore twice.

The Browns, also-rans in the North for the past four seasons, have won four of their past five games, only losing at Arizona.

The Steelers, Browns and Jaguars will all clinch playoff spots if Tennessee loses Sunday, with the North title left for Week 17 if Cleveland wins. It’s a long-shot for Tennessee to qualify for the post-season over any of those three teams.

San Diego clinched the AFC West title, and a win over Denver on Monday Night keeps the Chargers even with Pittsburgh for the No. 3 seed in the AFC playoff picture. They have won five straight.

The Steelers have 10 days to prepare for a road game at Baltimore, a place where Parker never had 100 yards. If Cleveland wins Sunday (which is likely), a Steelers win over the Ravens would give them the division, and either the three or four seed in the playoffs. That means Pittsburgh would host a first-round playoff game, likely against either Cleveland or Jacksonville.

Jacksonville manhandled the Steelers in Week 15 physically and statistically, but the Steelers still pulled within a touchdown at 29-22. TE Heath Miller was half a yard shy of a first down with under a minute to play. Cleveland made their second of two meetings close, but were destroyed offensively and defensively. A Steelers turnover inside their 30-yard line, and 200 return yards from Pro Bowler Josh Cribbs kept the score close.

Stats That Matter

The Steelers are 5-0 in the AFC North going into their Week 17 showdown with Baltimore. No team has ever gone undefeated in the AFC North. The Steelers won the last AFC Central title with an undefeated record in the division in 2002. They defeated Cleveland twice that season as well, and beat them in the first round of the playoffs.

The 41 points the Steelers scored is the most they’ve had this season, and the first time they’ve gone over 40 points since a 45-7 trashing of Kansas City in Week 6 of 2006.

The win snaps Coach Tomlin’s first two-game losing streak of his head coaching career.

NT Casey Hampton was credited with the team’s first sack in three games.

Interesting Links

JJ Cooper of AOL thinks the passer rating system should be overhauled

OFTOT agrees with Cooper

Doubt About It revels in a great night for Pittsburgh sports

Behind the Steel Curtain doesn’t grade the D very well

Football Brainiac cites a Beatles song in regards to Parker and Davenport

Neal Coolong is the author of Die Hard Steel for Sports Cartel, and is a contributor to Steel City Insider and Real Football 365.

5:21

Roethlisberger should learn after being a part of this game he’s sort of valuable, and he should probably not try to convert a 3rd-and-10 with his legs when Jeff Reed can make it a two-possession game with his foot.  

8:03

Davenport is back, all is as good as it can be if you just lost the NFL’s leading rusher.

(ya know, I’m not all that materialistic, but Parker just left over $100,000 on the table because of that injury. That just has to suck. Sorry, Willie…)

Hines Ward is King Third Down. Davenport is running well. Now Pittsburgh is closing it out.  Line is doing just enough, big third down conversions…strangely though, zero catches

9:56

Davenport looks to be getting his ankle taped, and his loss would obviously mean the Steelers would have to run the Jonathon Moxon Offense, no running backs, five wide receivers, with Lance Harbor calling the plays from the sideline.

Or Davis will run pretty well instead. One or the other.  

12:16

We’re not at the point yet to suggest this is a Must-Score drive, or anything like that, but really, it’s going to tell a lot in terms of the outcome. There is a lot riding on this…

And as I wrote that, Davenport is injured, and he fumbled the ball…and it didn’t look any better than Parker’s injury.  

13:47

And the Steelers get their first sack in 11+ quarters. It’s Farrior. On the fire-blitz.  It sets up a must-stop 3rd-and-6.

They stop it, nice play by Townsend, but should they go for it? I think so. Gumbel called the false start signal a delay of game again.

“Dammit, that’s TWICE! I WANT SOME BUTTS!”

14:55

FOURTH QUARTER 

:05

No WAY McMichael just made that catch…NO WAY.  Again, the Steelers had the chance to lock this game down in the third quarter, but they went 3-and-out. Winning teams close out games when they have a 31-17 lead. Period.

Mike Tomlin has never lost when the Steelers have held a lead of 11 points or more. Yes, that’s sort of tongue-in-cheek, in reference to former coach Bill Cowher’s 103-1-1 record over his career in those situations. The Steelers really are just not the dominating team they were in the first half of the year.

1:36

Roethlisberger sacked on third and long, this game isn’t over yet.  Not with Pittsburgh’s offensive line.

Larry Foote and James Farrior have been great all season, it’s really too bad neither got any real recognition. That fire-blitz has been the only pressure-generating scheme we’ve seen in the final quarter of the season.

3:00 Bulger 23 pass to Bennett, Steelers 31, Rams 24

Incredible throw by Bulger to Bennett, Rams pull within a touchdown. If it wasn’t for their secondary, i’d be amazed this team has only won three games this year going into Week 16. Bulger has to be one of the five or six best pure passers in the game.  

4:01

Carpal tunnel might be setting in now…

Each and every game, Steelers fans are fortunate enough to watch Troy Polamalu do something that blows our minds. Such an incredibly gifted athlete. He came from across the field, and was about ready to get leveled by two of his teammates in their pursuit of Jackson, and forces the fumble.  

6:37

Bulger is really humming now. The Steelers are really trying to take Jackson out of the second half, and it’s working. They’re just going to have to get some pressure on Bulger, and try to break his rhythm.  

9:22

Davenport 1 run. Steelers 31, Rams 17

This is quietly spinning out of control for the overmatched Rams defense. Backup G Chris Kemoeatu plowed a hole for Davenport, and the Steelers marched all over St. Louis in a nice 69 yard drive that took up 5:38.

With the game slowly getting out of hand, thoughts have to go to Parker, and the Steelers have to wonder how much of the offense Roethlisberger can shoulder going into not only the second half, but in Week 17 and beyond.

Clearly Roethlisberger is playing very well tonight, but with the Steelers’ interior line crumbling with each passing game, and Davenport’s lack of speed to the outside, it seems like a fairly simple defensive game-plan; load up the line, and hit Davenport hard.  

14:55 

Willie Parker is done for the season. Broken right fibula. Looks like Fred Taylor will go to the Pro Bowl after all.  (I wrote it before Gumbel said it)

I think we’re gonna see a lot of Najeh in this half.  

Third quarter

I’m Scott Linehan, and you’re watching the NFL Network. I’m in way over my head.”  

“I’m Mike Tomlin, and you’re watching the NFL Network. I’m way cooler than Scott Linehan.”  

HALFTIME 

:14

That’s a great catch, Mr. Bruce. Unfortunately for the Steelers, Gumbel isn’t running your team, because his lack of testicles would greatly limit your production tonight.  

:54

What a stupid-ass stat…three points in the two minute drill? Now Deion just referred to Carey Davis as “the tail back.”

This is really getting ridiculous. Just so people know, NFL Network is a premium channel so feel free to write to your cable provider complaining about the lack of care they put into selection of their broadcasters.

Does anyone else have a problem with St. Louis trying to get in field goal range here? For the life of me, I cannot figure out why our outstanding team of commentators would be against Marc Bulger getting a pass or two off to Bruce and Holt in the effort to get some points before halftime.

1:15

Uh huh…The Football Move Jinx lives on… 

Both Gumbel and Deion get on the Rams for getting a delay of game penalty, completely ignoring the official’s motion and vocal annoucement that it was a false start. Unbelieveable.

1:09

HA! Nice, Bumble! He’s on fire too…The ref CLEARLY indicates that is Steelers ball, and he’s in the middle of the screen…”No ruling yet.”

I usually don’t get into the officials much, but he is JUST AWFUL.

Any time we hear the term “football move,” we get screwed somehow.

Now…I am stating now for the record, there is nothing there to change that call. Plain and simple, there is nothing that indicates Jackson did not have that ball, and wasn’t running with it.

And that’s eight forced fumbles, Deion. Who does your research for you guys? Just ridiculous! He’s a Pro Bowler! You have to know that.  

1:44

Oh, that’s absolute HORSE $$$! Ike can’t catch the ball anyway! Think of him being able to put his arm on the receiver because he won’t need it to drop the interception anyway.  

Wait, did Bumble just call Randy McMichael Randy McWhite?? Someone tell me I’m not just hearing this.

1:57

Roethlisberger 12 pass to Davenport

Steelers 24, Rams 14

Ben’s breaking records tonight. He’s got that swagger back now! He had no doubt he was throwing a touchdown pass, it was just a question of which receiver wanted it more. He’s completely unstoppable! 9-for-11, 22

Bumble just said, “And the Rams offense is humming!” Bumble = tool.  

3:46

Ben is out of his mind today…he’s got that Chuck Norris-sort of confidence: ”I’m going to do whatever I want on the rest of his drive.” 

The line is really getting underneath the defense’s pads, and they’re knocking them a solid two yards off the line. They’re really just kicking their ass on every play. This is, like, theraputic!  

7:41

How about that Max Starks, eh?? He got way down the field on that, and seems to be sparking a Blocking Reinassance the last few plays. Their pads are square at the line, they’re balanced…I mean, they look like NFL linemen again!  

8:01

Haven’t seen 2nd and 6 for a while…it’s kind of nice. The line seems to be digging in a little bit. I’m not sure if that’s because St. Louis’s line looks like its slowing down some. They’re getting a push, which is rare lately.  

10:24

he he he…PEEnalized…Gumbel is such a tool.

10:39

Roethlisberger 33 pass to Washington, Steelers 17, Rams 14 

Ok, who is that No. 85 guy, and what did he do with Nate Washington??

Jonathon Wade, you are officially the worst cornerback in the NFL.

“NFL Live Game Play Challenge” does not have an option for “Throw at Jonathon Wade.” Cuz I get the feeling that one is going to be called a few more times before this one is over.

12:51

I think SteelerBro might have cashed his chips in a little early…Davenport actually GAINED yards on that carry! Two in a row, even! Startin’ to roll downhill…

I didn’t want to put it in print, but you know I’m not the only person who was watching the Carries Until Parker Is Injured clock pretty hard the last two games.

13:01

Ok…so that’s five commercial breaks in the last two game minutes. Do I NEED to see more commercials about another horrible American Pie movie?

By the way…I am SO going to the Fish Fry at the VFW tomorrow night. I love being a Townie! The question is, what’s more Townie-ish: eating at a Fish Fry, getting in a fight at a Fish Fry, or driving a Camaro?  

13:20

Congratulations to Isaac Bruce, that touchdown catch moves him to third all time over James Lofton in receiving yards in a career.

And it couldn’t have been more Bruce-like. Great pass, but an even better catch. Legendary feet…he has more body control than all but a few players in the league. It’s an amazing thing to watch, really. So amazing, that the converse of his body control would be the ability of the Steelers’ offensive line.  

14:55

Gryant Bumble provides his expert medical opinion.

“Parker’s injury did not look good.”

Thanks!

Would it be considered ironic that Anthony Smith was benched because his inexperience led to several deep plays in the last two games, but his experience in watching ball carriers’ backs taught him the correct angle to make a touchdown-saving tackle on special teams?

Yep.

Remember what I said about big plays from Jackson? Yeah…that’s what happens to this defense in the Post-Week 13 portion of the season when Polamalu misses a tackle. Ugh…

14:57

Reed 23 yarder

Steelers 10, Rams 7 

END OF 1ST QUARTER:

Steelers 7, Rams 7 

2:17

Give Ward all the credit in the world for that catch, but did you notice how great of a throw it was? Imagine what can happen when your quarterback doesn’t have four guys draped on his hip and two lying at his feet when he steps up to throw! 

Davenport looks like he’s hungover or something. This is not going to work. Strangely, I agree with Deion - just throw the ball. Tonight is going to be Ben’s signature game. Put it on his shoulders.  

4:40

Sepulverizer to Davenport on the fake punt for 33 yards…Memories of Chris Hope taking that fake punt back like 70 yards against Baltimore in 2003…GREAT playcall! Wexell was in the press box and was closer to Davenport than any Ram was…if anything, it proves truly how easy it is to pass on the Rams.  

Yeah…ZERO help on the line. Ben’s basically going to have to win this game on his own, and take a fantastic beating in the process. Shades of Necessary Roughness…

6:28

HA! Gumbel called Willie Cuh-LOAN “Willie KOL-un.” Yeah, didn’t see that coming once this night.

Parker hauled off on a cart…uh oh.

This is quickly starting off as the worst Steelers rushing game all year. Ben to ‘Tonio…Ben to ‘Tonio…Might have to just keep calling that. Do we REALLY want Carey Davis getting several carries tonight?  

10:44

Defense needs to get a big stop on this drive. Keep the momentum with the visitors. Get our fans involved. Anyone watching this has to think this competes for the largest Steelers crowd on the road since Minnesota in 2005.

Ahhh…there’s Mr. Jackson. Wow…We had no answer on that drive. No gap discipline, no contain…that’s going to be real bad.

Steelers 7, Rams 7

11:28

Hmmm…the Steelers offensive line has now allowed approximately 21 players into the offensive backfield in three plays.

That’s two touchdowns in two weeks for Nate Washington! The crowd is clearly pro-Pittsburgh…ya know what, Eff the run, Washington was wide open, the secondary looks like they’re playing in the Muck Bowl.

Here’s a promise…Cotter just slammed a beer. Wine Stands coming at halftime.

I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but if Ben is able to step in that throw to Holmes, he hits him more in stride, and that would have HAD to have been the longest Steelers offensive play since Kordell hit Bobby Shaw with a slant pass that he took 91 yards (I think) for a touchdown against Baltimore in 2001. Someone look this up.

From SteelerBro (who apparently isn’t at his gig yet): “…(Santonio’s) run was crap. His ankle must still be hurt.” Good point. ‘Tonio takes that to the house most times. Helluva job getting open though, and if he’s hurt getting that kind of seperation, it’s going to be a fun night.

Parker out with what looks like an ankle injury. We have been waiting for a Parker injury all year. Let’s see what happens.

Game time: 1st Quarter, 14:55

Rams start off with a pass to Isaac Bruce that would have given him third place all time. Haggans is playing. Second play to Bruce, hmmm…seems they want to get him the ball.

Bulger fumbles the snap and still almost gets the first down. St. Louis might want to think about challenging it.

Thank you very much, Rossum, that’s the straw that broke the camel’s back. Let’s add him to the Failed Returners list. We can simply not put a return man back there, and rush the punter, the return man who isn’t there won’t fumble.

THERE’S THE BIG PLAY WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR! THATTA KID TONY! Coverage was all over him, Ben still got drilled as he threw it, but dammit, FINALLY! A big play!

7:12 p.m. 

“Hi, I’m Scott Linehan, and you’re watching NFL Network…and my owners and fan base all think Tony LaRussa could coach this team better than I could.”

Did anyone know going into this week that Faulk’s jersey was going to be retired? Two things about this…

1. How many teams have to be on the road for TWO jersey retirement games in one year? It reminds me of the year in high school when the athletic director of our rival high school scheduled our first three road games to be on the opponent’s homecoming game. Yeah, absolute coincidence. Who’s in charge of this?? Goodell, we’ll have words.

2.  Don’t you feel sort of bad for Faulk in a way? Can a player get screwed any more than getting your jersey retired in Week 16 when your team is 3-11, and half the stadium is going to be filled with Steelers fans? Just an absolute kick in the junk. Again, who’s in charge of this?

Watch out for Steven Jackson. He’s gonna go off tonight. I can feel it. Big plays will be in my lede tomorrow morning.

My roommate, “Fiance” is bashing the bedroom TV, because that apparently makes it work. Profanities combined with emphatic thumps on the plastic sides of cheap TVs isn’t loud at all. It’s alright, though, Deion is talking.

7:12

Is Brian McKnight the one who pees on people? I really have no idea. Sounds like he cut off half the song though, which is nice.  

I do know that Ben looks like he’s singing another song in his head. Maybe it’s Pride (In The Name of Love), like NFL Network used for its bumper music going into that last commercial. That’s a good sign, I heard that song on the way to work this morning. Yes, I’m reaching.

7:01

By the way, I caught some of VH1’s 100 Best Songs of the 90s…and I now have “Informer” by Snow in my head. The best part was, they ran a camera around his hometown of Podunk, Alberta, Canada, and the locals talked about their confusion as to why Snow wasn’t as popular as Justin Timberlake.

I hate Canada.   

Ok, little late start…I apologize, but SteelerBro apparently forgot he had a gig tonight, so I got denied access to the Palatial SteelerBro Palace, and forced back to the porn film couch in my living room.

We’ll get right into the action…and the action is Michael J. Fox droning on about Marshall Faulk…

Wait, that’s Bob Costas, not Michael J. Fox. Too bad…I erased some good Alex P. Keaton material.

Chanting in the background…HERE WE GO STEELERS, HERE WE GO!

Let the two-week playoff begin. Unless, of course, Pittsburgh is able to beat St. Louis on the road next week, while Cleveland loses at Cincinnati. While the Steelers’ recent struggles have highlighted a few problems, they are still in control of their own destiny. A win gets them in the playoffs, and a win and Cleveland loss gives them the North.  

The Steelers no longer have to worry about watching the Cleveland Browns in their rear-view mirror in the AFC North race.

They’re perfectly visible from the driver’s side window.

Jacksonville held off the charging Steelers 29-22, physically man-handling the AFC North leaders in Week 15. The Browns overcame the snow and a gutty Bills team to win 8-0.

The long-time rivals now enter into a two-game season, with the Steelers holding the edge in the event of a tie. That’s little comfort for a team that has been statistically and physically battered the last two weeks. The Steelers gave up 147 yards to Jags RB Fred Taylor - the most ever at Heinz Field - Sunday, a week after allowing 399 yards in the air to Tom Brady and the Patriots. Brady’s 399 yards and three touchdowns were season-highs for the Steelers defense. Taylor’s 147 yards were the most the Steelers have given up to one back in over four years.

Their current defensive swoon happened at the perfect time for the surging Browns, who were pounded twice by the Steelers offensively and defensively. Their special teams unit kept the Browns close, losing 31-28, in their second meeting.

The Jaguars clinched a playoff spot, while the Steelers will have to continue battling for a post-season berth, which had been all but given to them three weeks ago, when they were 9-3 and held a 2-game lead over the 7-5 Browns.

Cleveland has won four of their last five, while Pittsburgh has only won two of their last five.

Pittsburgh lost their first game at home this year, which isn’t much comfort, considering their final two games are at St. Louis (Thursday) and at Baltimore. They are 2-4 on the road this season. Cleveland travels to the imploded Bengals, then hosts 3-10 San Francisco in the season finale.

By virtue of Tennessee winning, they trail Cleveland and Pittsburgh for the remaining Wild Card spot. Pittsburgh would end up with a better divisional record then either team and would win the tie-breaker with the Titans for the Wild Card, and the division from Cleveland.

For the third consecutive week, Pittsburgh needs to win, and Cleveland to lose to clinch the division. One win will qualify them for the playoffs.

That’s been more than difficult the last two weeks against the only playoff-caliber team the Steelers have faced since Cleveland in Week 10. 

On Sunday, Taylor ran at will, as the Aaron Smith-less Steelers got blown off the ball the entire game. FS Anthony Smith gave up another long touchdown, but did get a crucial interception in the fourth quarter, as Pittsburgh made a ferocious comeback.

The Steelers tied it at 22 after a Ben Roethlisberger to Nate Washington touchdown pass (and subsequent Cedrick Wilson-to-Santonio Holmes 2-point conversion), but Pittsburgh’s defense was again dominated up front by Jacksonville. The result was the game-sealing 12-yard touchdown run by Taylor.

Credit to Roethlisberger, as very little was going right for Pittsburgh offensively. He inspired the team to make the game far closer than the stats indicate, and set the Steelers season-record with his 28th touchdown pass - the beautiful 30-yard strike to Washington - this season. Also, credit SS Troy Polamalu, who returned after missing the last three games because of a knee injury. He played as if he was the only one on the field impervious to the icy conditions, and made several tackles that would have gone for huge gains.

The Steelers threatened to tie the game with under a minute to play, but a slant pass to Heath Miller fell just short after Reggie Nelson made the tackle of the game on Miller on 4th and 10; just chipping the much bigger Miller enough for him to fall about half a yard shy of the first down marker.

In the end, both Sunday and at the end of the year, the story of the season will be the same; Pittsburgh cannot strap on the pads and beat the flavor out of their opponent’s mouth. But as Sunday and Week 14 showed, they can certainly allow it to happen to them.  

Stats That Matter:

Jacksonville was 3-for-3 on 4th downs, and held a 37-22 TOP advantage

Pittsburgh was out-gained 421-217 in total yards

Jaguars K Josh Scobee missed two extra point attempts

QB Ben Roethlisberger had a 91.2 rating in the game, the first time he’d been over 90 in the last five weeks. It is only the second time this year his rating has been over 90 in a loss.

Interesting Links:

Doubt About It says Sunday was “fun,” and was worth seeing live

Steel City Insider pulls a Jim Mora: “Playoffs?!? We just want to win a game!” (and a fabulous picture of Heath Miller giving his all to get that first down at the end of the game)

JJ Cooper of AOL mentions the Steelers lost out on the third seed in the AFC playoffs

Jay with Blitzburgh Report says the Jags aren’t the Patriots or the ‘99 Rams

Cotter at OFTOT was just hoping the Steelers D could close

Neal Coolong is the author of Die Hard Steel for Sports Cartel, and is a contributor to Steel City Insider and Real Football 365.

Pittsburgh can beat Miami and Cincinnati without SS Troy Polamalu. It’s a bit tougher against the Pats and the NFL MVP. Brady shredded the Steelers without much help from anyone else. The Steelers didn’t get any help themselves, as Cleveland moved back within a game of the AFC North title race.

Insert your own coaching opportunity for Steelers FS Anthony Smith. I think he heard enough of them from Phil Simms, though.

Driving home from the game, I texted my fiancee to say I was ready for the Chinese she was ordering.

“The game is over already?”

“Oh, yes. It was over a long time ago.”

At that moment, “Hungry Heart” by Bruce Springsteen came on the radio. One line in particular struck me as fitting for the whipping the Steelers took over the second half of their 34-13 loss Sunday in Foxboro.

“…I took a wrong turn, and I just kept goin’…”

The Steelers were in position to make a run at a victory, only trailing 17-13 at the half.  But they took a wrong turn quickly in the second half, and kept going until Patriots QB Tom Brady was about ready to shatter any and all individual passing marks he set up to this point.

The only thing the Steelers really did accomplish is hold Brady under 400 yards passing. He had 399.

A play-action pass froze CB Ike Taylor and Smith, leading to a Brady-to-Randy Moss touchdown that covered 60 yards. A Brady-t0-Moss-to-Brady-to-Jabar Gaffney connection resulted in a 53-yard touchdown pass, and by that point, the floodgates had opened. The Steelers got stuffed twice from inside the 5-yard line in the fourth quarter, and were shut out in the second half.

Brady was unstoppable over the third and fourth quarter, and finished up with perhaps his best game of the season; 32-for-46 for 399 yards and four touchdowns.

Clearly, he was the difference in the game. The Steelers ran all over the Patriots, as Willie Parker picked up his first 100 yard game since Week 10 against Cleveland. He took back the lead in the race for the rushing crown, sitting at 1,217, against Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson, who has 1,195. Parker finished with 124 yards, but again, no touchdowns. He hasn’t scored since Week 8 at Cincinnati.

Ben Roethlisberger had a fairly vanilla 19-for-32 for 187 yards and a 32-yard touchdown pass to RB Najeh Davenport. Still, he completed enough passes, and Parker ran well even when the game was still in question. The offense put together the kind of numbers that usually lead to a win. If we haven’t seen an example of it yet, Pittsburgh’s offensive performance shows how good the Patriots really are. It takes a lot of what basically no other team in the league has to slow them down on offense, and the fact Pittsburgh entered the red zone three times and got three points out of it shows that, while their defense doesn’t light the world on fire, it’s certainly good enough to back up the best offense in the history of the NFL.

The game plan for the Steelers clearly was to control the clock, and complete short passes. Davenport’s touchdown came on an improvised wheel-route around intended receiver Santonio Holmes. Davenport made a nice over-the-shoulder catch in the end zone - something he probably hasn’t had to do in several years.

While that one big play was key at that point in the game, New England’s big plays were insurmountable, and destroyed Pittsburgh, despite a massive statistical advantage in time of possession (34-25). New England didn’t covert Pittsburgh’s lone turnover into points. Moss had seven catches for 135 yards and two touchdowns, but only made one eye-opening play. Moss was wearing Taylor like a cheap suit, and despite bobbling the ball, came down with it for a 16 yard gain on 3rd-and-2.

Outside of that, his deep touchdown was the result of blown coverage off the play fake, and had a fairly manageable five catches for 75 yards.

But those big plays…Doubt About It makes a good point:

Overall, I can’t say I’m that dejected. We went into Foxboro and were down by 4 at halftime. We ended up losing by 21, with two of their touchdowns exploiting two back up safeties. Our offense moved the ball, but couldn’t punch it in when it mattered. Tomlin was aggressive and didn’t back down. I’d rather shock the world in January anyway.

The win gave the Patriots 13 in a row, and clinched a first-round bye and eventually, will claim home field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Steelers fell to 9-4.

Corey Dillon was out in 2004

One of the main storylines the day after Pittsburgh routed New England 34-20 to end their 21-game winning streak in 2004 was the absence of RB Corey Dillon. The Patriots didn’t even have a poor man’s Randy Moss at WR that year, and built a lot of their success on the running game.

Obviously, they don’t need much of that anymore.

Patriots fans were chided post-mortem that week for making the excuse that they lost because they did not have one of their marquee players. The excuse won’t be made, but it is fair to point out the complexion of this great Steelers defense changes when you replace Troy Polamalu with Tyrone Carter.

Champions make the plays that define a game. Clearly, the Patriots were able to do that: brilliant play-action pass, throwback pass, two stands on 3rd-and-goal from the 2-yard line. Pittsburgh’s defense can do so much more with Polamalu, especially in pass rush. That would not be the same look they would get if Polamalu was healthy.

The Steelers can use that excuse, despite it possessing little value, but it is fair to point out any defense is playing at less of a level if their best player isn’t on the field.

Obviously, that wouldn’t affect their offense; although, like One For The Other Thumb, I’m not quite sure what the end-around play to Ward was doing in there. You can file that under “he’s a genius if it works” in the Standard Response Cabinet though. That shovel pass was a great call, and nearly netted six points.

If the Patriots main game-plan was to attack the deep secondary, I’m not entirely sure they would have been as successful if Polamalu was: 1. not showing a pattern in when he was going after Brady. 2. Dropping back into deep coverage, because he’s a bit more experienced, and not as susceptible to the gadget play or the hard play-action.

No excuses, Pittsburgh got their butts beat. However, I’m not standing on the ledge, gnashing my teeth and contemplating my options. 9-4 is still a helluva lot better spot to be in compared to last year. Jacksonville is good, St. Louis is on the front-end of a short week, and Baltimore is never an easy game (even if the last three games between these teams haven’t been at all close). That’s no reason Pittsburgh cannot run the table, and finish a fantastic 12-4 in Coach Tomlin’s first year.

Beating the Patriots, for as sweet as it would have been, and a buck 25 would get you a cup of Jack Squat.

I couldn’t care less if they go 16-0, because, the truth is, if they take 16-0 into the post-season, they have to beat three of the following teams to win the only thing that matters: San Diego, Indianapolis, Dallas, Green Bay, Pittsburgh. While they’ve beaten four of those teams already this year, that’s four situations in which their opponent has first-hand experience and knowledge on them.

The season is only really just beginning for New England, and they still cannot stop the run. Name me the last team that relied entirely on their passing game and couldn’t stop the run who won a championship.

Playoff picture 

Cleveland defeated the Jets 24-18 to move back within one game of the AFC North leading Steelers with three games to go. With Tennessee having lost 23-17 to San Diego in overtime, the Steelers missed a chance to qualify for the playoffs in Week 14. Now, they have 9-4 Jacksonville in Pittsburgh next weekend.

The Browns host resurgent Buffalo. A loss eliminates the Bills from the post-season picture, and a Cleveland loss with a Steelers win gives the Steelers the division.

San Diego is now one game behind Pittsburgh for the No. 3 seed in the AFC at 8-5.

Neal Coolong is the author of Die Hard Steel for Sports Cartel, and is a contributor to Steel City Insider and Real Football 365.

Steelers WR Hines Ward didn’t need to hold the team’s all-time reception touchdowns record to cement his legacy in Pittsburgh, but if he was going to do it, two touchdowns in a crucial divisional game is a very “Hines Ward” thing to do. He out-classed his counterparts in orange, and the Steelers obstensibly ended Cincinnati’s season for the third year in a row.  

The fact the Steelers crowned a new franchise touchdown reception king Sunday night in a 24-10 win over Cincinnati wasn’t as “Hines Ward” as the fact the record was broken at a crucial moment in the game - and the season.

Ward broke John Stallworth’s record of 63 career touchdown receptions with a 8-yard scoring catch that was the nail in the Bengals’ coffin, and Ward was the offensive MVP in the game that ended Cincinnati’s season.

The win sealed a 2-game lead over second-place Cleveland, who lost 27-21 at Arizona earlier Sunday. Pittsburgh owns the tie-breaker by virtue of winning both games against the Browns, and with four games to play, the Steelers Magic Number is 2 - any combination of Steelers wins and/or Browns losses equalling two will give Pittsburgh its first AFC North championship since 2004. The Steelers are 5-0 in the division, vying to become just the second team since the divisions realigned to go undefeated in it (Steelers, 2002).

It’s the third consecutive year the Steelers’ victory in the final meeting of these teams has sent Cincinnati home with no chance of a Super Bowl championship. Pittsburgh defeated the Bengals 31-17 in the AFC Wild Card Round in the 2006 playoffs, and won 23-17 in an overtime thriller in Cincinnati in the final week of the 2006 season - a win would have sent Cincinnati to the post-season. Pittsburgh’s win ensures a non-winning season for the Bengals, the 16th such year in the past 17 seasons.

While the former third round draft pick from Georgia is rewriting the Steelers receiving record book, he single-handedly drug a sputtering offense to victory for the second straight week. He had 11 receptions for 90 yards, after he had nine catches in a 3-0 win over Miami in Week 12.

QB Ben Roethlisberger tossed two interceptions, and RB Willie Parker lost two fumbles - and had two other fumbles nullified after replay challenges - as the Steelers offense managed 285 yards in the rain. They were without LT Marvel Smith, WR Santonio Holmes and RB Najeh Davenport - a last-minute scratch, as coach Mike Tomlin said he had a foot injury they weren’t aware of until Sunday. It’s the second consecutive game missed by Holmes and Smith. WR Cedrick Wilson and T Max Starks filled in well.

The defense had Ward’s back on his big night, as they squashed Cincinnati’s arial attack even without SS Troy Polamalu. He missed his second consecutive game with a knee injury.

Bengals QB Carson Palmer was 17-of-44 with zero touchdowns or interceptions. His completion percentage of 38.6 is among the lowest single-game totals of his career. The Steelers gave him a steady dose of Cover 2, and while they only sacked Palmer once (Larry Foote, who forced a fumble on the play), they got just enough pressure, and got it in the right situations. The Bengals were 8-for-18 on third downs, and 0-for-3 on fourth downs.

The key stat of the game is probably the fact the Bengals managed just three points on four Steelers turnovers. Pittsburgh got three points off a fumble that reserve DB Grant Mason forced on a punt return. It gave the Steelers the lead at 10-7 in the second quarter.  

Defense gets in Cincy’s head

While it was Ward’s night, the defense continued to show why they are one of the best units this franchise has had in the past several years. If anything, Pittsburgh’s defense showed how in tune a quarterback has to be in order to be effective against it. Palmer was painfully erratic, and by the end of the game, the offense was so out of rhythm, WR Chad Johnson caught a 13 yard pass on 4th-and-17, and jogged back to the huddle waiting for the next play.

WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh was held without a touchdown reception for just the second time of the season, and was constantly complaining to the officials for what seemed to be a variety of reasons.

Houshmandzadeh doesn’t shy away from his dislike of Pittsburgh, and went into warm-ups Sunday with a Terrible Towel affixed to his belt in lieu of his league-mandated white towel. In 2005, after the Bengals’ 38-31 win at Pittsburgh, Houshmandzadeh ran into the tunnel under the stands, and shined his cleats with a Terrible Towel.

Sunday night, in front of a national audience, he could have used the same towel to wipe away tears from his face, as, even for a competitive professional athlete, the amount of crying he did to officials was borderline embarrassing.

He dropped what would have been a touchdown pass with six minutes left in the game that would have cut the lead down to seven. That was after cameras showed a few seemingly unpleasant exchanges between he and Palmer. After Johnson’s gaffe, cameras showed him sitting alone on the bench, a blank expression on his face. He and Johnson combined for 11 of Palmer’s 17 completions, and had 128 yards between them.

Shippin’ up to Boston

Pittsburgh now prepares to head to Foxboro, Mass., to take on the (as of time of publication) 11-0 Patriots. New England takes on Baltimore on Monday Night Football in Week 13. There’s a 4:15 p.m. ET kickoff set for the Pats/Steelers game, and the win over Cincinnati gives the Steelers some breathing room to start off a difficult four-game set to end the regular season.

Obviously, the Patriots are going to be as tough an opponent as it gets in the NFL. After that, they host 8-4 Jacksonville, and, on a short week, travel to St. Louis to take on the Rams on Thursday night. They finish up the season at arch-rival Baltimore, in a game that could have playoff significance. Not for the Ravens, mind you, but with the Steelers only trailing No. 2 seed Indianapolis by one game, it’s still up in the air. The Colts have four AFC games remaining, and stand at 6-2 in the conference. The Steelers are 7-2 in the AFC, and have three AFC games to play.

The lightning in the Pittsburgh area that caused an hour delay of kickoff was the only explosive element in the Steelers’ 3-0 win over Miami Monday night. The record-setting victory at the Fourth River secured Pittsburgh’s 1-game lead over Cleveland for the AFC North title with five games to go.

In Week 11, the Steelers played down to their opponent. In Week 12, they played down to the elements.

Which team will the Steelers bring next week? That’s about as clear as mud.

During a torrential downpour that brought back memories of the Steelers at Miami game in 2004 - during Hurricane Jeanne - the newly resodded Heinz Field grass looked as if it was going to float away, but the Steelers got a field goal from K Jeff Reed with less than a minute in regulation to beat the winless Dolphins 3-0.

It was the lowest scoring win in Steelers franchise history.

The conditions gave the game a scrimmage look for four quarters, and the play on the field - largely caused by the weather - didn’t look far off of that assessment. Sideline reporters used the term “lumpy” to describe the playing surface, and the speed of the game slowed to a crawl.

The Steelers are consoled by a huge AFC win, as they improve to 8-3, holding on to a 1-game lead over the resiliant 7-4 Browns. They remain tied with Jacksonville for the No. 3 seed in the AFC Playoff picture.

Outside of the great photography that will no doubt come from the game, the win was about the only optimistic part of the game as a whole. Individual aspects of the game paint a more optimistic picture, though. Statistically, Pittsburgh dominated. They held a 34-25 time of possession advantage, and out-gained Miami on the ground 84-59.

Ben effective, Willie? Not so much…increasing sacks, decreasing points 

Steelers RB Willie Parker had 81 yards, giving him his third consecutive 1,000 yard season. He joins the former Ravens and Chiefs RB Priest Holmes as the only undrafted RBs to crack the century mark for three consecutive seasons.

The Dolphins were the league’s 32nd ranked defense going into this game, the fourth time this year the Steelers have played the team with that distinction. Parker had one 100-yard game out of those four - a 105 yard performance against Cleveland in Week 10, and he hasn’t scored a touchdown since Week 8 at Cincinnati, only his second of the year.

WR Hines Ward came down with nine of the toughest catches of his career, battling a wet ball and the Dolphins’ “get him down through any means necessary” philosophy that included CB Mike Lehan tackling him around his neck on more than one occaision.

Ward had three huge catches on the game’s only scoring drive. The Steelers got into Miami territory on eight consecutive possessions, but only had a 1-for-2 kicking performance from Reed to show for it at the end.

QB Ben Roethlisberger completed 15 consecutive passes at one point, but took a few sacks when it looked like he would have been able to throw it away. He threw an interception in the game’s opening drive to OLB Joey Porter, who, playing against his old team, showed flashes of J-Peezy again. He came into the game with 30 tackles, and 1.5 sacks. Monday night, Porter had eight tackles and that interception.

Roethlisberger finished 18-for-21 for 165 yards, but failed to throw a touchdown pass for the first time in 15 games. With the deep passing game removed entirely, Roethlisberger stuck to precision, as much as he could, anyway. He hit eight Steelers for completions, including gainers to seldom-activated Willie Reid, and backup FB Dan Kreider. He played within himself, and did a great job of rebounding from the early interception.

The Steelers allowed five sacks, running their three-game total to 16. Their offense came into the game averaging 26 points per game, the second-highest mark in the league. They’ve now scored 19 points in their last two games, 16 against the 2-9 New York Jets.

Clearly, the weather played a huge factor in the lack of scoring, and the Steelers generally played the hand they were dealt well, but the offense is going to have to find a way to get on track. This team has not clinched anything yet.

Defense dominated as much as the rain did 

His defense helped quite a bit. While LB Larry Foote was only credited with a half a sack, he had constant pressure on rookie QB John Beck, including one of the worst blocks ever from RB Jesse Chatman. Chatman looked like he tried to go low at Foote as he was blitzing around the end. Foote saw it, was able to stop, and simply hop over Chatman, and deliver a hit on Beck. Chatman was visibly upset after his mistake, and if the Dolphins weren’t precariously thin at RB, he would have been benched immediately.

The Steelers defense made that thin Dolphins running back corps even thinner, as rookie Lawrence Timmons gave Ricky Williams a tattoo of the sole of his enormous cleat on his arm. In an effort to stop Williams from trying to recover his fumble, Timmons stomped on his shoulder before diving on the ball himself.

It was Timmons’ first fumble recovery, and more than likely will draw a fine from the league.

Williams looked awful; overweight and slow, he left the game and did not return after the fumble. FS Anthony Smith ended Chatman’s night after driving his shoulder into Chatman’s neck as the running back dove, going for more yards.

The Dolphins, already without franchise RB Ronnie Brown, had to rely on Patrick Cobbs, an undrafted second-year back from North Texas. He brought very little to the Dolphins, as they averaged 2.1 yards per carry on the game.

The season starts in Week 13

The real mettle of a playoff team is tested over the final third of the schedule. No playoff team can boast a tougher final five games. The Steelers host Cincinnati at the Fourth River in a game that was moved to Sunday night in Week 13. Then they travel to AFC East champion New England, and host 8-3 Jacksonville in Weeks 14 and 15. They finish off the season at St. Louis and at Baltimore. With Cleveland showing no signs of slowing down, the Steelers are going to have to continue Monday’s trend of winning whatever way possible, as Tennessee stands at 6-5.

If the season ended after Week 12, the Steelers would be the No. 3 seed in the AFC Playoffs, hosting Cleveland in the Wild Card round.

The Steelers were without SS Troy Polamalu, WR Santonio Holmes and LT Marvel Smith in Monday’s win. T Max Starks filled in for Smith, and had mixed reviews, while blocking DE Jason Taylor is not an enviable task. Tyrone Carter filled in for Polamalu, and led the team with 12 tackles. Nate Washington, Cedrick Wilson and Willie Reid all took on new roles, and each had at least one reception.

The status of the injured players’ availability for next week’s AFC North showdown against Cincinnati likely won’t be officially decided until late Sunday afternoon.

No, neither the Jets nor the Steelers were accused of any film malfuction, but it’s a safe bet that only one of them wants to see recorded evidence of New York’s 19-16 (OT) win over the Steelers.  It may be a lost season for New York, but they blitzed so aggressively, it was as if their area behind the line of scrimmage was taking heavy shrapnel.  Pittsburgh’s offensive line crumbled, and the team fell to 7-3.

The Jets celebrated, as a six-game losing streak was broken.

The Steelers looked thoroughly defeated, like they just lost to a 1-8 team.

What was Doug Brien doing when the Jets beat the Steelers 19-16 in overtime?

The ill-fated former Jets kicker missed two would-be game-winning field goals against the No. 1-seeded Steelers in the 2005 Divisional Round, and never kicked for the Jets again. The Steelers escaped with a 20-17 win in overtime.

The Ghost of Doug Brien attacked the Steelers’ plagued special teams unit. It attacked the Steelers’ offensive line. It attacked their stout run defense, causing it to surrender its first 100-yard rusher in the past 35 games (Thomas Jones had 117 yards on 30 carries).

In the end, his replacement, Mike Nugent, nailed the 39 yarder as true as the day is long. He also hit a 28-yarder at the end of regulation to tie the game at 16.

So long 34-game streak of dominance against opposing running backs. Farewell, three-game winning streak. Adios, cozy feeling of two-game AFC North cushion.

Over 60 minutes of the worst football they played all year, the Steelers went from controlling the No. 2 seed of the AFC playoff picture to holding a slim 1-game lead over a team the Steelers beat twice - the Cleveland Browns. A kick/punt coverage team that had held its own had to field the first poor punt of rookie Dan Sepulveda’s career, and Leon Johnson returned it 26 yards, setting up Nugent’s kick. Sepulveda’s kick went for 39 yards and had very little hangtime. Washington got a running start, and caught it before the coverage seemed to realize it was down already.

Washington didn’t score, but he might as well have. The Steelers offense looked miserable most of the game, as their suspect offensive line now replaces the special teams as the Steelers Goats of the Week. They had one possession in overtime, but established nothing.

The Jets blitzed Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger as if their side of the field was under artillery fire. Roethlisberger was hurried on every single pass play, and was sacked at least once in every possession the Steelers had in the second half and overtime, minus the three plays they ran at the end of regulation.

He finished with a very Kordell-like 15-for-25 for 195 yards, one touchdown and one interception.  As a team the Jets got seven sacks, and they had nine going into Week 10.

Steelers sacked like groceries

Pittsburgh has given up 11 sacks in the past two games, after giving up just 13 in their first eight. Credit the Jets secondary, as they were able to hold down the Steelers receivers at bay for the whole game, but the pressure brought up the middle by DT Dewayne Robertson (2.5 sacks) and off the edge by DE Shaun Ellis (two sacks, one forced fumble/recovery) completely destroyed any game plan the Steelers may have had.

If the Steelers should expect the same measure of determination from losing teams like the Jets showed Sunday,  Pittsburgh has a rough final six games, indeed. They host Miami next week on Monday night, and St. Louis, Baltimore and Cincinnati - four teams with a combined nine wins between them - still on the schedule.  If the coaches of those teams share Jets coach Eric Mangini’s desire to bring the heat to Roethlisberger’s grill, Steelers offensive line coach Larry Zierlein and Mike Tomlin are in for some restless night.

Probably much like both of them went through Sunday.

34-game streak was a source of pride

It wasn’t even so much that Jones broke the Steelers 34-game streak of not allowing a 100-yard rusher. It’s that he didn’t earn it. Not taking anything away from Jones, he did what he should have done, but the Steelers display of shoddy tackling and lack of positioning was more akin to a team that routinely lets backs hit the century mark.

DE Brett Keisel had a fantastic play that was nullified on a (correct) holding call on LB Clark Haggans, but other than that, he was burned badly by Jones’ cutbacks. SS Troy Polamalu looked out of position on more than a few occaisions, and Jones had 45 yards on two seperate carries, meaning on his other 28 carries, he had an average 72 yards.

There were several blown tackles on both of Jones’ longest runs. Therein lies the reason for the streak. They survived injuries to players like NT Casey Hampton and DE Aaron Smith, and were able to maintain it. With every starter minus FS Ryan Clark (who had missed three straight games before being played on injured-reserve earlier this week), Jones put a dagger in the biggest source of pride the Steelers defense had.

It really didn’t have to happen, either, but how it happened is an example of how much damage missing the fundamentals can cause.

Browns don’t have anyone over .500 the rest of the way

This is the nature of the NFL. Regardless of how the Colts are or aren’t playing, the fact is the Steelers now only hold a 1-game lead over the Browns for the AFC North divisional race. Considering Mangini provided the remaining six coaches with a blueprint of how to beat the Steelers (especially on the road, where all three of Pittsburgh’s losses have come this year), the talk is no longer about the No. 2 seed behind New England.

Cleveland hosts Houston (now with WR Andre Johnson), and travels to Arizona and the Jets - two teams that have beaten Pittsburgh at home this year. They host Buffalo and play at Cincinnati before playing at San Francisco to end the year.

There is really no sense in progostication: The Browns could win out. They could split those six games. If the Steelers want to definitively lock up the division, they must handle no less than four out of the next six games. They won’t get more than two wins down the stretch if their effort and preparation mirrors anything of what it was in Week 11.

Interesting Links

Lolley says to let the WRs shoulder some of the sacks.

One for the Other Thumb might as well have seen it coming.

JJ Cooper of AOL says this is merely a test for Coach Tomlin.

Behind the Steel Curtain request shorter pass routes.

John Harris says Mangini wrote the blueprint on how to beat the Steelers

If it wasn’t for Ben Roethlisberger, the Steelers’ special teams would be explaining how it is they lost a game for a team that completely dominated its opponent in every other aspect of the game. That’s why they refer to the special teams as a winning edge. It almost won Cleveland a game it had no business winning.  

Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger made sure not to injure his back carrying the team. He put his legs into it.

After a long-anticipated kick coverage nightmare performance by Pittsburgh, Roethlisberger needed a nearly flawless second half to pull the Steelers back from a 21-6 deficit. Highlighted by a 30-yard touchdown run on 3rd-and-10 by Roethlisberger, the Steelers scored 22 second half points, and moved to 7-2 on the year with a 31-28 victory over Cleveland.

Roethlisberger had 49 yards rushing to go along with another outstanding passing performance - 23-for-34 for 278 yards and two touchdowns. He came one-tenth of a rating point of his fifth straight game with a passer rating of 100 or better (99.9).

It was a Leap Game for the Steelers fourth year quarterback, as he showed he belongs in the elite eschelon of quarterbacks. He overcame an interception in the first half,  can bring his team back from a large deficit. In terms of poise and determination, Sunday was an even better performance than his five-touchdown output than he had in Week 9 against Baltimore.

The deck was stacked against him early, as Cleveland took their opening drive 71 yards in 16 plays that resulted in a four-yard touchdown pass from Derek Anderson to Kellen Winslow.

While that was the only successful lengthly drive the Browns would have all game, they got bailed out by return man Josh Cribbs, who had 204 yards on kick returns. He took one in the fourth quarter 100 yards for a touchdown, and one in the first quarter that set up an Anderson-to-Lee Vickers touchdown pass.

Roethlisberger’s interception led to Anderson’s challenged touchdown completion to WR Braylon Edwards in the second quarter. It was Edwards’ only catch of the game, it was ruled a catch upon replay review <Editors note: I’m withdrawing my previous stance of it not being a catch. It could have gone either way, but mad props to Edwards for one of the more remarkable catches we’ve seen this year>

Cribbs’ outgained Cleveland’s offense 204-163, and his touchdown return crushed a Steelers run in the second half. Without him, this wouldn’t have been over upon K Phil Dawson’s missed 53-yard field goal at the end of regulation.

Silverback at it again

Steelers OLB James Harrison had two more forced fumbles, giving him five total in the last two games. He was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year after Week 9, and he stripped Browns RB Jamal Lewis twice, leading to a critical turnover in the third quarter.

He keyed a defensive effort that played with a short field due to Cleveland’s interception and Cribbs’ return to Pittsburgh’s three yard line. Outside of that, they completely shut down Anderson and the Browns.

Special teams woes

From The Profit, Ian Whetstone, on SCI.  

Speaking of kick coverage, Pittsburgh’s still scares me. The worst instance gave the Ravens the short field leading to their only points.

Yep. That’s about right.

Clearly, this team will go only as far as their special teams unit will let them. Anderson was awful. Winslow was effective for one drive. Edwards had that one catch, and I’m still not even sure it was a catch - for the sake of the argument, I’ll conceed that it was. Lewis wasn’t on the field for any reason other than to fumble twice. Pittsburgh won the time of possession battle by an obscene 38-21.

The score was way closer than the actual game. That is all credited to a miserably poor special teams coverage unit. It really should have cost Pittsburgh the game, and two plays almost won it for Cleveland.

It shows how important special teams really are.

Chargers 23, Colts 21

Despite the miserable special teams performance, the Colts helped out the Steelers by losing a winnable game to San Diego. QB Peyton Manning threw an appalling six interceptions, as the Steelers pulled even with the Colts in the race for the second seed in the AFC.

That’s what’s crazy about the NFL. The Colts were undefeated going into their showdown with the Patriots in Week 9, but now, standing at 7-2, the Colts maintain only a 1-game lead in the AFC South. The Steelers hold the edge in tie-breakers right now, as they hold a 5-1 AFC record. The Colts are 4-2.

Tennessee and Jacksonville are both 6-3. The Steelers’ toughest AFC teams remaining on their schedule are the Jaguars and the Patriots. The Colts have both of their AFC South rivals still left to play.

Trap games aplenty

The Steelers travel to New York for a battle with the floundering Jets next Sunday. In Week 12, they host the equally miserable Dolphins on Sunday Night. Cincinnati, St. Louis and Baltimore are sandwiched in against contending New England and Jacksonville over the final seven games of the year.

The focus for five of those final seven games will be to not drop to the level of the competition.

If they beat Baltimore and Cincinnati - not an easy task, mind you - the Steelers would become the first AFC North team to sweep the division, and win their first division title since 2004. Obviously, if they win out, they will be the No. 2 seed, assuming New England hits a slide and loses two other games on top of their Week 14 game vs. Pittsburgh.

Yeah, the No. 2 seed sounds nice.

Stats that Matter

Silverback has six forced fumbles to lead the NFL 

Pittsburgh averages 40 yards less a game than the league’s second-best statistical defense, Tennessee, 229 to 269.

The Steelers are tied for 23rd in the league with seven interceptions.

The Steelers are tied for third in the league with 10 forced fumbles

Interesting links

Tomlin: We stink as a coverage unit

Blitzburgh Report wonders if we’ll ever see a good coverage unit again.

Steel Tradition says to stop leaving Roethlisberger off the Elite QB List.

Yep, that was Chris Kemoeatu at the goal line

I’ll give Dale Lolley’s full quote the attention it deserves:

Heath Miller is a better tight end than Kellen Winslow, even though it will be Winslow who joins Antonio Gates in Hawaii for the Pro Bowl.Unforuntately, the Pro Bowl voters only look at catches as the measure of a tight end. Milller may be the best all-around tight end in the AFC, if not the NFL.

This has nothing to do with the Steelers, but Antonio Cromartie is as advertised...one question, though…shouldn’t Meathead Merriman be fined for going low at Manning’s legs?