Steelers football blog

Steelers need overtime to fend off Ravens

The Steelers' 23-20 overtime victory over the Ravens Monday night did not come without serious cost. A handful of players were lost to injury. Starting guard Kendall Simmons (foot) and running back Rashard Mendenhall (shoulder) are out for the season. The victory, which came after the Steelers scored 17 unanswered points and squandered a late lead, wasn't sealed until Jeff Reed snuck a 46-yard field goal attempt just inside the left goal post at 8:55 of overtime. Continue

Defense will rule night for Steelers-Ravens

The Monday night football audience was spoiled the past two weeks, treated to scores as if the Celtics-Lakers series were still playing. The Steelers and Baltimore Ravens plan to do something about that. You want scoring? Try the baseball playoffs this week because there's a better chance to see it there. "I'd say most likely you're going to see what I call real football Monday night," Steelers defensive end Aaron Smith said. "This isn't going to be basketball on grass." Continue

Steelers' Foote hasn't lost a step

So much for the once hot-button training camp topic regarding Lawrence Timmons beating out incumbent Larry Foote for one of the Steelers' starting inside linebacker spots.

Foote remains entrenched on the first-team. Ever present beside fellow inside linebacker James Farrior, Foote is part of a defense ranking third in the AFC and fourth in the league in total defense, allowing just 234 yards per game. Third on the team in tackles last season, Foote again ranks near the top with 19 stops entering Monday night's contest against the Baltimore Ravens at Heinz Field. Continue

Time is of the essence for Steelers' Holmes

Steelers receiver Santonio Holmes is learning how to exhibit patience rather than frustration. Holmes, who is second on the team with 10 receptions for 145 yards, needs to create more opportunities in the passing game. He snagged a team-high eight touchdown catches last season but doesn't have a touchdown grab through the first three games of 2008. What he does have is a strong opinion about what's wrong with the Steelers' attack. Continue

Arians accepts blame for struggles against Eagles

The nine sacks the Steelers surrendered in a 15-6 loss to the Eagles' on Sunday? Bruce Arians' fault. The two field goals the Steelers managed against a team that had given up 41 points the previous week? Bruce Arians' fault. The Steelers not getting anywhere near the Eagles' end zone following the first quarter? Again, Bruce Arians' fault.Irked at questions directed at the players following the loss to the Eagles, Arians, the Steelers' offensive coordinator, said he is solely to blame for what happened in Philadelphia. Continue

Coaches alert rookie RB to war of words, too

Practice over, Rashard Mendenhall stood between two coaches on the field yesterday afternoon while most of his Steelers teammates departed. Mike Tomlin stood on one side; Kirby Wilson, who coaches the running backs, on the other. They offered advice to Mendenhall about what to expect from the renowned Baltimore Ravens defense when he makes his first pro start Monday night at Heinz Field. Continue

Mendenhall, Hoke take starters spots

Willie Parker talked last week about NFL players never feeling 100 percent during a season. Asked what percentage he is when the bumps and bruises have started to add up, the Steelers' running back said, "You have to ask me that in the middle of the season." Parker smiled and added, "and then I'm probably going to lie to you anyway."

The two-time Pro Bowler did not lie to reporters following the Steelers' 15-6 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. Parker did hide the knee injury that will sideline him for the Steelers' game against the Baltimore Ravens and possibly longer. Continue

Tomlin says field goal no option

Coach Mike Tomlin did not consider attempting a field goal with less than a minute to play in the Steelers' 15-6 loss to the Eagles, even though they were within Jeff Reed's range and needed two scores to erase a nine-point deficit. "We did not move the ball consistently enough to say that had we kicked a field goal and got an onside kick, we could get down there again," Tomlin said. "Under the circumstances of what had happened to that point, no way I'm kicking a field goal right there." Quarterback Byron Leftwich, playing for the injured Ben Roethlisberger, drove the Steelers to the Eagles' 13 but was sacked on third-and-1. His pass on fourth down from the Eagles' 22 fell incomplete. Continue

Lethal Eagles drop listless Steelers

The Steelers were so offensively challenged in a 15-6 loss Sunday to the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field that the most positive development was a negative. That was the result of X-rays taken on Ben Roethlisberger's right hand after the Steelers' quarterback said someone stepped on it during the fourth quarter. The injury that kept a battered Roethlisberger on the sidelines during the Steelers' final possession is not believed to be serious. "We'll see where he is (today)," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. "I think he's going to be fine." Continue

Eagles will be good to measure Steelers

The Cowboys are the defending NFC East champions and a trendy pick to represent their conference in the Super Bowl. Yet, they needed quarterback Tony Romo, one of eight players on Dallas' offense that made the Pro Bowl in 2007, to engineer a late touchdown drive to beat the Eagles this past Monday night. "We felt we were the better team and should have won," Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb said of the 41-37 shootout won by the Cowboys. "We lost that game."

McNabb's statement is as much a testament to the strength of the NFC East as the Cowboys' star-studded roster and the shiny Super Bowl rings the Giants received a couple of weeks ago. The Eagles, after all, were the only team in the NFC East that missed the playoffs last season. And, as McNabb said, they could make a legitimate case that they let one get away in Dallas. Continue