Steelers football blog

Sweed playing his way on to bench

The competition for the No. 3 spot at wide receiver is over.

And the loser of the battle that had been waged since the start of training camp may not even be in the Steelers' immediate plans.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday that Limas Sweed could be dropped from the rotation at wide receiver because of hands that can make concrete look soft by comparison.

Sweed couldn't hang onto what would have been a 34-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in the third quarter of Sunday's 23-20 loss to the Bengals.

Drops have plagued the second-year wide receiver, and Tomlin is admittedly concerned about the miscues having a lingering effect on Sweed. Continue

Steelers let one get away late vs Bengals

This loss will hurt even worse than the one the Steelers suffered last week against the Bears.

The Steelers squandered an early 13-point lead and lost, 23-20, following a last-second touchdown to a team they had beaten eight consecutive times at Paul Brown Stadium.

Carson Palmer led the Bengals on a 16-play, 71-yard drive that he capped with a touchdown pass to Andre Caldwell with 18 seconds left in the game.

The Steelers (1-2) have lost two in a row and will try to bounce back next Sunday when the San Diego Chargers visit Heinz Field.

The Steelers defense had been stout through three quarters, but it gave up two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, as Palmer rallied the Bengals from deficits of 13-0 and 20-9. Continue

Odom is a sackmaster for Bengals

Antwan Odom was the most noticeable player in the Cincinnati Bengals' training camp, and not just because he looked a whole lot bigger.

The defensive end zipped from dorm room to cafeteria to locker room on a two-wheel transport he brought to camp, letting him get anywhere he wanted without delay. He's doing the same thing — without the wheels — in the regular season.

After two games, Odom leads the NFL with seven sacks. He tied the club record with five on Sunday during a 31-24 victory at Green Bay, taking advantage after the Packers lost their veteran left tackle and had to shuffle the line.

Just like training camp, he stood out in the crowd.

"I'm the type of guy, I dodge the media a little bit, so they say," Odom said. "But it feels pretty good to get noticed." Continue

Parker likes to play at Bengals

A sly smile crept across Willie Parker's face upon mention of whether the surface at Paul Brown Stadium is a motivator.

Fast Willie can't lie. He likes FieldTurf.

"I don't want to say that," Parker said, "but you know the turf field is for speed guys. I don't want to say it plays a role. It probably helps a little bit."

The Steelers running back has averaged 130.3 yards in three career games at Cincinnati — he was inactive last year because of a knee injury — and hopes to crack the century mark for a fourth time in the Queen City, when the Steelers (1-1) visit the Bengals (1-1) at 4:15 p.m. Sunday.

Not that his teammates believe the turf is the only reason for that success.

Of Parker's 25 career 100-yard games, 15 have come at Heinz Field. The only other stadium where Parker has had multiple 100-yard games is Cleveland Browns Stadium, where he registered triple digits three times in four games and is averaging 97.5 yards and 5.0 yards per carry. Continue

Steelers' D has questions

It's not that Dick LeBeau got, well, defensive about questions of what can be done to counter the quick-drop, short-passing games opponents have employed with success through the first two weeks of the season.

But the defensive coordinator made it clear that he will be anything but reactionary following a 17-14 loss to the Chicago Bears. In the earliest loss the Steelers have suffered under third-year coach Mike Tomlin, the vaunted defense couldn't protect a fourth-quarter lead and gave up a pair of long touchdown drives.

"We're going to keep coaching them the way we've been coaching them," LeBeau said after practice Thursday. "I think we led the league in (fewest) points yielded last season. I haven't looked, but I'm sure we're not last in points yielded this year. We're not going to change because we lost 17-14." Continue

Chad Johnson taunts Steelers

Chad Ochocinco is at it again.

The boisterous Bengals wide receiver told reporters in Cincinnati on Wednesday that he is looking forward to making Steelers cornerbacks Ike Taylor and William Gay "kiss the baby."

However, Ochocinco overlooked one key element in his trash talking directed at the Steelers' two starting cornerbacks.

"I don't know what that means," Taylor said.

"Did he say what that meant?" Gay said.

"Kiss the baby" is the term Ochocinco popularized on HBO's reality series "Hard Knocks" this summer, detailing the Bengals' journey through training camp. It is a term he said means: "It's all over."

"(Laughs) That's funny," said Gay when told the meaning.

"Tell him that's cool," Taylor said.

Ochocinco hasn't had much success in making Taylor "kiss the baby" in years past. Continue

Steelers leaning pass over first two games

Wide receiver Hines Ward has insisted that the Steelers are a running team.

The statistics, at least through the first two games, suggest otherwise.

The Steelers have run the ball only 37 percent of the time this season. That is a stark contrast to the past two times they won the Super Bowl.

Through the first two games last season, the Steelers ran the ball 65 percent of the time. Over the same span in 2005, they went to the ground 70 percent of the time.

Coach Mike Tomlin, however, made it clear Tuesday that he doesn't care about such statistical breakdowns even though the Steelers have long prided themselves on imposing their will on opponents. Continue

Reed misses 2 FGs in 4th, Bears win 17-14 on late FG

The Chicago Bears scored with 15 seconds left to beat the Steelers tonight, 17-14, at Soldier Field.

Robbie Gould kicked a -yard field goal to win it for Chicago (1-1). His kick came moments after Jeff Reed missed his second field goal attempt of the fourth quarter.

Reed, one of the best kickers in the league, missed twice in the fourth quarter, from 38 and 43 yards. The last one came with 3:18 to go and the game tied.

The Bears tied the Steelers 14-14 with 6:21 left in the game, starting their 72-yard drive after Jeff Reed missed a 38-yard field goal.

Reed seemed to slip on the new sod that was installed in the middle of the week, and the surface did not improve during a intermittent downpour. The attempt sailed wide left. Continue

Steelers not expecting a repeat performance from Cutler

For a guy who is either the solution to a problem as chronic in Chicago as political cronyism or is the most villainous gunslinger in the Windy City since Al Capone, Jay Cutler couldn't have picked a worse time to set a dubious personal record.

It came last Sunday night when the new Chicago quarterback threw a career-high four interceptions in the Bears' 21-15 loss to the Green Bay Packers.

Cutler's performance triggered criticism -- two former NFL head coaches ripped him for not taking more of the blame following the loss -- and it may have made Bears fans nostalgic for the Vince Evans and Mike Phipps years.

But as the Steelers watched film of Cutler's first game for the Bears last week, they weren't exactly salivating at the prospect of facing him.

"He had an off game," said Steelers outside linebacker James Harrison, whose team visits Chicago today for a 4:15 p.m. game. "I don't expect him to go out there and throw four picks to us. No way in hell." Continue

Timmons back at practice

Inside linebacker Lawrence Timmons practiced for the second consecutive day Thursday in his bid to return to the lineup after missing the opener with a sprained ankle. Timmons increased his workload and shared some first-team reps with Keyaron Fox, who recorded a team-high nine tackles against Tennessee. In Wednesday's practice, Timmons was a limited participant. But his role was expanded yesterday. Timmons was impressive dropping into coverage, batting away a long pass for tight end David Johnson. Asked about Timmons' availability for Sunday's game at Chicago, defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau said, "He made great strides today compared to yesterday.'' Continue