The Stillers finally broke
out of their five game slump and beat a Cardinals team that has been terrible
on the road. Still, at 2-6 on the heels of a five game losing streak the
Steelers needed a win against anyone, so in that regard this was a big win. The
defense blitzed and kept Blake under control until it was 28-3 and the Cards
started padding their stats. Not a win to boast about, however, this team would
have unraveled with a home loss to the Cardinals.
QB:
Tommy Gun played well going
12 of 24 for 159 yards with 3 TD�s and no INT�s. He had a passer rating of 110
that would have been higher had Plex not dropped a sure TD in the first half.
Maddox had time and was mostly accurate all day. After the 28-3 lead the
offense basically went into turtle mode but the damage was done. Grade: A.
RB:
Bettis rolled 18 times for
54 yards for 3.0 yards a carry. Zereoue chipped in 5 times for 22 yards. The
run game seemed to get going in the first half. However, in the second half
with a big lead is when Bettis is supposed to feast on defenses and wear them
down. He could barely get a yard although he did sustain an injury to his
shoulder. On the downside, Bettis once again coughed up the rock and gave the
Cards an easy three at the end of the first half. Grade C.
WR & TE:
Hines Ward was again the man
grabbing 6 catches for 64 yards and 2 TD�s. Plex probably feeling the effects
of a sore shoulder and missing practice all week hauled in only 1 pass for 6
yards. Most notably, Plex dropped a sure TD in the first half that would have
given the Stillers an early 7-0 lead. Chris Doering had a nice afternoon
grabbing 2 passes for 62 yards and a TD. Doering made a nice adjustment on a 53
yard completion and grabbed the Stillers first TD of the day. Riemersma only
had one catch for 8 yards. However, I do remember the announcers showing how
Riem clears the middle of the field and demands attention. Thereby freeing up
the receivers to make plays. Grade: B. Hines: A+
O-line:
The o-line did a nice job
protecting Maddox against a fairly poor Cardinal pass rush. Maddox was only
sacked once and the run blocking was adequate in the first half. In the second
half I would have liked to see more holes for Bettis. However, the Cards were
stacking up against the run and Cowher was intent on turtling. Grade: B
D-Line:
The
d-line had a good day applying consistent pressure on Jeff Blake and holding Marcel
Shipp to 61 yards on 21 carries. Coming in Shipp had been tearing it up the
last couple of games but as we all know the strong suit of the Stillers defense
is stuffing the run and they did not disappoint. Grade B+
LB:
The
big three were very good today. Jason Gildon became the Stillers all-time sack
leader recording three sacks. As always, Gildon is not included in this grade.
You can look to the weekly Gildong report for his grade. Farrior had another
strong day stuffing the run and KenBell had a nice hit on Shipp in the 3rd
quarter that seemed to really set the tone for the defense. James Farrior is
one player who has really stepped up in his second year in the 3-4 system.
Porter was once again solid stuffing the run and in pass coverage. He also
applied consistent pressure all day form his rush end spot in the dime. Grade:
A
Secondary:
Well,
finally something decent to report on this group. Deshea Townsend defended two
passes, one of which would have gone for a TD. Dtown also caused a fumble
rushing the QB. Taylor provided solid coverage and looked as if he had the
speed to actually keep up with some of the quicker receivers in the NFL. Polamula
showed a good bursst rushing the QB and he seems to be getting more comfortable
with the continued playing time he has received. One negative was Burnt
Alexander. On the 4th & 8 play that DTown was supposedly beaten
on, you can see Burnt about three yards away from Boldin closing in. The point
is he was supposed to be helping the corners in the zone. Had Alexander reacted
to the play he could have cleaned Boldin�s clock coming across the middle. I
can�t wait to see what Chris Hope can do as Alexander joins Dewayne Washington
on the bench. Blake did end up passing for 307 yards and 2 TD�s. However, most
of these yards and both TD�s occurred after the score was 28-3. Grade: B
Special
Teams:
Jeff
Reed missed a chip shot 23-yard field goal in the first half. Other than that
the special teams were very good. The kickoff coverage was solid all day and
the kickoff return team consistently provided field position around the 30 on
kickoff returns. Josh Miller had a good day pinning the Cards deep and booming
a couple of punts. Randle El returned a punt for a TD to put the Stillers ahead
28-3. Grade: B+
Coaching:
The
Stillers did not panic and start playing tight even though they were 2-6 and in
a tight home game with the Cards until half time. They came out in the 2nd
half determined and put Arizona away in a game they had to have. Cowher made
the right call inserting Dtown and Ivan Taylor into the secondary the blitz was
effective. On offense the Stillers took shots down the field. However, the
Stillers need to throw the deep ball to Plex more and also need to bench Burnt
Alexander. Grade: B.
The
Steelers are 3-6 and still need to run the table to earn a playoff berth. The Ravens
have lost their starting QB and Marvel Smith should be back next week. The
Stillers usually play well on MNF and should be able to shut down the 49ers
rushing attack. We will see how far the pass rush has come and whether this
re-tooled secondary can hold up against a real passing attack. The Stillers
continue their resurgence in a tight one, 27-24.