Steel City Defense: A Pittsburgh Steelers Franchise

[matt314hew]

Steelers start defense with a win
B. Smith, Pittsburgh Post
9/11/09

Pittsburgh opens up the 2009 season with a big win against the Tennessee Titans. Early in the day, the Titans announced that Vince Young, who was a game time decision, would not be playing because of an illness. This forced the Titans to start Kerry Collins at quarterback and the Steelers defense didn't have to worry about him scrambling.

The game started off with the Titans getting the ball and driving it down the field to get the first points of the game with a field goal from Rob Bironas. It was soon after this that the Steelers offense got the ball and took the ball down to get their first Touchdown of the season. Rashard Mendenhall ran the ball in from 1 yard, his first of the day.

On the Steelers 2nd possession, it was again Mendenhall who took the ball into the endzone from one yard out. Jeff Reed kicked a field goal with 21 seconds to go in the half, which was thought to be the final points of the half, but on the kickoff, it was squibbed out of bounds. The Titans got 3 more points from Bironas, this time from 60 yards out.

The Titans added 3 more points in the 3rd, but that was all the scoring that was allowed by either team. A very hard fought game with the Steelers getting the edge on the scoreboard.

Mendenhall was the player of the game with his 2 touchdowns.

Next week the steelers will travel to Chicago to face the Bears, in what should be another hard fought game.

Sep 10, 2009 - TEN at PIT
TEAM	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Tennessee Titans (0-0)	3	3	3	0	9
Pittsburgh Steelers (0-0)	0	17	0	0	17

Team Stats Comparison
TEN		PIT
120	Total Offense	270
5	Rushing Yards	99
115	Passing Yards	171
5	First Downs	14
34	Punt Return Yards	9
66	Kick Return Yards	67
220	Total Yards	346
3	Turnovers	0
	3rd Down Converstion
	4th Down Conversion
	2-Point Conversion
	Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals
	Penalties
9:24	Posession Time	18:36

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		TEN	PIT
3:46	(TEN) R. Bironas 52 Yard Field Goal	3	0
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		TEN	PIT
5:58	(PIT) R. Mendenhall 1 Yard Touchdown Run	3	7
1:36	(PIT) R. Mendenhall 1 Yard Touchdown Run	3	14
0:21	(PIT) J. Reed 45 Yard Field Goal	3	17
0:02	(TEN) R. Bironas 60 Yard Field goal	6	17
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		TEN	PIT
0:18	(TEN) R. Bironas 35 Yard Field Goal	9	17

Pittsburgh Steelers Boxscore
PASSING	RATING	C/ATT	YDS	TD/INT	AVG
B. Roethlisberger	91.9	13/20	171	0/0	8.5
RUSHING	ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
R. Mendenhall	27	92	3.4	2	9
M. Moore	1	4	4	0	4
C. Davis	1	3	3	0	3
RECEIVING	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
H. Miller	4	32	8.0	0	12
M. Wallace	3	48	16.0	0	22
H. Ward	2	35	17.5	0	26
A. Randle El	2	35	17.5	0	31
M. Spaeth	2	21	10.5	0	14

[matt314hew]

Pittsburgh Steelers @ Chicago Bears
Preview

Good morning Steelers Nation. Welcome to another preview of your Pittsburgh Steelers. This week they travel to Chicago to take on the 'Monsters of the Midway', Da Bears.

This should be an interesting matchup between two great coaches. Both teams are coming off huge victories in week 1 and will look to continue their winning ways.

Last week, Big Ben had an ok week, not really lighting it up on the score board, but that was against a great defense. They limited the Steelers to only 17 points, all scored in the 2nd quarter. Chicago should also be able to limit the steelers to minimal points, but the Steelers defense will look to have another huge game against the run. They allowed 5 rushing yards and will try to have another dominating game again.

The keys to victory:
Steelers:
1. Run the ball. They didn't get the running game going until the end of the game last week and that allowed the steelers to control the game. But they also didn't get any points when the running game was working.
2. Get a man on Urlacher. He is by far one of the best defenders at stopping the run. They need to stop him from getting to the ball carrier.
3. Protect Ben. They didn't have too much trouble last week, but Ben had to get rid of the ball a few times.

Bears:
1. Keep the Steelers out of the Backfield. This is where the Steelers look to get the most pressure. once the run game is put on hold, they can attack the QB.
2. Hold onto the ball. The steelers took the ball away from the Titans last week and made them pay twice with 10 points before halftime. The bears need to make sure the protect the ball.
3. Keep Ben from making a big play. Last week the Titans didn't allow ben to get a big play and that allowed them to stay in the game. The Bears need to do this and know they can't get into a shootout against their defense.

There you have it. Our prediction this week is:

Steelers 17
Bears 14

[matt314hew]

Steelers dominate the Bears


In a shocking way, the Steelers traveled into Chicago and took it to them. While the Steelers could do nothing wrong on Defense, the Bears could do nothing right. The Steelers forced 5 turnovers, none more important than the fumble on the Kickoff after Jeff Reed made it a 10 to nothing game.

Hester was hit hard and just coughed up the ball and the Steelers were able to pick it up at the 22 yard line. From there, it took 3 plays to set up Randle El for a 16 yard TD catch and run.

Wallace and Ben started the game off with a bang. The first play from scrimmage for the Steelers was the longest play of the season for the Steelers, a 60 yard TD pass. It came from a play action and Wallace was able to streak past the defender for an easy catch and run for 6 points.

The Steelers dominated the 2nd half with a drive taking 13 minutes and 43 seconds off the clock, tacking on a Touch down run and leaving the Bears with 1:13 to try to make a comeback. It didn't happen and the Steelers waltzed away with a 24-0 shutout.

Player of the game was Lamar Woodley, but an honorable mention has to go to Brian Urlacher. He blocked a field goal early in the 2nd quarter after Reed had already made the kick before a holding penalty negated it. He came through the line untouched and was able to block the kick. The Bears had a chance to scoop and run with the ball, but just couldn't get control.

The NFL players of the week were:
Offense: Trent Edwards of the Bills. 21 of 37 for 265 yards and 3 TDs
Defense: Eric Weddle of the Chargers 3 tackles, 1 Fumble Recovery, 1 TD.

Next week the steelers will travel to Cincinnati to take on their Rivals, The Bengals.

Sep 20, 2009 - PIT at CHI
TEAM	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Pittsburgh Steelers (1-0)	7	10	0	7	24
Chicago Bears (1-0)	0	0	0	0	0

Team Stats Comparison
PIT		CHI
333	Total Offense	46
161	Rushing Yards	11
172	Passing Yards	35
14	First Downs	3
2	Punt Return Yards	7
29	Kick Return Yards	115
364	Total Yards	168
2	Turnovers	5
	3rd Down Converstion
	4th Down Conversion
	2-Point Conversion
	Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals
	Penalties
32:41	Posession Time	3:19

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		PIT	CHI
7:38	(PIT) Mike Wallace 60 yard TD Reception from B. Roethlisberger	7	0
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		PIT	CHI
3:46	(PIT) 10 Yard Field Goal from Jeff Reed	10	0
1:40	(PIT) Antwaan Randle El 16 yard TD reception from B. Roethlisberger	17	0
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		PIT	CHI
1:13	(PIT) J. Charles 11 yard TD run	24	0

Pittsburgh Steelers Boxscore
PASSING	RATING	C/ATT	YDS	TD/INT	AVG
B. Roethlisberger	106.5	11/16	181	2/2	11.31
RUSHING	ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
R. Mendenhall	29	114	3.9	0	15
J. Charles	6	28	4.6	1	11
B. Roethlisberger	1	4	4	0	4
C. Davis	1	2	2	0	2
M. Moore	1	13	13	0	13
RECEIVING	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
A. Randle El	4	56	14	1	17
M. Wallace	3	88	29.33	1	60
H. Ward	2	33	16.5	0	24
M. Spaeth	1	3	3	0	3
M. Moore	1	1	1	-	1

[matt314hew]

Injury Report:
After the first 2 weeks of the season, here is the Steelers injury report.
Chris Kemoeatu - Groin Tear, Out 1 more week
Justin Hartwig - Broken Forearm, Out 4 more weeks.

the steelers have been able to get by without 2 of their starters on the offensive line so far this year.

Kemoeatu comes back in week 4 and Hartwig should be ready to play in week 7.

Note: Every 4 games I will come out with NFL Standings. I will also list the top 3 players for QB, HB, WR, TE, K, LB, CB, Saftey. Offensive guys will have stats for catches, runs, TDs; Kicker for FGM/FGA, XPM/XPA; and Defenders will have tackles, sacks, fumbles, ints, TDs.

Playoff Standings will come out in week 12 and MVP watch will come out in Week 12. Will probably also have Clinching scenarios for the Divisions around week 12.

[footballfan4life]

Its always the lineman lol

[matt314hew]

Quote: Originally Posted by footballfan4life

Its always the lineman lol

It is.. I have to adjust sliders, as I shoudl not be allowing only 5 and 11 rushing yards.. Plus, there should be more offense for the other teams.

[matt314hew]

Single Season Records
Taken from Wikipedia - Will update after each season, if there is a new record holder.


Passing

• Attempts: 519 Tommy Maddox (2003)
• Completions: 337 Ben Roethlisberger (2009)
• Yards: 4,328 Ben Roethlisberger (2009)
• Touchdowns: 32 Ben Roethlisberger (2007)
• Interceptions: 25 Terry Bradshaw (1979)
• Passer Rating: 104.1 Ben Roethlisberger (2007)

Rushing

• Attempts: 390 Barry Foster (1992)
• Yards: 1,690 Barry Foster (1992)
• Touchdowns: 14 Franco Harris (1976)

Receiving

• Receptions: 112 Hines Ward (2002)
• Receiving Yards: 1,398 Yancey Thigpen (1997)
• Receiving Touchdowns: 12 Buddy Dial (1961), Louis Lipps (1985), Hines Ward (2002)

Defensive

• Sacks: 16 James Harrison (2008)
• Interceptions: 11 Mel Blount (1975)

Kicking

• Field Goals: 34 Norm Johnson (1995)

[matt314hew]

Steelers @ Bengals
Preview

Welcome to week 3 of the NFL. The Steelers (2-0) travel to Cincinnati (1-1) this week. In recent history, this rival has grown ever since the Steelers knocked Carson Palmer out of the 2005 playoffs. These teams have played each other tough ever since.

The Steelers have to come in as the Favorites, as they are the defending champs and also sit at 2-0 and have a stifling defense. Their offense will need to improve, but their defense is great.

Palmer has some big weapons, none more important that Chad Ochocinco. He will look to make big plays and against the Steelers, he doesn't normally do this. He also has another threat in Lavernius Coles, who spent the past few seasons with the New York Jets.

The Steelers have some big playmakers as well, as was seen last week with Mike Wallace. Ward and Miller will be Ben's number 1 and 2 targets this week again, but look for them to try the deep ball at least once early on.

Both teams will need their running games to get things going, or else it will be who can protect the qb the best.

Keys to victory:
Steelers:
1. Run the ball early and often
2. Control the clock
3. Keep Ochocinco out of sync.

Bengals:
1. Hold onto the ball, the Steelers have forced 8 Turnovers and are a +6 this season so far.
2. Attack the blitz, The Steelers like to blitz and Palmer will need to attack the blitzers by getting the ball out to a hot route quickly.
3. Don't let Wallace run free. He has the speed to beat you deep and they need to keep him covered.

Predictions:
Steelers should win this game easily. The way they took out the Bears made them look unbeatable.
31-10