Offense...B
QB Ben Roethlisberger may not of had his best game statistically ,but what he showed in heart, blood and guts on the football field was priceless . He was 22-38 for 253 yards 1 TD, 1 interception and QB rating of 75.9.
He took a shot from DT Haloti Ngata that broke his nose early in the 1st quarter that was never flagged.
He took a shot from DT Haloti Ngata that broke his nose early in the 1st quarter that was never flagged.
Roethlisberger already playing with a broken foot, seemed to play better as the game went on. In the 4th quarter he did a great job eluding the rush of Terrel Suggs to throw the football incomplete, a play probably only Ben Roethlisberger could of made . It was a very important play in the game winning scoring drive. You can say what you want about Roethlisberger but He has proved time and time again he is a winner and not many players are better at crunch time ,with the game on the line.
The offensive line lost another key player ,RT Flozell Adams to a high ankle sprain. The line was unable to be very effective most of the game . They allowed the Ravens to sack the QB 3 times and allowed numerous hurries . RB Rashard Mendenhall ran 19 times for 45 yards and had very little room to run.
Considering the circumstances the line put in a valiant effort against a tough defense on the road.
Wide receiver Mike Wallace was once again the leading receiver with 5 catches for 76 yards. TE Heath Miller was knocked out cold on a blatant unsportsmanlike hit that was never even flagged .David Johnson replaced him and had 3 catches for 37 yards. The rookie wide outs Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders both contributed and look to be living up to their potential.
The bottom line was that the Steelers offense kept grinding and came through when it mattered most.
Defense... B+
The Steeler defense played a very physical game with a lot of big hits and big plays. Linebackers James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley had a good game, disrupting QB Joe Flacco and causing many holding penalties .Woodley scooped up a fumble recovery late in the game and ran to the Raven's 9 yard line to help set up the game winning score. LB James Farrior again led the team in tackles .
The defensive line was helped out by the return of Brett Keisel . Ziggy Hood had a strong game and recorded a sack. The Steelers secondary had a rough time early , and gave up pass plays of 61 and 67 yards, both 3rd and long plays. Safety Troy Polamalu continued to amaze and came through with a huge sack and strip of Flacco to save the day with less then 4 minutes left to play in the game.
The Steelers defense had a total of 4 QB sacks and held Ray Rice and the Raven run game to a total of 20 rushes for only 43 yards and a 2.2 yard average.
The Bottom line was the Steeler Defense played very physical hard hitting defense and made big plays when they were needed.
Special Teams... C
Kicker Shaun Suisham made field goals of 45 and 19 yards and did a decent job of punting for injured punter Dan Sepulveda who blew out a knee on his plant leg. Suisham averaged 38.3 a punt. The coverage teams made to many costly penalties .
The Good...
Troy Polamalu and his game saving sack and strip . He is an amazing player
The Bad...
The Steeler secondary giving up big pass plays early on third and long .
The Ugly...
The officiating crew for missing so many blatant unsportsmanlike calls.... It was ridiculous .
The Steelers are in the drivers seat of the AFC North after kicking some Raven tail feather!
So there you have it Steeler Nation and don't forget where you got it , spread the word about the blog.
Later Steeler Nation
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