The Joe Lodanosky Show

Pittsburgh Steelers

6-7; third place AFC North

2009 Week 15

By Kenneth Torgent

NEXT GAME

Green Bay Packers (9-4) at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, PA

Sunday, December 20 – 4:15 PM on FOX

LAST WEEK

Packers: Beat the Bears 21-14 in Chicago

· RB Ryan Grant carried the load for the Packers, one of the NFL’s hottest teams and winners of five-straight games.

· Following a three-and-out by Chicago, Grant took the ball on the Packers’ first offensive play and went the distance, scoring on a 62-yard TD run to give Green Bay an early 7-0 lead.

· Chicago continued to struggle in the first half while Green Bay controlled the time of possession, converting two field goals on their next two drives.

· The Bears finally put points on the board near the end of the first half as QB Jay Cutler hit outstanding rookie WR Johnny Knox for a 19-yard TD just after the two-minute warning, cutting Green Bay’s lead to 13-7.

· Green Bay received the kick in the second half only to see QB Aaron Rodgers fumble the ball away on the fourth play of the drive. Chicago responded with a 10-yard TD strike from Cutler to WR Devin Aromashodu, giving the Bears their first lead of the game.

· In the fourth quarter, a critical interception of Cutler by Packers’ safety Nick Collins set Green Bay’s offense up in the red zone. Grant eventually scored on a one-yard plunge and Rodgers completed a two-point conversion toss to Greg Jennings for a 21-14 Packers lead and the eventual win.

· Grant finished the day with 20 carries for 137 yards in addition to his two touchdowns.

· CB Charles Woodson finished the day with 3 passes defensed and an interception, his eighth this season.

Steelers: Lost to the Browns 13-6 in Cleveland

· The Steelers came out flat against the formerly one-win Browns, who used a potent running attack and stifling defense to hand Pittsburgh its fifth-straight loss, three of which have come against sub-.500 teams.

· Pittsburgh went three-and-out on its first two offensive drives before Cleveland capitalized with a 29-yard field goal by K Phil Dawson.

· After another stalled drive and three-and-out by Pittsburgh, Cleveland doubled its lead with its second field goal of the half, another 29-yarder.

· On the following drive, QB Ben Roethlisberger was thrown down to the turf on third down, the fourth time in five drives that Roethlisberger was sacked on third down.

· Browns kick returner and annual Steelers-killer Joshua Cribbs ran the show on the next drive with some direct-snap action, leading the Browns down the field before RB Chris Jennings scored on a 10-yard run to the edge of the end zone. It was the first rushing TD by a Browns RB this season.

· The Steelers finally established some sense of rhythm and drove into the red zone, but were forced to settle for a field goal as time expired in the first half, cutting Cleveland’s lead to 10.

· Despite numerous stalled drives by the Browns in the second half, Pittsburgh’s offense only managed to kick one more field goal, giving the Steelers their 13-6 loss.

· Pittsburgh was a miserable 3-14 on third down. Roethlisberger himself was 1-11 in the game on third downs. He failed on his first nine attempts, five of which were sacks.

· Speaking of sacks, the Steelers allowed eight in the game.

· Cleveland’s offense racked up 171 yards rushing, highlighted by Joshua Cribbs’ 87 yards on eight carries. QB Brady Quinn was only 6-19 for the day for 84 passing yards.

· Santonio Holmes finished the day with six catches for 93 yards.

BEHIND ENEMY LINES

A Look Around the AFC North

Cincinnati (9-4) was abused by the Vikings last week, posting a 30-10 loss on the road. QB Carson Palmer passed for just 94 yards in the game. Even with the loss, Cincinnati is still in line to win its second division crown this decade. With a loss to the Browns, Pittsburgh now has no chance of winning the AFC North. Only Baltimore still has a chance, though they would have to win out and hope that the Bengals fail to win any more games. Cincinnati now takes its act to San Diego, another team that is playing some outstanding football late in the season.

Baltimore (7-6) demolished the Detroit Lions at home 48-3, breaking their team-record for offensive yards in a game with 548. Baltimore hosts struggling Chicago next week.

Cleveland (2-11) is on the road against Kansas City next week. Their defeat of Pittsburgh, though undoubtedly satisfying, may have cost the team a chance at the 1st overall pick in next year’s draft. On the plus side, Cleveland has been meeting with former Packers/Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren, who has shown interest in becoming an NFL general manager.

THE PATH TO THE PLAYOFFS

AFC Playoff Picture as of 12/15/09

Division Leaders

Indianapolis Colts (13-0) – Clinched home-field advantage

San Diego Chargers (10-3)

Cincinnati Bengals (9-4) – Will clinch the AFC North with one more win or a Baltimore loss

New England Patriots (8-5)

Wild Cards

Denver Broncos (8-5)

Jacksonville Jaguars (7-6)

In the Hunt

Baltimore Ravens (7-6)

Miami Dolphins (7-6)

New York Jets (7-6)

Pittsburgh Steelers (6-7)

Tennessee Titans (6-7)

Houston Texans (6-7)

MIKE LIKED…

The willingness of OG Chris Kemoeatu to play through a myriad of injuries. “He’s got the right wrist that’s forcing him to play one-handed at times. He’s got the right knee, which he missed the Baltimore game on,” said Tomlin of his starting left guard. “When you really look at his play, this is a guy that’s playing one-sided. You’ve got a great deal of admiration for his willingness to play amidst the circumstances, but just because he’s willing doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do.”

Though he was impressed with Kemoeatu’s toughness, Tomlin said that Ramon Foster will start at left guard against the Packers in hopes that a week off will allow Kemoeatu to recover from his injuries.

STEELERS INJURY UPDATE

SS Troy Polamalu will be OUT with a lingering PCL sprain, which is healing slower than expected.

LG Chris Kemoeatu will be OUT with wrist and knee injuries, with Ramon Foster getting his second start this season at left guard.

C Justin Hartwig has his knee drained earlier in the week and is PROBABLE for Sunday’s game.

WR Hines Ward played with a hamstring injury on Thursday and should be PROBABLE against the Packers.

PACKERS INJURY UPDATE

No notable injuries at this point in the week.

MAIN STORYLINE FOR THURSDAY

With the playoffs all but out of reach, can the Steelers find out what is ailing the team for pride’s sake alone?

PACKERS TO WATCH

QB Aaron Rodgers; RB Ryan Grant; WRs Donald Driver, Greg Jennings, and James Jones; TE Jermichael Finley; DE Cullen Jenkins; NT B.J. Raji; ILBs Nick Barnett and A.J. Hawk; OLB Clay Matthews; FS Nick Collins; CB Charles Woodson

LOCAL CONNECTIONS

· Defensive coordinator Dom Capers served as the defensive coordinator for the Steelers from 1992-94.

· Outside linebackers coach Kevin Greene played for the Steelers from 1993-95.

· Quarterbacks coach Tom Clements was born in McKees Rocks and coached for the Steelers from 2001-03.

· Tight ends coach Ben McAdoo is an IUP graduate and coached at Pitt in 2003.

· Defensive quality control coach Scott McCurley was born in New Castle, PA and played (1998-2002) and coached (2003-05) at Pitt.

· Special teams coordinator Shawn Slocum also coached at Pitt in 1990.

· Secondary coach Darren Perry played at Penn State (1989-91), and played for (1992-98) and coached with (2003-06) the Steelers.

· Offensive coordinator Joe Philbin played tight end at W&J.

· Defensive line coach Mike Trgovac is a Youngstown, Ohio native.

· FB John Kuhn originally signed with the Steelers as an undrafted rookie in 2005.

· P Jeremy Kapinos played at Penn State.

ACCORDING TO TOMLIN

“I think anger would be one, disappointment definitely, but like we talked about yesterday, it cannot rule us.” – Discussing the mindset of his players in the midst of a five-game losing streak.

“You want to know what kind of team you are, look at your record and turn the tape on. The tape hasn’t been pretty and neither is our record.” – On his Pittsburgh Steelers, who now sit at 6-7 after starting the season 6-2.

“When you don’t play dominant football, you have to be opportunistic and make timely plays, we haven’t done that. When you’re not dominant and you don’t make timely plays, you lose football games.” – On what it takes for a team to win games week in and week out. He proceeded to list a number of wasted opportunities (4th down conversions by the opponent, dropped interceptions) that could have turned a loss into a win.

“Some of the things that we did last week, of course we played quite a few people in the secondary – looking for some guys to make some splash plays in that area. We played several corners, of course—Ike Taylor, William Gay, Joe Burnett, Deshea Townsend—we’ll continue to play those guys until someone reveals themselves or steps outside of the group, if you will, and can show some playmaking ability. If somebody makes a play, they are going to stay on the field. We’re doing the same thing, really, at the safety position. Ryan Mundy’s playing quite a bit, along with Tyrone Carter. We’re playing Deshea some at the safety in a package or two. We’re trying to find a combination of guys who can make a play for us and get us off the field or provide us a short field.” – Discussing the state of his secondary, which has been a major issue in the last five games. A fifth cornerback, rookie Keenan Lewis, could also be in the mix for some playing time if he suits up.

“By making plays. I think anything else is false enthusiasm or bravado, if you will. The more plays we make, the more rhythm we get, the more confidence we’ll get, and hopefully we’ll be able to put enough of those together to win this game.” – When asked how his team could reclaim its “mental edge.”

“I really just think that the healing process is slower than we anticipated, just based on what I’ve seen… well, not what I’ve seen, because I couldn’t read an MRI if it was in front of me, but what our doctors have seen from an MRI standpoint, in terms of the healing of the PCL.” – When asked about what has kept All-Pro safety Troy Polamalu out of the lineup. Originally, the PCL sprain was thought to be a minor setback that wouldn’t compare in seriousness to his earlier MCL sprain, which forced him to miss four games. Green Bay will mark the fifth week that the injury has kept him out.

“Their quarterback [Aaron] Rodgers is really playing well, and really where he’s distinguishing himself is on third down. If you watch the tape, it’s obvious that he’s playing well on third down. If you look at the stats, it’s even more evident. This guy’s got a 130-plus quarterback rating on third down. He’s been sacked quite a bit, but it hasn’t forced him into interceptions and bad decisions and so forth. He’s really managed the game well specifically in that instance.” – Talking about the play of QB Aaron Rodgers, who is one of only four quarterbacks with a 100+ QB rating this season. Rodgers has thrown 3.5 TDS for every interception this season, a ratio better than everyone else in the NFL except for the man he replaced, Brett Favre.

LOOK FOR…

The Green Bay Packers to shut down Heath Miller. According to Football Outsiders, Green Bay has the league’s best defense against opposing tight ends.

SPLASH TALK

“The protection of our quarterback and the conversion of third downs is an eleven-man job, and it’s a staff job. And we all failed.” – Discussing the major issues that plagued the Steelers during the Cleveland game. During the five-game losing streak, Pittsburgh has converted just 28.3% of its third down attempts. If that percentage was for the full season, it would rank 30th in the league, just ahead of Buffalo and Kansas City.

“We have to operate at a higher level. We can’t have the popcorn of breakdowns, be it physical-someone tripping out of a cut, falling down, someone losing a one-on-one battle, getting covered, someone losing a protection battle, getting beat by an interior lineman. Collectively, it all produces negative plays. We have to win more of those battles than we lose. And until we do that, we’ll continue to struggle.” – On what needs to change for that third-down percentage to jump up to a respectable level.

“They’re very good at hand-to-hand combat, they’re very good down the field, after the catch.” – Discussing the talent of Green Bay’s receiving corps.

THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO HMM…

Troubling stats during troubling times. Here are the numbers that stand out in the midst of this five-game losing streak:

· Steelers have converted just 28.3% of third downs.

· Opponents have converted 36% of their third downs. While that number is only slightly below average, consider that that Kansas City converted 40%, and Oakland and Cleveland both converted 38%, despite the fact that all three teams rank in the bottom five in third-down conversions this season.

· The Steelers have entered the red zone 15 times in the last five games, scoring only five TDs and coming away with any kind of points just 12 times.

· Steelers opponents have also had 15 cracks at the end zone, scoring six touchdowns and coming away with at least a field goal on every attempt.

· The five quarterbacks that faced the Steelers have an average QB rating of 73.2 among them in the past five weeks. In that stretch, the group has just five games with a QB rating above 100 to its name. Three of those games have come against the Steelers. The other two have come against the Detroit Lions, who have allowed opposing quarterbacks to post a 100+ QB rating nine times this season.

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