The Joe Lodanosky Show

Pittsburgh Steelers

7-7; third place AFC North

2009 Week 16

By Kenneth Torgent

NEXT GAME

Baltimore Ravens (8-6) at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, PA

Sunday, December 27 – 1:00 PM on CBS

LAST WEEK

Ravens: Beat the Bears 31-7 in Baltimore

· The Ravens clicked on both offense and defense, taking the struggling Bears down with relative ease.

· Baltimore’s defense came to play early, intercepting Bears QB Jay Cutler on each of Chicago’s first two drives. Cutler passed for just 94 yards with three interceptions.

· Baltimore’s offense played well on its first two drives, scoring touchdowns on two separate connections between QB Joe Flacco and TE Todd Heap.

· Chicago finally found some momentum with a 19-play drive that featured four straight third down conversions. However, Chicago couldn’t put the ball in the endzone despite three tries at the Baltimore one-yard line and turned to ball over on downs.

· After a three-and-out by Baltimore, Chicago’s Earl Bennett took a punt back to the house for a 49-yard touchdown in what would be Chicago’s only TD of the game, cutting Baltimore’s lead to 14-7.

· Baltimore came out firing again in the second half as Flacco hit WR Demetrius Williams for a 32-yard score.

· Chicago fumbled the ensuing kickoff, giving the ball back to the Ravens who promptly drove down the field and scored on an 18-yard pass play from Flacco to Derrick Mason. Flacco finished the day 21-for-29 for 234 yard and a career-high four touchdowns.

· A Matt Forte fumble gave the Ravens the ball once more for their final score, a Billy Cundiff field goal. The Ravens defense and special teams forced six turnovers on the day.

· Ravens RB Ray Rice finished with 16 carries for 87 yards with another 5 receptions for 17 yards.

· Baltimore CB Dominique Foxworth grabbed two of the four interceptions and defended against three additional passes.

Steelers: Beat the Packers 37-36 in Pittsburgh

· Pittsburgh snapped its five-game losing streak with a last second play in one of the wildest shootouts in Steelers history.

· A quick three-and-out by Green Bay gave the ball to the Steelers, who scored on their first play of the game, a 60-yard bomb from QB Ben Roethlisberger to rookie WR Mike Wallace.

· Green Bay answered with a long-pass play of its own later in the quarter as QB Aaron Rodgers hit WR Greg Jennings in the middle of the field. Jennings broke several tackles and outran the defense for an 83-yard score. Jennings led all Packers receivers with five catches for 118 yards.

· Pittsburgh knocked six-minutes off the clock with the ensuing drive and retook the lead at 14-7 with a two-yard power-plunge by RB Rashard Mendenhall. Mendenhall received just eleven 11 carries on the day, but impressed in the passing game with six catches for 73 yards.

· Green Bay tied the game again with a 12-yard scramble by Rodgers during which he was untouched before crossing the endzone.

· Pittsburgh responded once again, using two big pass plays to barrel its way into the red zone. There, Ben Roethlisberger found RB Mewelde Moore for a 10-yard touchdown, giving the Steelers a 21-14 halftime lead.

· The third-quarter was quiet except for a 37-yard field goal by Jeff Reed, setting the stage for an amazing back-and-forth final quarter between the two teams.

· Aaron Rodgers brought Green Bay within a field goal early in the fourth with a TD strike to TE Jermichael Finley. Pittsburgh answered with another Reed field goal.

· A short kickoff by Reed gave the Packers good field position and they capitalized, with RB Ryan Grant scoring on a 24-yard touchdown run to give the Pack their first lead of the game at 28-27.

· A third field goal by Reed gave the Steelers the lead back with four minutes left to play. Mike Tomlin then ordered a surprise onside kick, which Pittsburgh appeared to recover, but an illegal touch penalty on Ike Taylor gave the ball to the Packers in Pittsburgh territory.

· Green Bay took advantage of the short-field, scoring on a 24-yard pass from Rodgers to WR James Jones. A two-point conversation gave the Packers a 36-30 lead with just over two minutes to play. Rodgers finished the day with 383 yards and three TDs.

· Ben Roethlisberger then led Pittsburgh on a drive for the ages. Twice the team converted on crucial downs, once on a 4th-and-7 and again on a 3rd-and-15, with big pass plays. That led to one final down with three seconds remaining at the Green Bay 19-yard line. Big Ben found Wallace in single coverage on the left border of the end zone and fired a laser. The rookie did his best Santonio Holmes-Super Bowl impression, tapping his toes inbounds and converting the touchdown with no time on the clock. An extra point by Jeff Reed gave the Steelers the much-needed win. Wallace’s only two catches were touchdowns, one on Pittsburgh’s first play of the game and one on Pittsburgh’s last play of the game.

· Roethlisberger finished the day with a team-record 503 passing yards and three TDs.

· Both Hines Ward (7-for-126) and Heath Miller (7-for-118) surpassed the century mark in the game.

RECORD-SETTERS

Sunday’s game saw Pittsburgh players break quite a few team and personal records.

· Roethlisberger’s 503 passing yards is a team-record, surpassing Tommy Maddox’s 473-yard performance in 2003.

· The Steelers quarterback joins Hall-of-Famers Y.A. Tittle and Warren Moon as the only quarterbacks in NFL history to pass for over 500 yards and three touchdowns without an interception.

· Roethlisberger has 3,849 passing yards this season, breaking the single-season mark set by Terry Bradshaw in 1979 (3,724). His 302 completions are also a single-season team record.

· No. 7 also had his fifth 300-yard passing game this season, a single-season team record (previously held by Maddox in 2003 and Neil O’Donnell in 1995 with four each).

· Hines Ward had the 25th 100-yard receiving game of his career, tying him for the team record with Hall-of-Famer John Stallworth.

· Ward also crossed the 1,000-yard plateau this season, the team-record sixth time he has done so in his career.

· Heath Miller broke his career-high total for receiving yards in a game with 118, and his 68 receptions this season broke Eric Green’s single-season record (63 in 1993) of most receptions by a tight end in team history.

BEHIND ENEMY LINES

A Look Around the AFC North

Cincinnati (9-5) failed to clinch the division for the second-straight week, falling to the San Diego Chargers 27-24 on the road. If Cincinnati loses out and Baltimore wins out, Baltimore will win the division. This week, the Bengals host Kansas City on Sunday.

The Cincinnati Bengals family is in mourning, as WR Chris Henry passed away last Thursday from injuries sustained in an automobile accident. Early in his career, Henry was plagued by legal issues and suspended multiple times by the league, even cut by the Bengals at one time. More recently, however, Henry had rededicated himself to his family and his sport, turning his life around in the process. PSR’s thoughts go out to his family, friends, and the Bengals organization as they deal with this tragedy so close to the holidays.

Cleveland (3-11) also had a record-setting day against the Kansas City Chiefs. WR/QB/RB/KR Joshua Cribbs returned two kickoffs for touchdowns, giving him an NFL-record eight kickoff return touchdowns in his career. He was upstaged, however, by RB Jerome Harrison, who rushed for a team-record 286 yards and three touchdowns. Harrison broke the team record previously held by Jim Brown (237 yards) and put up the third-highest rushing total in NFL history, behind Jamal Lewis (295) and Adrian Peterson (296).

Cleveland did suffer a blow on Sunday though, losing QB Brady Quinn for the season with a foot injury. However, brighter times could be on the way. Former Packers and Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren signed a 10-year deal reportedly worth $50 million to become the team president. Holmgren led the Packers to two Super Bowls, winning one, and made an additional trip with the Seahawks. Holmgren’s hire could be a worry to at least one man though, head coach Eric Mangini, who has not impressed this season and could be on his way out as Holmgren cleans house and establishes his own coaching staff.

THE PATH TO THE PLAYOFFS

AFC Playoff Picture as of 12/22/09

Division Leaders

Indianapolis Colts (14-0) – Clinched home-field advantage

San Diego Chargers (11-3) – Clinched AFC West

New England Patriots (9-5)

Cincinnati Bengals (9-5)

Wild Cards

Baltimore Ravens (8-6)

Denver Broncos (8-6)

In the Hunt

Jacksonville Jaguars (7-7)

Miami Dolphins (7-7)

New York Jets (7-7)

Pittsburgh Steelers (7-7)

Tennessee Titans (7-7)

Houston Texans (7-7)

Pittsburgh’s chance of making the playoffs got a boost with losses by Denver, Jacksonville, Miami and New York, which made up four of the five teams Pittsburgh needs to leapfrog to grab a wild card spot. However, a few things still need to happen over the final two weeks for the Steelers to make an appearance in the postseason.

Pittsburgh must win out, beating Baltimore and Miami

This is the most obvious part of the equation. If the Steelers lose either game, their chance at defending the title disappears.

For all the following scenarios, we will assume that the Steelers do win both games.

At least THREE of these FOUR scenarios must occur for Pittsburgh to earn a wild card spot:

· Baltimore must LOSE BOTH of their games

· Denver must lose at least one game

· Jacksonville must lose at least one game

· New York must lose at least one game

Baltimore and Denver hold the two AFC wild card spots by virtue of their records. If one of these teams win-out, they will clinch a spot. If both win-out, both will clinch leaving all the 7-7 teams out of the postseason. If the Steelers perform step one and win-out themselves, then they will have handed Baltimore one of their losses. However, even with this win, Pittsburgh can’t leapfrog Baltimore due to what would be a 2-4 record within the division. The Ravens face a suddenly-dangerous Raiders team in Week 17. A loss there would open up a wild-card spot allowing one of the 7-7 teams to slip in.

Denver holds the more favorable scenario for the Steelers. A loss by Denver in either of their last two games would put them behind Pittsburgh in the playoff hunt, due to the fact that Pittsburgh won the head-to-head match-up between the two. Denver hasn’t been playing their best football of late, going 2-6 in their last eight games. In week 17, the Broncos will host Kansas City, a team which has showed some sudden improvement on the offensive side of the ball. It is much more likely, however, that they drop their week 16 matchup, a road game against NFC powerhouse Philadelphia.

Like Pittsburgh, both Jacksonville and New York sit at 7-7. Each team would hold edge out Pittsburgh if it wins-out by virtue of the NFL’s tiebreaking procedures.

Jacksonville has dropped three of their last four to fall out of a wild card spot. They have no more home games this season, taking the road to New England in week 16 and Cleveland in week 17. While a loss at New England is much more-likely, Cleveland has won two straight and is suddenly looking a bit more dangerous than the 1-11 team that started the season.

New York is more likely to drop at least a game over these final two weeks. In week 16, they travel to Indianapolis to face off against the undefeated Colts. In week 17, they host current AFC North leader Cincinnati. Both of these games will be a struggle for a team that has played streaky all season (two separate three-game winning streaks as well as two separate three-game losing streaks.)

Pittsburgh already would have tie-breakers over Miami (assuming a win by the Steelers in week 17) and Tennessee due to head-to-head matchups. Houston would also be behind the Steelers due to the NFL’s tiebreaking procedures.

MIKE LIKED…

The development of second-year running back Rashard Mendenhall in his first-year as a starter. In Sunday’s game, Rashard received limited carries but showed off his receiving talents en route to his best receiving game of the season.

“With each day, this guy gains confidence and really, we gain confidence in what he’s capable of,” said Tomlin of Mendenhall, who is 22 yards shy of his first 1,000-yard rushing season. “He’s rock solid from an assignment standpoint and from blitz pickup, and I think it starts there. But he’s also increasingly sharp with regards to being where he’s supposed to be in terms of route distribution. He can catch the football; he’s been able to do that since the day that he walked in here. But he’s rounding out a complete game and really is becoming a guy that can help us in all areas.”

STEELERS INJURY UPDATE

LS Greg Warren was placed on IR after an ACL injury suffered on the last play of the game.

WR Limas Sweed has also landed on IR with an unspecified non-football-related illness.

SS Troy Polamalu’s PCL strain will be evaluated throughout the week. Tomlin said that if his MRI is positive, there is a definite chance he could play. For now, Polamalu should be listed between QUESTIONABLE and DOUBTFUL.

WR Hines Ward “may have experienced a minor setback with his hamstring injury,” according to Tomlin, “Probably gonna limit him in the early part of the week. We’ll evaluate him on a day-to-day basis.” With this in mind, expect Ward to be QUESTIONABLE against the Ravens.

WR Mike Wallace has a knee contusion, while RB Rashard Mendenhall has a hip contusion. Both should be PROBABLE this week.

DE Brett Kiesel suffered a stinger and will also be PROBABLE.

STEELERS TRANSACTION NEWS

Pittsburgh has already signed the replacements for Sweed and Warren. WR Joey Galloway joins the team that actively pursued him during the free agency period last offseason. Galloway is known for his breakaway speed and for the fact that he experienced a late-career surge, posting three 1000-yard seasons in a row at an age where most receivers decline.

LS Jared Retkofsky signed with the team as well and will take over long-snapping duties for the rest of the season. Retkofsky filled the same role for the latter-half of last season and snapped for the team in their Super Bowl win. Retkofsky most recently saw action with the New York Sentinels of the upstart United Football League (UFL).

RAVENS INJURY UPDATE

FS Ed Reed – Coach Jon Harbaugh is optimistic that Reed, who has been battling hip, groin and foot injuries, will return to the lineup against the Steelers on Sunday, CBS Sports reports.

WR Mark Clayton – Clayton (knee and hamstring) is optimistic that he’ll be back for Sunday’s game against the Steelers, the Carroll County Times reports. “No doubt about next week,” he said Sunday. “I think it’s good.”

MAIN STORYLINE FOR THURSDAY

Can the Steelers win at home and capitalize on a playoff-window that is slowly opening as other playoff hopefuls struggle?

RAVENS TO WATCH

QB Joe Flacco; WR Derrick Mason; RBs Ray Rice, Willis McGahee, and Le’Ron McClain; OT Michael Oher; LG Ben Grubbs; C Matt Birk; DE/DT Haloti Ngata; DE/LB Terrell Suggs; LBs Ray Lewis and Jarret Johnson; SS Dawan Landry; FS Ed Reed; KR Chris Carr

LOCAL CONNECTIONS

· QB Joe Flacco began his collegiate career at Pitt, but found himself stuck behind Tyler Palko and transferred to Delaware.

· Strength and conditioning coach Bob Rogucki coached at Penn State in 1981, while his assistant, John Dunn, played for the Nittany Lions from 1974-77 and also coached a single season (1978).

· Wide receivers coach Jim Hostler was born in Pittsburgh, played at IUP from 1986-89, and then coached at IUP from 1990-92 and again from 1994-99.

ACCORDING TO TOMLIN

“He’s one of those unique guys in that he’s in great physical condition for a seasoned veteran. He can run. He’s done just about all there is to do in this business, other than win in the postseason, which is what he told me. So hopefully he can provide a little energy and spirit for us in that regard.” – On newly-signed WR Joey Galloway, who has posted over 10,000 receiving yards in his career and was named to four Pro Bowls.

“A lot of times familiarity doesn’t breed comfort when you’re talking about a matchup such as this.” – Discussing this Sunday’s game against the Ravens. In recent years, Ravens-Steelers games have become some of the more physical outings in the NFL.

“Ray Rice kinda makes them go. Running and receiving. We gotta contend with him better than we did the last time.” – On the talents of Ravens RB Ray Rice. Rice is sixth in the NFL in rushing yards (1,128), first among running backs in receptions (73) and receiving yards (669), and tied for second in yards per carry among running backs with at least 100 carries (5.4).

“Defensively, I think the key element of it that Suggs is back in action, and we didn’t face him last time. We know what a game-changing football player this guy is. That’s going to be a significant change in terms of preparing to play these guys, particularly in and around the line of scrimmage from a run-game standpoint and from a protection-of-our-quarterback standpoint. Really, a lot of what you do kinda starts with identifying where he is and what he’s capable of.” – Talking about the presence of Terrell Suggs, who was out with an injury during the last meeting between the two teams. Suggs regularly switches between defensive end and linebacker during the game and is known for moving all around the field pre-snap.

“I think each week, the matchup that your given dictates a lot of what you do. A week ago, we were playing Green Bay. Their signature is multiple wide receiver sets, three and four wide receiver sets. Their tight end is a big-time vertical threat. Baltimore likes to bring in an extra offensive lineman or tight end and fullback, and things of that nature, so a lot of the decisions that we make in terms of the people we utilize will be based on the nature of the matchup and what we anticipate them doing.” – When asked if there would be any changes in a defensive secondary that game up 36 points against the Packers.

“There’s an element of that, but I think that it’s constructive. I think that it wouldn’t be sharp not to deeply analyze what you’re doing and how you’re doing it when you’re in the midst of failure. So there’s an element of that. But is it manifesting itself in the form of mental weakness or anything of that nature? No. It’s just being committed to turn over whatever stone is necessary to win football games.” – On whether there had been any second-guessing by the coaching staff during the duration of the team’s five-game losing streak.

“He’s a game-changer. He’s a defensive guy that’s capable of ringing up the scoreboard or getting the ball in his hands. It’s significant. He changes the way you attack the field vertically because of his range, and the cat-and-mouse game that he’s capable of playing with your quarterback, his understanding of route concepts. I think that he has physical talent that enables him to cover a lot of grass, but you don’t want to underestimate the mental capacity of a gentleman like that, because that’s required to cover the amount of grass that he covers as well.” – Discussing the defensive prowess of Ravens FS Ed Reed, a former Defensive Player of the Year who was in the running for the same award last year before losing to James Harrison.

“I never pondered the possibility of losing, I never do. I don’t plan on failure.” – When asked if his philosophy would change if the Steelers were out of playoff contention.

“Hey, if we don’t win, those possibilities out there are irrelevant. So it’s really kind of easy. It really is. We have to win. So that’s where our focus will be.” – When asked if it’s tougher to focus on the next game with all the playoff possibilities floating around.

LOOK FOR…

A game that could be dramatically different than the one played between these two teams back in late November. Baltimore was missing one of their most important defensive talents in Terrell Suggs. Pittsburgh was missing QB Ben Roethlisberger that week and took the Ravens to OT before losing in what was QB Dennis Dixon’s first start of his career.

SPLASH TALK

“You know I don’t look for feedback. I just try to win football games. My eight-year-old asked me what I was thinking. Other than that, I make no apologies.” – When asked if he had received any feedback about his controversial onside-kick call with four minutes left in the game.

“I just told him to be quiet.” – When asked about his response to his eight-year-old.

“These tight ends are unique animals. They’re tough men to cover, they’re usually too big and strong for secondary people, safeties and such, and just nifty enough and with enough vertical speed to create problems for most linebackers.” – Discussing the tight end of today’s NFL, in light of the fact that the two teams squaring off on Sunday have two of the better tight ends in the AFC, Todd Heap and Heath Miller.

“I don’t know if that’s a new trend. People have their personality and they gear their personality towards how they want to play football. As long as it fits your people and there’s a level of belief in it, I believe there are many ways to skin a cat.” – When asked if there was a recent trend in the NFL where winning teams were running the football less.

“Christmas is cancelled.” – When asked if Santa passed over the South Side.

THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO HMM…

Ben Roethlisberger became just the tenth quarterback in NFL history to pass for over 500 yards in a single game. The record for teams with a quarterback who passes for more than 500 yards is 5-5; Roethlisberger’s game actually helped the 500-yard club break even.

He also passed the 400-yard mark for the third time in his career. The record of teams with a quarterback that passes for more than 400 yards is only 125-90-4 (just over 57%). Recently it’s been much worse. Since Roethlisberger joined the league in 2004, there have been 40 games where a quarterback broke the 400-yard mark. The record of their teams in those games? A miserable 16-24.

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