Opening statement: “Mission accomplished for us. We were yet to win a road game this year and of course we were five weeks into this thing and hadn’t had back-to-back victories. With a victorious performance we were able to accomplish some of those things. Far from perfect, we acknowledge that, and we’ll get back in the lab and evaluate but on Sundays we play, we don’t evaluate. We’ll continue to search for the seal on some areas that need improvement, and that’s OK. As long as we acknowledge that and continue to work at it and find ways to win along the way, we’ll accept that. Back in the lab, good to get a victory in a hostile environment – I appreciated the support of Steeler Nation and they traveled awesome today. It’s spectacular to stand on the visiting sideline and see the fan support we had in this building today.”
On the Steelers’ performace: “We executed in detail, and really that’s all it is. We’ve got to find ways to have great detail, and if you have great detail splash plays happen. We put together some rush combinations at the end with some great detail and energy, some good coverage on the back end. We were able to finish the game out. It’s kind of the signature of winning football and winning defense and we were able to do it today.”
On quarterbacks being able to bounce back from mistakes: “Those guys are great quarterbacks, and they don’t blink, even in the face of adversity. Every now and then there people are going to make plays. Give credit to William James who jumped on that ball, a nice break. But Ben doesn’t blink, our offense doesn’t blink, hopefully our football team doesn’t blink. We went right back to work, which is of course what we needed to do and answer and quell that momentum and I thought we were able to do that.”
On if there was a miscommunication between WR Mike Wallace and QB Ben Roethlisberger: “I don’t want to take anything away from William James on that interception. That had nothing to do with what Mike Wallace did. That guy made a nice break on that football.”
On the Steelers’ defense: “Blitz packages, closed calls, communication, proper rush lanes, coordinated with good coverage makes things happen. I liked what I saw.”
On deciding to let the clock run out at the end of the first half: “We were too far out and of course we have some offensive linemen that were playing under less than ideal circumstances, ankles and so forth, talking of course about Chris (Kemoeatu) and of course Trai Essex went down in the game. I didn’t want to particularly expose them to anything if we threw up a victory pass and they came down with it and came back at us. Just being the prudent thing to me to take it into the half.”
On TE Heath Miller and Roethlisberger’s effective passing: “I would tell you to talk to Heath but we all know where that’s going to get you. Heath is a pro, Ben has got a great deal of comfort with him. Really, the things that are exciting right now offensively is that Ben is using all of his eligibles. He’s dumping the ball to Rashard (Mendenhall), he’s dumping the ball to Mewelde Moore – of course Heath is a constant – he’s finding his third wideout in Mike Wallace. I think as long as we use all the eligibles…and get the ball to the open man, we’re going to be a tougher unit to stop and I think that’s one of the so many encouraging things that’s been going on with us in recent weeks offensively.”
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mark
October 12, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Glad the coach seems okay with the job his team did. Me, as a fan whose opinion does not count, not so much. A win is a win but they looked beatable. A better team would have exposed the Steelers again. Too many drives sustained against the defense, abandoning the run when it was working fine and another game that should have been over by the 3rd quarter was again left to the final minutes. Does this team need to score 26+ in order to win now?
George H
October 12, 2009 at 10:38 pm
Funny how much a difference a year makes…
mark
October 13, 2009 at 8:23 am
Trust me everyone, I am not down on Tomlin or Lebeau or anyone else. Im just frustrated that what seems like fixable problems continue to haunt this team. Especially on defense. Right now, 5 games in, this Steeler team is not a championship team. Luckily, there is time to fix what ails them. Im just worried now that after 5 games of the same thing, it cannot be fixed so easily.
DrGeorge
October 13, 2009 at 12:00 pm
As usual, I agree with Mark on this one. And here’s another way to look at it.
Roethlisberger is a Grade A, top tier QB. Now,
imagine that Roethlisberger was unavailable in 2009 and replace him with any good, Grade B QB (say Batch or Leftwich) in the five games the Steelers have played to date. Now tell me what the Steelers’ record would be against the same opponents? 1-4? 0-5? Clearly, it would not be as good. Ben compensated for a lot of offensive deficiencies in the O-line and receiving corps last year; this year, he must compensate for glaring defensive and special team deficiencies. His superb play masks a number of real problems with the team.
A great QB is a delight to have, but not essential to getting to the Super Bowl. In past years, several good teams have made the Super Bowl without a Grade A QB. In fact, in Super Bowl XL, Ben was still learning and played like a Grade B QB at best. And the year after the Ravens won their Super Bowl, they actually replaced their QB. So good, well-coached teams can and do win consistently without a top tier QB. But the 2009 Steelers are not in that category right now. Without Ben, the team would be lucky to finish 8-8 this year. And that is a measure of how much work Tomlin and his staff face in trying to raise the Steelers’ performance level back to playoff caliber in 2009.
Football is a team game. Right now, the Steelers are playing like a Grade B team at best, due largely to special teams and continued use of the ‘prevent’ defense on 3rd and long. The deficiencies are fixable, but the coaches just don’t seem to get it. The complacency or hubris that often follows Super Bowl success can affect coaches as surely as players. I can’t think of any other reason why a team that is more talented than it was last year, and blessed with an easier schedule, must struggle to win against bottom dwellers like Detroit. What a difference a year makes indeed.