The Steelers certainly don’t know how to make things look easy. They once again on Sunday in Detroit built a rather sizable lead over the Lions, leading 28-13 midway through the third quarter, and had to hang on before finally putting to restDaunte Culpepper and Detroit 28-20.
The team needed a defensive stance in the final minute, as they recorded three straight sacks before a failed Hail Mary by Culpepper ended the threat. The Steelers had leads in the last two road games before falling to the Bears and Bengals, so while it wasn’t the most impressive win, the team will take it to move to 3-2.
Ben Roethlisberger threw for 277 yards on 23-for-30 passing with three touchdowns and a pick six back the other way be the Lions William James that made it 14-13 in the second quarter. TheSteelers though came right back, as Roethlisberger led the best drive of the day, hitting tight end Heath Miller three times in the drive, then ending it with a 17-yard TD to Hines Ward, his first score of the season to make it 21-13 at the half.
The lead was extended in the third quarter when Mike Wallace, who had dropped a long ball earlier, made a solid adjustment on a long pass and pulled it in for a 47-yard score to make it 28-13, and all look well in black and gold nation.
The Lions though didn’t go quietly, first Culpepper led them on a 7-play, 82-yard drive that took just 2:58 to close the score to 28-20 when he hit Dennis Northcutt with a 25-yard score with 4:57 left. After a Steelers three-and-out, Culpepper was able to get the ball to the Steelers 21, but then it was three straight sacks – Woodley and Gay, Gay again and then Lawrence Timmons, that put the Lions in a fourth-and-34 when Culpepper went deep and it was knocked away.
The win is the first on the road this season for the Steelers, and for the Lions, they fall to 1-4 but should get some credit for giving the Steelers one heck of a fight. Rashard Mendenhall had 77 yards on 15 carries with a score, and Ward had 7 grabs for 85 yards.
The Steelers return to Heinz Field next Sunday to take on the 1-4 Browns at 1pm.
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DrGeorge
October 11, 2009 at 3:55 pm
I take no joy in being right (see my pre-game comment below). The Steelers failed to cover the spread, as I feared, although for different reasons than I expected. Mendy did not play badly (5 yd avg. per carry), but the rushing game still suffered from Arians unwillingness to commit to the run against a team that is vulnerable to the run. The O-line had no chance to develop any rhythm.
On defense, we gave up 20 points and tons of yards to a second string QB playing without his leading receiver. We did manage to sack Culpepper late, when we had to. The coaching staff (wisely) did rotate defensive linemen, to rest our aging veterans for tougher games ahead. But we gave up far too many yards under the coverage and the Lion receivers had more YAK than a Finnish herder. The dominant defense of years’ past was not in evidence today, and there is no quick fix in sight.
In brief, this game should have been a laugher. Instead, it was a grim struggle. We did win the game, thankfully, and a win on the road is always good. But I draw no comfort from this victory. None at all.
mark
October 11, 2009 at 4:04 pm
I agree 100%. Arians called a bad game, certainly in the 2nd half. Mendenhall should have had 10 more carries and 40 more yards that would have put this away. The offense is being asked to put away games instead of the defense. With no C. Johnson, how an ancient Dennis Northcutt could have such a productive half against the Steelers is mind-boggling! The defense only gave up 13 points, but allowed many long drives and underneath passing. A better team might have resulted in a different outcome. This 2nd half output by the defense is now epidemic! Thank GOD Lebeau went for pressure on that final drive.
mark
October 11, 2009 at 4:26 pm
I think the Steelers are sadists too! I didnt mention this in my previous post but I think they are starting to enjoy watching #14 drop passes and walk off the field dejected! I would not let that kid near the field again. I didnt see Mcdonald at all either, did anyone? Wallace, Ward, Holmes and Miller are just fine for the team to depend on.
George H
October 11, 2009 at 5:38 pm
When Troy comes back healthy the Steelers are a different defense. They carry a certain swagger when hes on the field and we started to see that attitude today when Harrison ran wild and the D got 7 sacks. Having Troy on the field is a definite change to the outlook of every single play hes involved in. Remember the beauty of Palumalu is that if hes not making plays, his presence on the field is altering each play call because the opposing quarterback has to account for all the different looks Troy is projecting. This allows the rest of the defense to react and this is when you start seeing more turnovers. So we cant say there is no quick fix in sight because having the best DB in the game and the heart of our defense back in our lineup certainly makes a difference. Im not saying all of our problems will be solved but it certainly is a start.
matt loede
October 11, 2009 at 5:42 pm
The running game should have been used more in the second half, but Ben I thought looked good, but the pick six was a killer, though I still say Wallace was also to blame there.
Notice Ben seemed to get peeved and just say “forget it” after the pick six and went to Miller and Ward on the next drive?
Tomlin said after Cincy the team isn’t focusing enough on the details…I agree.
What about Woodley? What happened to him? I know he got a sack, but he’s still not playing to the level of a year ago.
Mike
October 11, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Arians just does not like to run the ball. He views all of those quick passes to Holmes and slip screens to others as running plays. Another problem was that we did not have the ball much in the second half. Defense could once again not get off the field. Detroit was 11/18 on third down, steelers were 3/8.
mark
October 11, 2009 at 8:47 pm
Any word on Essex?
DrGeorge
October 12, 2009 at 10:39 am
Mark, I’ve seen nothing official on Essex to date. As for McDonald, he didn’t dress so L. Sweed could play, with predictable results.
Arians admitted he got ‘greedy’ in the second half and eschewed the run for the pass. Ben in a post-game interview alluded to the need to run the ball to control the clock late in the game, a very polite dig at the play calling. Both are being too kind on Arians.
Detroit was vulnerable to the run, we had a big lead, and Mendy was averaging 5.2 yds per carry behind solid O-line blocking. Any intelligent coordinator would run, run, run in the second half, draw the defense up tight, and then throw deep. But not Arians.
On Defense, we miss Polamolu’s leadership, but the huge chunks of yardage we surrendered to a mediocre team has more to do with the scheme than the execution. We have the talent to do much better. It is the scheme that isn’t working. LeBeau needs to rethink his entire approach to 3rd and long; Detroit’s 11 of 18 conversion rate (see Mike’s comment above) is an atrocious percentage for any defense. In fact, opposing teams may decide to tank the first two downs of a series just to get a whack at LeBeau’s marshmallow prevent on 3rd down. Another coaching issue.
Our shoddy special teams play has been so roundly criticized and analyzed that I won’t comment further, except to note that it has become a chronic deficiency that the coaching staff seems unable to fix.
Gerry Dulac of the Pgh. Post-Gazette grades each game. In today’s report card, he gave the players respectable marks, but the Steelers’ coaching staff a D. I think that about sums it up.
mark
October 12, 2009 at 3:11 pm
The staff blew that one! Inability to see the forest through the trees. The running game was extremely productive and then it was put on ice. The defense gave up so many 3rd downs it was making me nauseous( I even saw a 3rd and 19 get converted). I see this defense as the same style as 2002 under Tim Lewis. I mentioned this before. Teams are just going to throw, throw and throw some more until they get stopped. With all the passing being done against this defense its a miracle we only have 2 picks! I am just preaching to the choir and I understand that, but this is very concern able and if Troy returns this week or next it better have an immediate impact or we are going to need this offense to score 26+ weekly to win games.