Steelers Post Game Quotes Following the Win in Baltimore

Head Coach Mike Tomlin

(opening statement) “That’s Steelers-Ravens right there. That’s why we believe that’s the number one rivalry in football. It’s a humbling thing to be a part of, we’re fortunate to come out on top tonight, of course. We have big-time respect for that football team, they’ve earned it. Hopefully, we’ve earned their respect. Guys fought to the end through adverse circumstances. Of course we went into the game short in some areas and got shorter over the course of the game. But like we always do, we’ll assess where we are. We’ll put the healthy men on the field next week so we can push forward. A laundry list of injuries, Ben’s [Roethlisberger] got a broken nose, it happened early in the contest, on the first sack. He’s going to be fine, other than the discomfort that comes with that. Danny [Sepulveda] has an ACL injury, that’s unfortunate of course. He wanted to help his teammates, he was able to hold for the remainder of the game. Respect him for that. But of course, we’ve got to get that looked at and fixed. Flozell [Adams] had a high ankle sprain and Heath Miller had a concussion. So I’m sure there will be more bumps and bruises, it always is when these two teams come together. We just love the way we have an opportunity to represent AFC North when those two teams come together. Tough place to play, but let’s be frank, we needed to come here and even the score in this match-up. They came to our place earlier in the year and got us. So we had to even the score, thankfully, we did, and we’ll push on.”

(on Troy Polamalu’s forced fumble) “It was actually a run pressure, we anticipated them to maybe run the football, and we were trying to drop them for a loss, get them off schedule, you know, keep them off schedule. I think maybe it was second down, they called a pass. Troy’s [Polamalu] a great player, a lot of guys would go in there and sack the quarterback. He sees the game a little differently, that’s what makes him special. He got the ball out, unfortunately, we weren’t able to get the ball in the endzone, but our offense finished the job for us.”

(on Flozell Adams’ emotion) “For Flozell that was a lot. Flozell’s a man of few words, and that’s okay by us. We judge him based on his actions, and he’s always ready to compete for us. He doesn’t complain, this guy wants to be part of a winner. He’s been good, unfortunately, he sustained an ankle [a high ankle sprain]. We’ll see where that takes us.”

(on running back Isaac Redman being a check down) “He was out in the route and that gave him the opportunity to do what he did. Isaac is a competitive guy, he takes his division of labor job very seriously. Frustrating night for him. You’ve got to tip your hat to the Ravens, they got after this guy in short yardage. And he’s our short-yardage runner. I think we were maybe 0-for-2 or three with him in those instances. But he kept plugging and made a significant play for us, and I’m happy for him.”

(on the officiating) “I coach, I don’t officiate. I don’t work in New York, I work in Pittsburgh.”

(on Ben Roethlisberger playing through his injuries) “That’s Ben. We expect that from him, not that it’s unappreciated. It is. But we expect it from him, and he expects it from himself.”

(on why this is the number one rivalry) “Because of the leadership of the men involved, the unique players, whether it’s Hines Ward, Derrick Mason, whether it’s James Farrior and [Ray] Lewis, Troy [Polamalu] and [Ed] Reed, [Lamarr] Woodley and [Terrell] Suggs, you just name it. These are guys that play with great passion. And they’ve earned respect on both sides. Not a lot needs to be said on Raven week. And I’m sure they felt the same way about Steeler week. It’s always a great game.”

(on the last play) “Based on what we saw in pre-game, we thought it was the outer limits of his [Billy Cundiff] range, and it was into the wind. We kicked one from about the 27 [yard line] for our first field goal of the game. And we had concerns that that was the outer limits of our range. The winds were significant going that direction, that was one of the reasons why we deferred to start the game.”

RB Issac Redman

(on how it felt to score the winning touchdown) “It feels great. I made the biggest play in the biggest game I’ve ever played. It just goes to show you that the hard work paid off. This was like a 12-round fight, and we hung in there long enough and won.”

(on his touchdown run) “I thought I was going to be in there for protection in case of a blitz, but the ball came my way, and I wasn’t going to be denied. When you’re playing with a guy like [QB] Ben Roethlisberger, you see him bleeding, and he’s got a bad foot. He’s the kind of guy you want on your sideline. I’m happy we could get this done.”

(on playing in front of family and friends) “I have some family and friends and several of my former teammates there. To score the winning touchdown in front of them was a great experience.”

(on how many of his family and friends were rooting for the Ravens) “I think they were rooting for both of us, but one of my friends is a big Ravens’ fan. He told me, ‘Congratulations, but don’t do it again.’”

WR Hines Ward

(on whether this was a typical Steelers-Ravens game) “Yes. It was a typical Pittsburgh-Baltimore game. It was low-scoring, hard-hitting and came down to the wire. It’s hard to win in Baltimore. We were fortunate to find a way to beat Baltimore on the road. Nobody gave us a chance. We came here and shocked the world. Now we control our own destiny.”

(on whether this is the best rivalry in the NFL) “It definitely is. The Jets and the Patriots are great teams, but they’re just getting started. This has been going on for years. We play them two, sometimes three times a year, and every one of them comes down to the end. I’m sure we’ll see them again in the playoffs.”

(on QB Ben Roethlisberger) “Ben’s a warrior. He’s a winner. He gives us a great chance to win every time. I love the way he plays. We really had a lot of injuries out there tonight, and we just hung in there. There were slim pickings out there. Things were so bad, I thought we were going to put me in at tight end.”

QB Ben Roethlisberger

(on his bloody nose) “Sometime in the first half, I got hit in the face. I have no idea who did it or on what play it happened. I didn’t even realize it was that bad until I went over to the sidelines and guys were looking at me funny.”

(on second half adjustments) “At halftime, we decided we wanted to go no-huddle. We got two long drives and changed the momentum. I’m really proud of the way the offense played. We lost a couple guys tonight, and others came in and stepped up. I’ve got to give Baltimore a lot of credit. They’re a hard-fighting team.”

(on the fourth quarter play when he threw the ball away) “I was just fighting to get out of the pocket. He [Terrell Suggs] grabbed me, and I kept trying to get away from him. Fortunately, I was able to get rid of the ball in time.”

(on the way Terrell Suggs played) “He is a heck of a player. We kept trying to change our blocking schemes on him, and he still got through. One time after a play, I looked at him, and he was bleeding from the mouth. I was bleeding from the nose. That says it all about a Ravens-Steelers football game.”

(on whether the Steelers control their own destiny) “We can’t look at it like that. It’s just one game at a time for us. When you start looking at it that way, you start to get in trouble. All I know is that we have the Bengals next week.”

S Troy Polamalu

(on the sack and fumble) “The coaches made a great call. I was surprised they were passing in that situation. It was all coached football.”

(on anticipating the run on that play) “Yes, we were, but Coach [Dick] LeBeau was a step ahead.”

(on the Ravens and Steelers always having a close game) “This is a great rivalry. It was a great defensive performance by both teams. It was a great game.”

(on feeling that the defense needed to make a big play) “Sometimes things just happen so fast, but everybody was coming back.”

(on the defense holding on the last drive) “We were in that position earlier this year. There are still a lot of things we need to fix. I personally gave up the first touchdown, the big play, by being misaligned. Had I not made those mistakes, then we probably would have not been in that situation late in the game.”

(on the big game nature of Ravens-Steelers) “It’s exciting. You know it’s a great rivalry because it’s a physical game. They have a great defense and a very physical offense, and so do we.”

RB Rashard Mendenhall

(on the game) “We feel good about a win however we can get it. We need guys to fight, like Ben [Roethlisberger] did and like some other guys that were out there struggling, and they fought through it. It’s a 60-minute game. Regardless of how it looks, or what’s going on.”

(on S Troy Polamalu) “That’s what Troy does. He always comes through with great plays at the right time. The defense was playing hard and tough all day. We came with pressure, and it was a matter of time before we got a turnover, and we did. We were able to get the ball on the 10-yard line, and we had to put points on the board at that point.”

(on RB Isaac Redman) “He’s been making plays and breaking tackles since the day he stepped in here, and so doing it on a stage like this feels good for him, and it’s a great win for this team. He’s a player, he’s a ball player.”

(on the AFC North) “We have to keep winning. This was close. This was great. We’re going to look back at it and try to improve. Other games have to be played.”

(on the Ravens’ defense) “They have a great defense. They’re very disciplined, and we’re pretty familiar with each other. We kind of know what we are trying to do. It’s a combination of things. They have a real tough defense, and any game against them is going to be tough for us.”

S Ryan Clark

(on switching the defense from the first to second half) “The first half, we had a communication breakdown on the backend. We were trying to switch positions and give them a different look, and we left it open for some big plays. At halftime, Troy [Polamalu] and I were talking that this was the worst half we had played all year. And we had only given up seven points. We felt like last week we had dominated Buffalo, and the game was still close. So we knew we had a chance, and big-time players make big-time plays. Troy made a great play, and Isaac Redman made a powerful play, and we won the game.”

(on Troy Polamalu’s play when he forced the fumble) “It was a great call by Coach LeBeau. We went cover-zero and we sent the house. I think if I was an offensive coach, and I had to pick one guy to let go, Troy wouldn’t be that guy. But they let him go, and he made an awesome play. It was a great pick up by [LaMarr Woodley], and it put our offense in scoring position.”

(on Troy Polamalu making plays late in the game) “You’ve been seeing that from him for years. He’s a Pro Bowl player and he shows up. We try to put him in position to where he can do that. A lot of times when we break the huddle, he’s like’ ‘What are you thinking?’ and I’m like, ‘I’ll just do the opposite of whatever you’re doing.’ You want him to be comfortable, and he just makes great plays.”

LB LaMarr Woodley

(on the Ravens’ decision not to kick the field goal on their final drive) “I didn’t know what, I was tired. It would’ve been taking a chance, but they felt they could make a play for those three yards. It gave us a big break.”

(on the improvement of the defense’s play as the game went on) “We gave up big plays early, and we let them get a lot of chunks down the field. We definitely have to eliminate that. I think if we eliminate those plays, it’s a different ball game.”

(on the 60-yard pass play) “Yes, that‘s true, but we had them in a third down situation. We had them backed up, and would’ve given our offense good field position. But we allowed them to hit us for a big play, and we have to eliminate that.”

(on his thoughts on their upcoming game with Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback) “I don’t really pay attention to what is going on with the offense. I take care of the defensive side of the ball. No matter who’s the quarterback, or who’s on the field, I just figure to handle the defensive side of the ball.”