Distractions, injuries, and a 10-point second half deficit could not stop the Steelers Sunday vs the Giants, as the black and gold won their third straight, topping New York 24-20.
Isaac Redman, filling in for the injured Jonathan Dwyer and Rashard Mendenhall, put the Steelers up for good with a TD late in the fourth to give the Steelers the huge win.
Redman was the Steelers workhorse, and should get a game ball for an offense that was somewhat stale during the won. He carried the ball 26 times for a career-high 147 yards for the Steelers.
The win is the third in a row for a Steelers team who stays within a game of Baltimore in the AFC North, they are now 5-3, while the Ravens beat the Browns 25-15 Sunday to improve to 6-2.
Ben Roethlisberger went 21-of-30 passes for 216 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He also was the victim of a questionable call that was ruled a fumble that was returned for a score for the Giants that put them up 14-7 in the second quarter.
The Steelers went up 7-0 after Ike Taylor picked off Eli Manning at the Pittsburgh 42. Roethlisberger led the team on an 11-play drive, hitting Emmanuel Sanders in the back middle of the end zone with a four-yard score.
The Giants came right back with a touchdown of their own. A 41-yard defensive pass interference call on Keenan Lewis set up New York at the Pittsburgh 20. Ahmad Bradshaw gained four yards on 3rd-and-2 to make it 1st-and-goal from the eight.
New York faced another third down, but this time a personal foul penalty on Ryan Clark gave the home team a fresh set of downs. After Taylor dropped an easy pick in the end zone, Clark made a hard hit on Victor Cruz.
Clark was called for a blow to the head despite Cruz hurting his ribs. RB Andre Brown rumbled into the end zone on the next play to tie the game.
The Giants took the lead on the ensuing Steelers possession, when on a 2nd-and-5 from the New York 32, Roethlisberger dropped back to pass and had the ball stripped by Osi Umenyiora.
Michael Boley picked up the ball and raced 70 yards the other way for a touchdown. The fumble was upheld upon review despite Roethlisberger’s arm appearing to come forward with the ball still in his hand, which would constitute the tuck rule. Instead, New York led 14-7 with 5:11 remaining.
A short field goal by Shaun Suisham put the Steelers at 14-10 at the half after the Giants Lawrence Tynes missed a 51-yard field goal.
Tynes made a pair of field goals in the third stanza to extend New York’s lead. He was good from 50 yards out on the Giants’ first possession of the second half.
After Roethlisberger was picked off by Corey Webster, New York moved the ball to the 2-yard line. However, Brown lost three yards on second down and Manning’s pass to Rueben Randle fell incomplete on third down. Tynes made a 23-yarder this time around to make it 20-10 with 1:32 left.
Down 10, the comeback started when Mike Wallace caught a 3rd-and-5 pass near midfield, and raced toward the left sideline before sprinting 51 yards for a touchdown to make it 20-17.
Following a three-and-out from the Giants, Sanders returned a punt 63 yards to the New York 12-yard line. However, the Steelers were stopped on 3rd- and-1 from the three. Pittsburgh sent the field goal unit on the field in an attempt to tie the game.
Instead, Drew Butler took the snap and tossed the ball to Suisham. The kicker was stopped for a loss of one yard.
Pittsburgh’s defense was able to force another three-and-out. The Steelers started at their own 49-yard line this time around. Heath Miller caught a 14- yard pass on the second play, moving the ball to the 33.
A few plays later, the visitors had a 3rd-and-7 shortened down to 3rd-and-2 due to a defensive offside penalty. Redman ripped off an 8-yard run before finding the end zone from one yard out, making it 24-20 with 4:02 to play.
Once again, the Giants went three-and-out on offense. The Steelers took over at its own 28 with 2:52 left. Sanders caught a 16-yard pass on third down and Redman recorded a 28-yard run to seal the victory.
Anyway you look at it, the win is a huge one for the Steelers. A loss and they are two games back of Baltimore, and now they are a game out, with two games vs the Ravens in the next four weeks.
In between are games against two teams that are a combined 3-14 in the Chiefs and the Browns.
Next Monday, the Steelers host the Chiefs in a Monday night affair, and then will host the Ravens six days later on Sunday night.
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DrGeorge
November 5, 2012 at 8:53 am
The Steelers amazed me with yesterday’s win over the Giants; and they certainly amazed the Giants, who had a 5 game winning streak, home field advantage (only a few Steelers fans could find tickets), and the considerable motivation of playing for the storm ravaged metropolitan area. In fact, this was the most impressive Steelers victory in two years. The team shouldn’t have won. But they did.
Consider all the Steelers had going against them:
1. Injuries. Two starters out (Polamalu, Gilbert), three played hurt (Woodley, Redman, Clark).
2. Having to travel and play on the same day.
3. Game injuries to A. Brown and Rainey (neither returned)
4. Questionable interception calls (2 on K. Lewis) and the personal foul on Mundy (an atrocious call).
5. Questionable passing decisions by Ben (interceptions, misreads, sacks, and throwing into double and triple coverage).
6. Questionable coaching calls by Haley (twice in the red zone by failing to run)
7. A horrendous fake field goal called by Tomlin.
8. Mike Adams continued inability to pass protect.
9. A D-line that rarely got close to Manning, who had all day to pass.
So how did they win? By playing team football. This was a vindication for both Haley’s offense and LeBeau’s defense, particularly the latter.
Although our passing game was inconsistent, the running game was spectacular. The O-line made holes in a Giants defense that is equal to any. We are finally seeing the run blocking schemes executed properly, and the O-line looked dominant at times in run blocking. (Adams is much better at run blocking than pass protection.) Meanwhile, Redman proved once again why he is our best back, running for 147 yards and getting extra years against linebackers. Haley’s offense gained yards and scored points in spite of all the bad things listed above. That certainly vindicates Haley’s strategy and scheme. And in spite of his mistakes, Ben put the ball into the hands of playmakers when required. The offense won despite Ben having a mediocre day; meaning, the offense no longer depends on Ben’s arm alone and is playing as a team. A lot of guys made plays. And Wallace finally stepped up.
On defense, LeBeau’s revised scheme shut down a high powered offense and made it look ordinary. Give credit to the new speed of the secondary that played man-to-man coverage against quality receivers all day: K. Lewis, W. Allen, C. Allen, I. Taylor excelled. Woodley, Harrison, Timmons, Keisel, and Foote applied enough pressure at critical moments to make Manning rush his throws; the D line, especially Hampton and McLendon, while it did not stop the run, did slow it down. In short, LeBeau and his scheme were vindicated, and the D is playing as a team, too.
If the Steelers can beat the Giants at home, they can beat anybody. But our injuries continue to mount. We barely have enough RBs to execute Haley’s offense. Our receiving corps is thin. And LeBeau still lacks the talent he needs to make the D consistent. We can’t afford injuries to any more key players. Hopefully, Haley now has greater confidence in his running game and will use it more often and more effectively, especially in the red zone and to control time of possession. For that, we need healthy RBs. I trust Colbert has Jason Ford’s number handy; we may need him.
KC comes next. That should be a get-well game for the Steelers. And after that it is Ravens, Browns, Ravens, in that order. We need to win two of those three games. Tomlin may need to rest some starters against KC to keep them healthy for the Ravens game and to give our backups more game experience. We are not out of the woods by any means. But the team is playing a whole lot better than it did just a few weeks ago. And that is most encouraging of all.
Mark
November 5, 2012 at 10:48 am
BIG WIN against the odds…..and the GIANTS. The feel good story for NY was going to happen right infront of our eyes until the Steelers refused to cooperate and won anyway. Every championship team has a signature win and maybe this will be it? Anyway, if the Steelers continue to run and make adjustments on defense like they have, this team just might be hitting their stride at the right time.
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