V for Vendetta: STEELERS WIN

Farrior and Harrison stuff Sproles on the first play of the new frame, then Gates pulls one down across the middle to set up 3rd and short. Aaron Smith is all over the Sproles run and stops him short of the sticks. Turner wastes a timeout by challenging the call and he loses. Punt.

The next drive was all about one guy: Willie Parker. Parker got four straight touches running for 7, 5, 6, and 5 before Moore gave him a breather. Moore picked up 4 then Parker came back for 3 more, setting up 3rd and short. Stapleton sets us back with a false start, and Ben hits Carey Davis on a crossing pattern, but Davis is pulled down short of the sticks. Need more power in those legs, son. Sadly, that’s not the first time this game we’ll say that either. The Steelers move to 0-3 on 3rd down conversions. Ben wants to go for it, but San Diego saves us by taking a time out. Tomlin makes the right call. Punt team.

After an incompletion on first down, Harrison gets pressure and forces an incompletion on second down. Ike blitzes off the corner and Rivers throws one up for Jackson, which is ruled a catch. Tomlin challenges the 43-yard completion and wins it, sending the Chargers packing with a 3-and-out.

Holmes picks up 3 yards on a reverse, then Nate pulls one down for 5 to set up 3rd and 2. Now, for most legitimate Steelers teams, 3rd and 2 is a running down. It always has been, it always should be. Not for Bruce Arians. He calls a pass to Carey Davis who gets stopped short of the sticks…again. Get Davis in the weight room doing some squats, pronto. On 4th and 2 from their own 45, the Steelers execute a fake worse than Jack’s flash-forward beard.

The Chargers get the ball on our side of the 50, in prime position to score.

After two plays go nowhere, Rivers finds Gates for 15 down the seam for the first down to get them into field goal range. The Diesel blows up Sproles in the backfield and Woodley is all over a short pass to the little guy out of the backfield, setting up another 3rd and long. Rivers hits Gates for 8, getting them back into field goal range, but well short of the sticks. Kaeding drills it right after the two-minute warning.

7-10

With the lead in San Diego’s hands, Pittsburgh needed to respond. After a good return by Russell to the 34, Ben hit Holmes for 15, then out of the no-huddle hits Moore for 9 more. Some Charger claimed to be injured, forcing San Diego to use their last time out, and giving our offense time to game plan with 2nd and 1 at the San Diego 42. Ben misses a wide open Heath Miller across the middle, then the Bulldozer comes in and plows for the first down. The Steelers wisely take a time out with just over a minute to go.

Ben overthrows an open Santonio Holmes on a deep corner route, bringing up second down. Hines pulls one in, but the proctologist report comes in and it says we need a Colonoscopy. Illegal Formation. I swear, Colon takes a bad penalty at least once a game. Hines steps back up though and makes a great effort to come back for the ball and turn it upfield, going out of bounds at the 3. Red Zone offense killed us last game against San Diego, but Willie Parker goes left end and bowls right over a San Diego corner to find paydirt.

14-10

The Chargers couldn’t take the cold, so they decided to kill the clock and give the Steelers offense another shot after they warmed up a bit.

Halftime

Nothing too exciting here. The Steelers had 8 1/2 minutes of possession in the 2nd quarter, but had only converted 1 third down thus far in the game. What do you know, they did it on a running play.

Third Quarter

Opportunity was knocking for the Steelers to take a two-score lead out of the break. The Willie Parker show dominates for 4 plays before Holmes snags a big grab on 3rd and 7 to keep the drive alive. Ben went deep for Holmes again, but no dice, bringing up second and long. Parker went nowhere on 2nd down, but Ben was able to convert again, this time finding Nasty Nate for a big gain. Willie goes for 2, then Carey Davis comes into the game, and we joke that he’ll get the ball again. What do you know, Ben throws it to him. What do you know, no gain. On 3rd and 8, Ben goes to the bank and finds Heath Miller depositing checks. Money. First down at the 12. Parker reels off 4 more, then Ben goes play-action and we all know what time it is

Heath peels off a block to find himself wide open in the flat. He runs over a Charger in the end zone for good measure.

21-10

Sproles rips off a huge 63-yard return on the ensuing kickoff to seemingly give San Diego a shot at getting back in the game with the ball at the Steelers 23. Already in field goal range, Rivers looks for Jackson but the Diesel gets a paw up and swats the ball in the air. Larry Foote makes a diving interception that San Diego challenges. It wasn’t happening for Turner today, as the interception is upheld and the Steelers get the ball back.

Parker runs twice to set up 3rd and 3 where Ben hands to Moore going left, but Holmes gets it on the reverse going the other way and scampers for the first down. Parker gets 4 on first down, but a Heath Miller holding penalty on the next play sets things back. The Steelers can’t recover and have to punt.

When you have a sucky punter, sometimes it works out. For the second time this year, a Berger punt hits one of the coverage guys from the other team. This time it was Chargers safety Eric Weddle…in the head. Big Play Willie Gay recovers, giving the Steelers new life at the San Diego 23.

Stapleton sets us back with his second false start of the game. After a broken play on first down, Ben hits Hines for a big 19-yarder to get down to the 9. San Diego gets flagged for a late hit out of bounds, moving the ball down to the 4. Parker gets to the 1 on first down, then Ben shows some nimble feet on a naked bootleg where he has to avoid pressure and eventually throw the ball away. On 3rd and goal from the 1, Russell is stuffed and the quarter expires.

San Diego ran 1 offensive play in the 3rd quarter. It was an interception.

Fourth Quarter

With 4th and goal from the 1 and an 11-point lead, the Steelers should have kicked the field goal to make it a 14-point game. However, they make the second poor coaching move of the night (fake punt was the first) and go for it. Arians described the play thusly in a post-game interview: “Ideally, we could have called a goalline play, which would have been a QB sneak. However, since our QB has a concussion, we had to call a short-yardage play.” You mean to tell me you have no “Goalline” plays that involve handing off to a tailback? Get outta tahn. Of all people, why hand off to Carey Davis? Davis, who obviously has the leg muscles of a newborn, can’t push his way in.

On first down, Rivers hits Hester out of the backfield in the flat. Hester turns it upfield and streaks for 11 yards and a first down. LaMarr Woodley, who is making a serious run at being nicknamed “The Undertaker” buries Rivers back at the 2.

Two incompletions later, Scifres is punting out of his own end zone to Holmes. No magic this time, but the Steelers still get the ball in San Diego territory.

Parker gets 4 yards on first down, then Ben goes deep again. This time, Nate draws a pass interference penalty in the end zone, giving us the ball on the 1. Gary Russell is no nonsense this time and The Bulldozer blasts his way in from a yard out.

28-10

The Steelers come out with Renegade, but with a 28-10 lead, the need for a defensive stop is a little less pressing. The more important issue now is the clock. The Diesel comes up with a sack on second down…

…and busts out his row the boat celebration.

However, Polamalu misses a tackle in the flat against the tight end not named Gates, allowing the Chargers to keep the drive alive. Sproles pulls in a crossing route grab for 11 yards, moving them into Steelers territory. After two incompletions, Rivers hits Chambers for another first down. Two plays later, he goes back to Chambers down the middle, who reels it in at the 8. Troy wacked Rivers in the head on a blitz, picking up a roughing the passer penalty to move them even closer. Some no-name reciever catches a touchdown on a slant to get the game back to 11.

28-17

We referenced it once already, but I’m sure everyone remembers the 2002-03 playoff game against Cleveland when we came back from a big deficit to beat the Browns. Guess who was Cleveland’s offensive coordinator that game? Yup, Bruce Arians. And what was one of the reasons why Cleveland lost that game? Because he threw with the lead and didn’t kill the clock with the running game.

So what do the Steelers do with their lead chopped to 11 and just over 9 minutes on the clock? Come out throwing. Deep. Nate almost comes down with it, but it slips out of his hands as he hits the ground. Clock stopped. Nate comes back with a big second down catch to get to 3rd and 3.

Ben has one almost picked off by an undercutting defensive back, but he threads the needle to Hines for the first down. After 64,000 people at the stadium recover from their collective heart attacks, the Steelers decide to run the ball. Parker goes for 2, then gets to the outside and turns upfield for 27. Parker picks up 7 more before getting a breather. Moore gets a solid 4, then it’s Parker time again. He is stopped for 1, but does his Flash impression on the next play and turns on the afterburners for a 16-yard score.

35-17
Bring on the Ravens.

After the Steelers took 5 minutes off the clock and put 7 more points on the board, the Chargers were more or less done. The rest was simply formality. Rivers throws two incompletions then…

Harrison, who was getting held all game, breaks through a hold and brings down Rivers.

In a strange call, rather than going for it on 4th down, the Chargers elect to punt. This was pretty much a collective giving up by their coaches.

Byron brings out the second string offense, complete with Limas Sweed and the second-string O-Line. Russell gets 2 carries and the Chargers strangely use their time outs. Why do you punt and then use time outs as if you’re still trying to win? That makes no sense. Moron, Incorporated Arians calls a pass on 3rd down and Byron goes over the top for Sweed, who has the ball in his hands but can’t make the catch. Rookie nerves. He’s going to need to get over them. Punt.

With just under 3:00 to play, San Diego comes out firing against the prevent. Rivers hits Chambers for 20, then Hester out of the backfield for a short gain. Rivers goes down the sidelines for Jackson and Ike rips the ball away, coming out with it. The pass is ruled incomplete, and Tomlin makes a poor (not terrible like the fake punt or going for it on 4th and 1, just poor) decision to challenge. The challenge fails, but the Steelers catch a break on a delay of game. On 3rd and long, Rivers dumps one off to Sproles who shows he is the only Charger who hasn’t given up yet, turning on the jets in the open field and blowing past all the Steelers for a 62-yard score.

35-24

The Steelers were offsides on the first onside kick attempt, so San Diego gets another go. Gary Russell falls on it and Leftwich comes in for the victory formation.

Game. Vendetta accomplished. Demons of ’94 be gone.

Players of the Game:
Offensive Game Ball: Santonio Holmes

Willie Parker is a very, very close second here, but Holmes was the catalyst for the offense. His punt return shifted momentum and he came up with 3 big 3rd down conversions (2 through the air and one on a reverse) to keep drives alive.

Defensive Game Ball: LaMarr Woodley
5 tackles (3 for a loss), and 2 huge sacks where he just buried Rivers.

Honorable Mentions:
Willie Parker
Heath Miller
Larry Foote
James Farrior
Brett Keisel
Ben Roethlisberger
Hines Ward
Justin Hartwig

Mr. Yuck Sticker of the Game
Carey Davis with the ball in his hands

He had 0, absolutely zero power in his legs. Send the boy to the gym coach. He couldn’t drive for any extra yards on his catches and couldn’t convert the 4th and inches at the goal line. I don’t know why the Steelers kept giving him the ball when they saw he wasn’t doing anything with it.

Final Thoughts

• Bring on the Ravens!
• Mike Tomlin is 11-1 in his career against divisonal opponents
• Time of Possession: Steelers 36:30, Chargers 23:30
• Huge game by Parker. He still looks fresh, which bodes well for the next game, even against Baltimore’s tough defense.
• I know we can get pressure on Flacco
• Did the Chargers have a pass rush today? Great job by the offensive line, particularly Hartwig, Stapleton, and Kemoeatu against Williams in the middle.
• Ben had a fantastic game. He wasn’t flashy, didn’t put up big numbers, but he was efficient and didn’t turn the ball over, which is all we needed from him.
• Great to see Holmes have a big game
• Hines always has huge games against Baltimore
• The road to the Super Bowl goes through Pittsburgh. What a great feeling.
• Believe it. Yes. We. Can.
• Even though none of them were complete, I don’t mind trying to go over the top. I like the play calls. It kept the safeties back, allowing Parker some room to run between the tackles.
• We should run the ball on 3rd and 2.
• San Diego had 1 play in the 3rd quarter. What a performance by the Steelers.
• I’ve got a feeling….