Make no mistake the Steelers caught a break on the Ben Roethlisberger fumble. Remember the “Holy Roller” rule?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Roller_%28American_football%29
Not the best calls made from offensive coordinator Bruce Arians to end the half and end the final scoring drive. There will be plenty of bitching about that this week on the forums and talk radio.
Mewelde Moore made a huge catch and run on that final scoring drive. Other than that it was a forgettable game for him. He just is not the same blocker he once was. Mike Tomlin seems set though to stick with him week after week on most of the 3rd downs. Tomlin said after the game that he was scheduled to spell Rashard Mendenhall on the 3rd series of the game.
Aaron Smith (torn left tricep), LaMarr Woodley (left hamstring) and Flozell Adams (left ankle) are the injuries and not good. Smith injury is not good at all. The Adams injury might be low ankle and not high. Not enough info on the Woodley injury right now. Expect a few defensive ends to be called. Maybe Charles Grant would be an option.
Dolphins did a great job getting pressure and I am sure it will show up in my weekly offensive line breakdown.
Tomlin knew the ball was loose and says rule says defense must make a clear recovery. He knows they caught a break for sure.
Tomlin was comfortable if 3rd down play failed at end with kicking field goal and going up by one. That is why the ball was run to run down clock. Personally I would of liked to see Isaac Redman carry that ball again on 3rd down and like the 2nd down dive play before the Ben run.
Rookie linebacker Jason Worilds played great in his time on the field at left outside linebacker. He worked real hard getting pressure on the quarterbacks.
Referee Gene Steratore lives in in Washington, Pennsylvania. Expect to hear more on this. The Steelers haters will be in full force this week.
Not sure why the Dolphins did not try to run more at the ends and spread the Steelers out with all the injuries on the edges for the Steelers.
Dolphins left tackle Jake Long did a good job on James Harrison. Once Woodley went out the really concentrated more on Harrison\’s side. Long is good though and nothing to be ashamed of. The Dolphins line as a whole seemed to hold up pretty good as the Steelers pass rush could not get push.
Not surprising with good protection that Mike Wallace was able to get behind Jason Allen. That was a 1st down play as well and great timing. Tomlin calls him a one trick pony, is he?
Those 6 points that were given as gifts early on played a big part. Glad the defense held, but shame on Emmanuel Sanders and Big Ben for giving them a short field.
Sanders did recover nicely though on a few other returns and had a big 3rd down catch in the 3rd quarter.
The hit on Brian Hartline by Woodley and Bryant McFadden and subsequent fumble recovery by James Farrior was a huge play and led to a touchdown.
Doug Lergursky had some early holding calls and may have been bothered with his knee as Ramon Foster had quite a few snaps at right guard through the day.
Dolphins punter Brandon Fields had a big punt that really flipped the field after the Steelers defense stalled the Dolphins deep in their own end.
Hines Ward continues to defy father time. He is like fine wine. 7 catches for 131 yards and a touchdown.
It will be good to get these hot and humid climate games done. Next week is a dome in Louisiana. Thank God!
Now you can see why I was so curious about the Steve McLendon status. Think Mike Tomlin takes only 5 healthy defensive linemen next time?
