Friday: Notes & Quotes
“I just play to win the game. I’m not one that cares too much about numbers or putting up stats. I just want to win football games and win Championships and that’s all I try and do. I know I’m not the prettiest quarterback when I do it, but at the end of the day, a W is a W to me.” — Ben, from his interview on NFL Network during halftime of Thursday night’s game. You can watch the interview here.
Week 15 match-up – Jets vs Steelers…
From The Sporting News:
This remains one of the best games of the year because it matches two of the top three teams, record-wise, in the AFC, even though the Jets have lost two in a row to fall two games behind the Patriots in the AFC East. The Steelers have won four in a row to hold a one-game lead in the AFC North and haven’t lost to the Jets (7-0) in Pittsburgh since the 1970 merger.
Based on the production of each offense the past several games, this might not be a high-scoring game, especially with the way each team plays defense. But, despite their lack of touchdowns, the Steelers offense has actually been able to move the ball, averaging 358 yards, 21 first downs and 38 minutes time of possession in the past three games. What’s more, Roethlisberger has thrown just one interception and the offense has committed just three turnovers in the past four games. Like the Jets were doing before their two-game losing streak, the Steelers have been finding ways to win. Prediction: Pittsburgh 20, N.Y. Jets 10.
You can read the rest here.
From the North Jersey Record:
The Jets are 0-7 lifetime in Pittsburgh, including a 20-17 loss in an AFC divisional playoff game in Jan. 2005.
The Steelers are allowing only 2.9 yards per carry, so this might not be the week for the Jets to get their running game back on track. But Pittsburgh’s offense has been struggling recently, with only two touchdowns in the last three games.
Forcing turnovers by the Steelers won’t be easy, as QB Ben Roethlisberger has only five interceptions in nine games and the Steelers have lost only seven fumbles.
You can […]
Ben: “Tone was a great teammate and a great football player”
Ben was interviewed today by the New Jersey Star-Ledger ‘s Conor Orr about playing with former Steeler Santonio Holmes:
“He knows the game,” Roethlisberger said. “Whether it was playing with me and I was scrambling around trying to find the open areas or the ad-libbing he and I would do, he and I would just know what each other was doing.
“There were times we’d do completely the wrong thing but it’d work for a touchdown. We had pretty good chemistry.”
Ultimately, they would go on to create one of the sports more memorable moments in Super Bowl XLIII, with Roethlisberger finding Holmes in the back of the end zone for a go-ahead touchdown. Holmes would go on to become the sixth WR in NFL history to win the Super Bowl MVP.
“That’s great to remember that,” Roethlisberger said. “And that play will be remembered for a long, long time. Tone was a great teammate and a great football player and he brought a lot to this — to help me every week on Sundays whether as a bailout guy or a guy to throw deep and make plays, really, a special kind of football player and I’m glad he’s doing well up there in New York and obviously he’s missed.”
You can read the rest here.
Also Today:
Ben at halftime?
NFL Network announced this evening that they will do a “LIVE” interview with Ben during halftime of their Thursday Night Football game tomorrow night (San Francisco 49ers vs San Diego Chargers).
The game starts at 8:00 p.m.
*Thank you to Jennifer, Mark and Dylan.
And:
We read about the wonderful things the Steelers do in the community all the time, but this is a story you don’t want to miss!
Mr Rooney: Ben “headed in right direction”
From an interview with Steelers team president Art Rooney featured on CBS-Pittsburgh’s website this evening:
“I think he’s where we want him to be at this point,” Rooney told KDKA-TV’s Rick Dayton. “He’s working hard as a football player. He’s doing things off the field that I think people are proud of what he’s doing, and I think he certainly has his life headed back in the right direction here and hopefully on the field he’s going to continue to be successful for us.”
You can read the full interview here.
*Thank you to Billie Jo for the link!
Steelers 23, Bengals 7
“I think one drive we went 140 yards, we kept going back and forth and back and forth. It’s not good enough because we have to score points. Field goals aren’t good enough. Luckily our defense bailed us out.” — Ben, during his post-game interview.
“Big Ben, you gotta admire the guy!” — NFLN’s Tom Waddle during the NFL GameDay highlight show.
Media Notes & Quotes…
From the Toronto Sun:
Troy Polamalu and LaMarr Woodley both returned Carson Palmer interceptions for touchdowns to carry the Pittsburgh Steelers over the downtrodden Cincinnati Bengals, 23-7, in a battle between the best and worst of the AFC North at Heinz Field.
The Steelers (10-3) maintained the top spot in the division despite not scoring an offensive TD, as their defense held the bottom-dwelling Bengals to 190 total yards en route to a fourth straight victory.
Cincinnati (2-11) has now lost 10 straight, its longest skid since opening the 1993 campaign 0-10.
Ben Roethlisberger, playing with a bandage around the nose he broke in last week’s critical win over Baltimore, connected on 21-of-33 throws for 258 yards, 115 of which went to Hines Ward on eight hookups.
From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette‘s Ed Bouchette:
On the next series, Ben Roethlisberger shook off another blow to the head — and another non-call by the crew of referee Walt Coleman — to lead the Steelers to a 23-yard Suisham field goal.
Defensive end Michael Johnson hit Roethlisberger — playing with a face shield on to protect his broken nose — in the head as he sacked him for a two-yard loss early in that drive. The quarterback and his coach, Mike Tomlin, complained to no avail.
From Rotoworld:
Ben Roethlisberger completed 21-of-33 passes for 258 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions in Sunday’s win over the Bengals.
Steady rain and wind prevented Roethlisberger from looking downfield. Instead, he peppered old reliable Hines Ward with passes over the middle, consistently moving the chains and relying on his defense. Big Ben did appear to aggravate his right foot/ankle injury in the fourth quarter, but played through it while hobbling.
Player post-game quotes…
“It was raining. We talked to you guys earlier in the week and that was going to be a […]
Looking ahead to Sunday’s match-up…
“I’m not saying we’re a hot team right now, but we have to win games coming down the stretch. And that’s what we didn’t do last year.” – Ben.
Bengals at Steelers, 1:00 p.m….
From the Chicago Sun Times today:
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is beat up, but that’s when he does some of his best work.
From the Kansas City Star:
The Steelers lead the all-time regular-season series with the Bengals, 48-32, after coming through with the previously-noted 27-21 win at Paul Brown Stadium back in Week 9. Cincinnati took both meetings between the clubs en route to its 2009 AFC North title, however, and completed its first home-and-home sweep of Pittsburgh since 1998 with an 18-12 decision at Heinz Field during Week 10 of last season. The Steelers had bested the Bengals five straight times prior to those two defeats from a year ago, including victories in Pittsburgh in both 2007 and 2008.
In addition to their regular-season advantage, the Steelers also scored a 31-17 road win over the Bengals in the 2005 playoffs.
Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis is 5-11 all-time against the Steelers, for whom he served as a linebackers coach from 2002 through 2005, while Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin is 5-2 against both Lewis and Cincinnati as a head coach.
From the Cincinnati Enquirer:
Ben Roethlisberger is 10-4 against the Bengals, completing 63.3 percent of his passes with 20 touchdowns against 14 interceptions and an 87.8 rating. He is also aiming for his fourth straight home game with three touchdown passes. Hines Ward has 15 touchdowns against the Bengals, his most against any opponent. Mike Wallace is averaging 76 yards per game in three meetings against the Bengals with two of those being for 100 yards or more. Bengals defensive end Carlos Dunlap has 3.5 sacks in the last two games. Cornerback Leon Hall leads the team with four interceptions and 15 passes defensed.
From Bengals coach Marvin Lewis, during his press conference this week:
On Ben’s ability to play through injuries –
“He was hurt last week with the ankle, and he got better as the game went on. The ankle loosened up as he got more movement and so forth. It seemed to be […]
New fan story…
This story comes from Robert Rangel of Grove City, California. He and his son Jonathan (photo below) took a cross-country trip to Baltimore on Sunday to watch the Steelers play the Ravens.
From Mr. Rangel:
I just want to publicly thank Ben for tossing the game ball to my son Jonathan on Sunday night as he walked off the field in Baltimore.
It was so cold the entire stadium emptied out before Ben left the field except for about six Steeler fans and a bunch of security guys.
We didn’t even know he was still out there. We just wanted to cheer the team after the game. We saw Mike Wallace walking off the field and were just saying things like “Great game!”, when all of a sudden we saw Ben approaching. He looked real tired, and I am sure he was hurting pretty bad. The crowd had been really mean to him all night long, so my son made a point of just yelling things like “Great game!” and “Way to go, Ben!”, and since we were just about alone in the stands next to the tunnel, it was easy for him to see who was yelling.
All I remember was Ben cracking a big smile (broken nose and all) and then tossing Jonathan the ball he had been holding since taking a knee to end the game. We couldn’t believe it. Jonathan, a former HS football player, hugged the ball between both arms like a running back while trying not to drop it as we waded through thousands of Raven fans leaving the stadium. By the time we walked back to our hotel, we saw a post-game video that showed Ben holding the ball while shaking Flacco’s hand and then while being interviewed on the field.
Needless to say, it made our trip from sunny California to freezing cold Baltimore the best father-son trip ever. Last year we traveled to Denver, the two years before to San Diego. Next year, we want to travel to Pittsburgh to see a “home” game.
Ben made a lifetime impression on my son (and me). We didn’t expect it, which made it even more special.
Attached is a photo […]