“America’s Heroes”
From ESPN’s Press Room:
With its annual America’s Heroes tribute, ESPN will salute veterans and active members of the U.S. armed forces with a week of programming and initiatives Nov. 7-14 in recognition of Veterans Day.
USAA is the presenting sponsor of ESPN’s week-long Veterans Day activation and many well-known athletes, coaches and celebrities will provide daily “shout outs” to members of the military within ESPN programming. Among the participants will be Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Ben Roethlisberger, Christian McCaffrey and Baker Mayfield (NFL); Arike Ogunbowale (WNBA); Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green and Victor Oladipo (NBA); Dabo Swinney, Dawn Staley, Jimbo Fisher, Lincoln Riley, Lane Kiffin, Kara Lawson and Mike Krzyzewski (college sports); Cobi Jones and Kelly O’Hara (soccer); Charlie Blackmon (MLB) and more.
Also:
Editions of ESPN’s SportsCenter, leading up to and including Veterans Day, will include features related to veterans and active members of the military, sponsored by USAA as part of America’s Heroes. Among the features airing on SportsCenter:
Saturday, Nov. 7 – Rocky Bleier – Fifty years after it happened, former Notre Dame and Pittsburgh Steelers great Rocky Bleier returns with ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi to the place where he was wounded during combat in Vietnam.
You can read more about ESPN’s planned recognition initiatives here.
Lil’ Fan Friday – Steelers Siblings
“Three little fans and some kisses! These three kiddos are huge fans: Anden is 7, Athena is 2 and Niem is 5.” — Mom Lindsey.
“Here are my two cuties all the way from Arizona! Lincoln and Harlow! We love the Steelers and Ben!!” — Mom Lindsey.
“Cameron age 4, Eli age 1.5, and Olivia 6 months. Cameron is obsessed with football, especially Steelers football! His favorite player is JuJu and he loves to watch him on Snapchat and TikTok.” — Mom Brittany.
“Chad, Nolan, Jonah, Jacob & Julia – This is a picture of my grandchildren on our way to training camp 7 years ago! They had a blast! Stood by the fence as the team came on the field and got high fives from Ben and Troy…that was the best highlight of the day.” — Grandma Marina.
Wednesday’s Q&A with the media
“My college coach used to say, ‘Have a plan, work the plan and plan for the unexpected’. That’s what we have been doing. We take whatever is thrown at us.” — Ben.
From Teresa Varley, Steelers.com:
With a 7-0 record this year’s team has matched the best start in franchise history, when the 1978 team also began with seven wins to begin the season.
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger credited having a veteran team that didn’t undergo wholesale changes this offseason with helping to lead to that success.
That togetherness is something that has been valuable for a lot of reasons in 2020. It’s been a season like no other due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has impacted the team this week after Ravens’ safety Marlon Humphrey tweeted that he tested positive one day after playing against the Steelers. The has put the Steelers in a more intensive protocol this week, changing things up a bit for the players.
“Things got pushed back an hour today. We met in the indoor facility, so it was really spread out. That is where some of the meetings are going to have to be. We were told we can’t do individual meetings in person, so those will be virtual. There will be some virtual stuff this week.”
It’s something Roethlisberger and his teammates will deal with, just as they have had to deal with playing three straight games against teams with a combined two losses at the time they played. Just like they have to deal with playing three straight road games because of schedule changes due to the Titans game being moved because of their COVID-19 positive tests.
“Being around as long as I have you get in these situations. It’s been an unprecedented year. We had all of those home games in a row, which you don’t have. Now to go on the road, the way this season and year has been for everybody. My college coach used to say, have a plan, work the plan and plan for the unexpected. That has what we have been doing. We take whatever is thrown at us. Like today everything getting pushed back an hour.
“Everyone has to do what we can. We can’t sit back and say, ‘woe is us.’ People in real life are dealing with changing things too. We have to keep rolling with it and understand when […]
‘Backyard Brawl’
“I came here for that Ben Roethlisberger, that guy that has trust in his players that are on the field.” — Eric Ebron.
From Mike Prisuta, Steelers.com:
The initial plan produced all of 64 total net yards, zero third-down conversions in three attempts and zero points scored on offense in the first half in Baltimore, so in the second half the Steelers went without one.
“I was telling the line the protection and moving guys around and playing backyard football, if you will,” quarterback Ben Roethlisberger explained. “I don’t know that we called too many quote-unquote plays in the second half when we were in that mode.”
It worked.
The Steelers scored three touchdowns on five second-half possessions and turned a 10-point halftime deficit into a hard-fought, 28-24 victory over the Ravens on Sunday afternoon at M&T Bank Stadium.
It was the Roethlisberger tight end Eric Ebron had been longing to see.
“That’s kinda what I came here for,” Ebron said.
Roethlisberger completed 17 of 22 second-half attempts, for 158 of his 182 passing yards on the afternoon and both of his touchdown passes.
The Steelers emptied the backfield with regularity and repeatedly deployed a personnel group that included wide receivers Chase Claypool, Ray-Ray McCloud, Diontae Johnson and JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Ebron.
Smith-Schuster wasn’t targeted in the first half but finished with a team-leading seven catches for a team-leading 67 yards receiving.
Five of Smith-Schuster’s catches produced first downs, including a 2-yard gain on third-and-1 from the Baltimore 41-yard line on which Smith-Schuster caught the ball behind the line of scrimmage and ran through cornerback Marlon Humphrey to move the chains on the drive that produced the eventual game-winning touchdown.
“We threw a personnel group at ’em that we hadn’t done much before, no (running) backs, and emptied things out,” Roethlisberger said. “It just created things, defensive looks and opportunities for us.
“I know my whole career people say that I’ve always kind of had the playground, backyard football. Today it was in its truest form. There were plays when I would say, ‘Hey, JuJu you run this, Ray-Ray you run this,’ and they didn’t blink and eye. They were able to just do things on the fly and I think that’s what makes me most proud today.”
You can read more here.
7-0 #HereWeGo
“It’s kind of what I came here for. I came here for THAT Ben Roethlisberger. I’ve been begging for it. I’m asking Ben, ‘You want to win? Come on. We have to do something.’ And we did that, man.” — Eric Ebron on working with Ben.
From Mike Prisuta, Steelers.com:
The Steelers started slowly but finished strong in Baltimore and improved to 7-0 with a 28-24 victory over the Ravens.
Baltimore fell to 5-2.
The Steelers rallied from a 24-21, fourth-quarter deficit with an eight-play, 80-yard drive in 4:27 that ended on an 8-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to wide receiver Chase Claypool. Kicker Chris Boswell’s extra point gave the Steelers a 28-24 lead with 7:29 left in regulation.
Nose tackle Isaiah Buggs, who was playing due to an injury sustained by Tyson Alualu, came off a block and started to take Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson to the ground short of the line to gain on fourth-and-3 from the Steelers’ 8-yard line just inside the two-minute warning. Inside linebacker Vince Williams and free safety Minkah Fitzpatrick helped finish Jackson off on the play, which resulted in a fumble and a recovery by inside linebacker Robert Spillane.
“I’m just glad they’re my defense.” — Big Ben giving the Steelers D big props after the team’s big win in Baltimore to stay undefeated.
The Steelers were unable to generate a first down and kill the clock and punted the ball back to the Ravens with 52 seconds left in regulation.
The Ravens took over at their 37-yard line and drove to the Steelers’ 23 with eight seconds left in the fourth quarter but Fitzpatrick and cornerback Justin Layne successfully defended Jackson’s last-gasp pass into the end zone for wide receiver Willie Snead IV.
You can read more here.
What a battle. Proud of how this team fought today. It wasn’t pretty, but we found a way to get it done. pic.twitter.com/1fbJZkC5XS
— JuJu Smith-Schuster (@TeamJuJu) November 1, 2020
Ben is the Steelers Digest Player of the Week!
This is what an actual franchise quarterback does for his team, and this is what it looks like while he’s doing it.
After a totally dismal performance in a first half that ended with them losing to the Ravens, 17-7, and being handled physically along the […]
“Thank you Ben!”
I have stage 4 ovarian cancer and the Steelers bring me so much joy on my couch days. I have been a fan since I was 10 years old, and Ben has been my favorite since he entered the NFL.
I just had new cancer bracelets made and I chose Steelers colors, not my teal color of my cancer, because this team means so much to me!
My oncologist is moving from Cleveland Clinic to Magee Women’s Hospital at UPMC, so I am hoping I will at least get to see the stadium now, I have never been to Pittsburgh.
THANK YOU and please know how much difference these things can make in a life of someone who has a lot of rough and dark days.
GO STEELERS! GO Big Ben!!!!! #7foralways
Sincere appreciation from my heart,
Lynn Case