From Teresa Varley, Steelers.com:

The NFL knew what they were doing when, as a part of the league’s flex scheduling policy, they changed the start time of Sunday’s Steelers-Bengals game at Heinz Field to a 4:25 kickoff, making it a game that will go out to more of a national audience for CBS.

It’s going to be a battle of two tough defenses, the Steelers ranked No. 3 overall in the NFL, while the Bengals are one notch ahead, the No. 2 ranked defense in the league.

“I think you can stop after saying they are the No. 2 defense in the NFL,” said Roethlisberger. “That’s enough said. It’s a really, really big challenge for us.”

After a 0-3 start the Bengals have won their last two games, defeating the Browns, 31-7, and the Bills, 20-16, a lot of that due in part to their defense. They are holding opponents to only 159.6 yards passing per game, and just 262.8 yards of total offense per game. The Bengals are also ranked second in points allowed at just 16.6 per game.

“It doesn’t get any easier this week,” said Roethlisberger. “That is a really, really good defense. We have a lot of work ahead of us. It’s a familiar opponent. They know us as well. They have a lot of the same guys over there, they don’t have a lot of turnover on defense. They know each other, they played together, and they played together well.”

The Bengals are coming off their bye week, an opportunity for a team to oftentimes tweak things, or add new wrinkles on both sides of the ball. Roethlisberger expects some of that.

“Traditionally you expect something new, whether it’s a new blitz, a new look, new plays on offense, whatever it is,” said Roethlisberger. “They have had a week head start on us, just another eight ball we are behind.”

A tight situation: Tight end Vance McDonald had his first catch in a Steelers uniform against the Chiefs, and it was a clutch reception. McDonald caught a 26-yard pass from Roethlisberger, getting the Steelers out of a big hole as they were pinned at their own one-yard line.

“I missed him a little bit on that one deep ball early,” said Roethlisberger. “I know he can run. I put it out there […]

Did you miss Ben’s radio show this morning during Cook & Poni?


Recap from 93.7 The Fan:

First question was on Martavis Bryant –

“He doesn’t want to go anywhere. The person that broke this story first was the same person that broke the story that I wanted to be traded and I know there’s zero-percent truth to that, so I kind of take some of the stuff that he says with a grain of salt.”


On the since deleted tweets by Bryant’s girlfriend that seemed to support the idea that he wants out –

“I don’t know if it’s one of those things where at home you’ve got a bunch of people that are saying ‘Why aren’t you getting the ball? Why don’t you do this? Why don’t you do that?’ Almost just kind of gassing him up if you will. Like I said, Martavis is an asset to this football team. He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do. Obviously his numbers probably aren’t what he was hoping and expecting, and probably aren’t for all of us to a certain extent, but you also understand he’s been gone for a whole year, it’s not like he missed six games, four games, eight games, it was a whole year, and that’s tough.”


On that great catch by Antonio Brown against the Chiefs –

“We got him matched up on what we’d call their third corner and AB ran a quick little wheel route and the safety was still cheating over the top, I kind of got caught between, ‘Ok, do I throw it over the top?’ If I do, the safety might be able to get there and he might catch it, he might get a hit, a lot of things could happen, so look for a back shoulder type throw. The problem with the back shoulder is that AB had the guy beat, so the back shoulder is not the best option but I did it anyway, it came out a little lower than I wanted it to, and I guess the good Lord wanted it to go our way this time.”


On James Harrison –

“In the locker room, I always speak to the team after coach does and I kind of said something, I said, ‘Hey Debo, it’s about time […]

Check out this collage of some of Steelers photographer Karl Roser great photos from Sunday’s game:



See all of Karl’s favorites right here.

“I am proud of this team. We had some guys filling in, doing an awesome job. This is not an easy place to play, and a great team we played against. I am just proud of everybody the way we pulled through against this team.” — Ben.

From Teresa Varley at Steelers.com this evening:

It came down to the last minute, but the Steelers pulled out a key AFC win, taking down the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs, 19-13. The Steelers improved their record to 4-2 on the season, and maintain the lead in the AFC North.

After the Steelers lost to the Jaguars last week, Coach Mike Tomlin said, “I’m interested in how we respond.”

Well, his players responded.

Le’Veon Bell carried the ball 32 times for 179 yards and a touchdown, while Antonio Brown had eight receptions for 155 yards and a circus catch for a touchdown.

The defense swarmed all day, never allowing the Chiefs to get in sync and containing one of the league’s most potent offenses.

The Steelers got the ball to start the game, and moved it early in the drive. Ben Roethlisberger connected with JuJu Smith-Schuster for five yards, and Antonio Brown for 12 yards. Le’Veon Bell carried the ball three times for 10 yards, but after that struggled. Bell was hit for a four-yard loss, but then James Conner added an 11-yard run. On third-and-three from the Chiefs 34-yard line Dee Ford broke free from his block and sacked Roethlisberger for a seven-yard loss, knocking them out of field goal range and forcing a punt.

Things got interesting after the punt. After a holding call the Chiefs were pinned back at their own nine-yard line. Center Zach Fulton snapped the ball over Alex Smith’s head and out of the end zone, giving the Steelers a safety and a 2-0 lead.

The Steelers had a huge opportunity in front of them with the ensuing free kick, but from the looks of things Brown lost sight of the ball in the sun, and Jehu Chesson recovered the ball at the Steelers’ 32-yard line.

With great field position handed to them, the Chiefs now looked to be the team with the huge opportunity. But the defense wouldn’t have it. Kareem Hunt could manage only a three-yard gain, and then T.J. […]

Today, Ben announced the fifth and sixth grant awards of the 2017 season from the Ben Roethlisberger Foundation at The Giving Back Fund.

The Foundation will be distributing grants to the Bonner Springs Police Department and the Independence Police Department, just outside of Kansas City where the Steelers will play the Chiefs on October 15th.

The Independence Police Department will use the grant funds to replace a K-9 close to retirement, while the Bonner Springs Police Department will use the funds to purchase training equipment to better their K-9’s skills in both narcotics detection and patrol.

Fans:

You can support future K-9 grants by purchasing candy on Sarris Candies’ website, (www.SarrisCandiesFundraising.com), using a special purchase code (77-7777). Sarris will donate 25 percent of the purchase price to the foundation.


Click here for more info on Ben’s foundation or you can contact Jessica Duffaut at The Giving Back Fund.

Recap from Teresa Varley, Steelers.com:

Ben Roethlisberger put last week’s disappointing loss to Jacksonville behind him the minute the team wrapped their meetings and finished watching film of the game on Monday afternoon.

It’s nothing unusual. It’s the same thing he does after a big win as well, because he knows on the horizon is another challenge.

And this week it comes from the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs, who sit atop the AFC at 5-0.

“They do a lot of unusual things on offense and their defense gets after the quarterback, ball hawking in the secondary,” said Roethlisberger. “We are going into an awesome environment this week with the last undefeated team, a football team that is playing really well, that leads the AFC. What an awesome challenge for us.”

The Chiefs have four interceptions on the season, but that number doesn’t speak to the aggressive approach the secondary plays with.

“They are really good,” said Roethlisberger. “(Marcus) Peters may be one of the best in the business. Always seems to around the ball, making plays. Even when it’s man coverage he leaves his man to intercept balls. I have a lot of film study to do to get ready for this team.

“You play a great team like this, a great team on the road, with the environment they always have there at Arrowhead. I am just excited for it. You do this long enough you get excited for these matchups.”

Roethlisberger has stressed the importance of the offense playing with more detail, and playing at Arrowhead Stadium, one of the toughest places to play in the NFL, is definitely going to require everyone to be on point, particularly in the red zone where the Steelers were 0 for 3 last week.

“It’s a shorter field, things happen quicker,” said Roethlisberger. “You have to understand reads quicker. Sometimes defenses give you looks you are not prepared for, when I say not prepared for, not a look they gave somebody else that you saw on film study. That happened to us. You have to make in game adjustments as well. You have to have your preparation and practice field stuff ready to go.”

Wanting the ball: Earlier this week Le’Veon Bell said he would like to have seen the offense run the ball more […]