Ben Roethlisberger is active tonight and will start against the 49ers.
But, the Steelers also have both Charlie Batch and Dennis Dixon active as well.
Cornerback Curtis Brown, Maurkice Pouncey, Chris Carter, Al Woods, Jamon Meredith and Emmanuel Sanders are inactive.
60 comments:
BR was looking pretty gimpy in those shots ESPN was showing about an hour ago.
Don't like that Curtis Brown is down. Special teams could be HUGE in this game and he's easily our best gunner! I know we needed a spot for Dixon, but I really hope it doesn't bite us in the ass!
What's wrong with Sanders now?
Polamalu is guessing like crazy and leaving guys wide open.
Sanders still is dealing with foot problems.
I think Curtis Brown has some kind of injury and I don't believe he practiced this week.
BR isn't being helped by his WRs, but it doesn't look like he can really plant his front foot to throw either. Probably better to play Batch/Dixon.
I'm sorry, but if SF can't keep the lights on in its stadium, they should have to forfeit the game.
its official - Tomlin has become worse than Reid with time management.
And he didn't just toe the line on being the worst coach in that category, he blew right through it.
You can say Ben is horrible with it, but its Tomlin's job to reign him in.
Pathetic way to take 3 points off of the board.
Re: Ben & clock management at the end of the half:
Tough as a stump, dumb as nails.
As usual. Tomlin and Arians deserver criticism here too. Completely moronic, has been going on for years. My personal favorite was the wasted down / spike at Baltimore in 2008, right before the Santonio TD.
Seriously, why is Ben / Tomlin / Arians so bad at clock management in those situations? It's infuriating.
no way this kick is good
damn im shocked. i hit enter on that right before the kick with all the confidence in the world that he'd miss.
That kick wouldn't have been good from 52 yards out.
Timmons is a shell of himself this year.
What is up with him?
You'd think after seeing it twice from Balt, the Steeler defense would have been ready for the same scheme from SF. Just a pathetic performance from a team that does not deserve a division title or a bye.
its only 13-3 with a quarter plus to play. I don't like to make excuses for injuries, but this team just looks...careless. And I don't understand how after Balt's loss yesterday that word is possible.
But as I type this, here comes the offense. Mendenhall looks like he came to play today and the o-line hasn't been bad. So I guess not all is lost.
Suisham just confirmed my lack of faith of him.
I've had the sound off for almost all of the game, but I did hear Gruden say on the first pick how poorly the routes were designed. That would explain a lot about how inept the offense is despite the talent.
49ers TD drive attacked the LB's and their over pursuit. nice play calls.
if #7 is healthy, steelers have at least 10 more points.
obviously, the clock mgmt. sucks. did you expect anything else?
to be fair, gruden also praised the play design at least one time.
I know its sarcastic marc, but yes I do expect better with the time management. Its the same thing every game. Its incredible. Its PROFESSIONAL football and it happens so much I can't understand how they don't improve this.
It must be that they just give Ben the freedom to do what he wants. Its the only explanation.
wtf was that leaping penalty?
that's game. i pull #7 and woodley. tell them to start getting ready for the next game. not worth it.
Well, it's too bad they blew their chance to have the #1 seed by being unprepared to play after having 10 days off.
In 20/20 hindsight, it wasn't a good idea to play BR because he's obviously limited in what he can do and now they have to throw so SF will just tee off on him. Playing both Batch and Dixon might have given SF a different look than they planned for and caught their defense off guard.
On the bright side, since the team doesn't seem to play very well after a lay off, maybe not having a bye isn't that bad.
season is over until the playoffs
Theres no point to being the #5 or #6 seed this year. You're either going to Houston or Den/SD. I think I'd almost rather play TJ Yates and a never-been-to-the-playoffs Houston team than SD (who I think has talent) or Denver (a tough place to play)
Really disappointed in this team's mistakes tonight, and it has nothing to do with injuries, Harrison or the lights. Its penalties, mental mistakes and flat out being outcoached.
i wouldn't say they were unprepared. offensively, they were severly limited by #7. defensively, they kept the steelers in the game until the 4th quarter.
too many turnovers. lack of execution, imo. #7 should not have started. he can barely move.
Not sure I'd have BR still in there. There's tough and then there's dumb. They ain't coming back from 17 down, no sense in getting the qb killed.
tomlin/arians are idiots for keeping #7 in the game. i hope the media pushes tomlin on that and the clock management. he deserves it.
btw, these refs suck.
marc, if Tomlin decided to play BR, then he needed to make sure the game plan accounted for his lack of mobility. Why not plays with Dixon in the backfield or Ward in for a direct snap with the option to throw or either with BR in the read/option? Why no play action esp after showing they could run the ball fairly effectively?
Honestly, I don't get what the coaches are thinking in games like these.
well, i think the game plan did account for his lack of mobility. i'm not sure what else they could have done. i don't think there was much they could do with play action out of the shotgun. a couple trick plays i guess.
i also don't think bringing dixon in would do much. if he's still 3rd string behind batch, he must suck, that simple.
i think the game was there to be won. neither team executed well early. the 49ers put it together late.
2008, 2010 and now 2011 = Steelers only lose to playoff teams in the regular season.
Hopefully, history repeats itself, but I don't see it. This game was a GIANT opportunity and they didn't show up mentally.
I don't think SF is that good, especially minus Willis. I just can't believe this team sometimes. Really frustrating.
And I can't even talk about how stupid the clock management was before the end of the half. Its going to drive me insane. I honestly think Tomlin needs a time management consultant. He can't handle it himself.
ok, if #7 comes out for this last series, then tomlin/arians are flat out stupid.
positives?
cotchery looked good. mendy/redman ran decently. brown had an incredible catch/non-catch.
What did they do for the first 4 games last year? They played smart, but conservative, football on offense and leaned on the defense. SF's offense is nothing, but the turnovers killed the Steelers and saddled them with poor field position all game. Maybe if Batch or Dixon play, those turnovers don't happen and it's an ugly win.
Also, I'm thinking after watching Essex play G, that maybe it would be better if he's at C and Legursky goes back to G for as long as Pouncey is out.
(FTR, I'd offer my entire slate of 2012 draft choices to Miami for Mike Pouncey.)
how pathetic is this?
is this really happening?
There has to be a thing called pride. Tomlin has no if it. Admit when you lost and don't try to kill your starter.
I've been saying it since Day 1 - Tomlin is NOT a good coach.
dale,
i hope you guys rake tomlin over the coals for leaving #7 in the game and botching the clock before the half...again!
I don't think you can really fault Tomlin for not getting a crack at FG at the end of the 1st half. BR HAS to know to throw the ball away right away if no one is open. And on the last play, throw it into the end zone, not the 10 yard line. Maybe you get a lucky bounce or a PI call. That's on the QB, not the coach.
i might agree with you if it wasn't for the fact it happens over and over again.
at some point, the coach must take control. if #7 has had free reign to make those decisions, he has proven he is incapable. it is up to the coach to fix the problem.
tell the QB to look over to the sideline with less than 2 minutes for instructions. it really is quite poor it keeps happening.
marc, you've probably heard that old saying, "if you owe the bank 1M, the bank owns you, but if you owe the bank 10M, you own the bank" - meaning if the bank has so much invested in you, you can dictate the terms.
IMHO, that's the way it is with BR. He's got a 102M contract and he does what he wants because the Rooney's have too much invested to alienate him. No one can control him or tell him what to do.
Re: Time Management
The problem wasn't the failure to call time out. The problem was that they took an extra 5 sec to snap the ball. Saving the time out allows them to throw the ball anywhere on the field. That time management issue is on the play caller/center/qb. Not Tomlin
Well, the other problem was the QB taking 10 secs off the clock by holding the ball and looking for an open receiver instead of immediately throwing the ball away. But, that's the way he is and he'll never change.
this offense is beyond frustrating.
niner punter is outstanding
will the niner who stomped on worilds after the muffed punt get suspended ?
shut down 7-56-43 and anyone else injured this week. even though i little faith in this offense come playoff time
Three road games vs. playoff teams this year:
Got outscored 72-20.
Got out-turnovered 12-0 (also a blocked FG for TD, sack fumble, and pick-six negated by penalties in Houston game).
So? Balt to lost on the road to non-playoff teams Seattle, Tenn, Jax and SD.
We've played very poorly on the road against good teams, and we're probably going on the road in the playoffs. Annoyed about a bad loss, obviously.
Baltimore, who owns us this year, has some bad road losses. So? Who cares about Baltimore unless we play them again? No matter what happens during the playoffs, the Steelers can always say, "The Ravens have worse road losses than we do! Yippee!"
Here're the road records of the potential AFC playoff teams:
NE 6-2
NYJ 2-5
Den 5-2
SD 2-4
Balt 3-4
Cin 4-4
Pgh 4-3
Hou 5-2
NE lost to the only 2 good teams they played (Buff at the time and Pgh). Balt beat 1 good team(Pgh). Houston lost to the only 2 good teams they faced (NO, Balt). It just goes to show it's tough to win on the road in the NFL.
i thought i saw a steeler get stomped on, but it was behind the pile and i couldn't tell exactly what happened. there was no flag and MNF did not show a replay so i assumed it was nothing.
dale, is that why the steelers were so upset after the fumble?
"Also, I'm thinking after watching Essex play G, that maybe it would be better if he's at C and Legursky goes back to G for as long as Pouncey is out"
This idea is stupid. Legursky is actually good at center. He is not good at guard
Dale, heard on the post game that if they hadn't been able to get the game in, it would have been played today (Tues) at Oakland. Is that true? So the NFL was willing to make the Steelers stay an extra day on the west coast, then lose another day travelling, then play on Sat?
Legursky's a better G than Essex and Essex showed he's competent at C when he's played there this year.
Dale,
First of all, it is disappointing that the Steelers had the chance to close the door and get that no. 1 seed and laid an egg on the road. But to me, the stupidest decision of the whole night by Tomlin was to leave Ben in there in the 4th Q when the game is already out of reach. I am generally a big supporter of Tomlin, but how idiotic was that? Starks can't block Aldon Smith and Essex can't block Justin Smith, and you leave your hobbled QB out there in a game out of reach just to take a beating? What message are you trying to deliver, that we have a franchise QB that we're willing to lose for the rest of the year, no problem?
I also think they should have pulled Ben a lot earlier once they saw that he wasn't that effective. Yes, Ben threw for a lot of yards, but his 4 turnovers were killer. If you have no faith in Batch or Dixon, then go get some backup QBs next year that you do have confidence in.
And lastly, how long are we going to let TE's kill James Farrior in coverage? It's happened the last 3 years. Time for dude to hang it up. Also, Timmons should be in line to give some money back. He has been less than impressive this whole year. Just a poor loss all the way around.
oh yeah forgot about Farrior
Farrior is awful. Foote is awful. I saw Ike Taylor getting on both their cases.
Dale - is Ike Taylor a leader?
Reportedly Tomlin wanted to take BR out, but BR insisted on staying in so Batch wouldn't have to take a beating. That doesn't say much about BR that he was too dumb to realize he was hurting, not helping, the team. I like Tomlin, but he's the head coach. You don't leave the only qb you apparently have any confidence in, in to risk further injury when the game is clearly out of hand.
I can't see the hate for the coaches. The Steelers had some nice long drives, Big Ben just choked...big time. They were mixing up the run with the pass well and moving the ball, just way too many mistakes by Big Ben.
The team might have won this game with Batch at the helm, but I think starting Ben and leaving him in there was the right call. You live and die with Big Ben, that's the correct direction of this team.
Ben's got to learn to stay within himself on these big defensive battles.
i, too, like tomlin overall as a head coach. he has his problems, such as clock mgmt, but he (and colbert) bring playoff caliber teams to the table.
but, a big but, leaving #7 in the game dumfounded me. now, that may not be hard to do, but i just can't see the reasoning. it was stupid, and it knocks tomlin down a notch, imo.
I don't know, on one hand I can see it since Batch is so brittle and Tomlin does need him if BR goes down again because he clearly has no faith in Dixon. OTOH, why not get Dixon some snaps for just in case?
The other thing that confuses me is why Ward isn't being given chances in the red zone. The guy still has the best hands on the team, will fight for the ball, knows how to get open, has a nose for the goal line and can block if need be. It's a lot more than Wallace brings to the table in that area of the field.
I've got to blame the clock management on Big Ben too. Not taking the timeout was the right call, it just took way too long to get that play off.
I think they need to get more creative with the no huddle. They struggled with getting the play to everyone in the loud stadium...maybe hand signals or something? Also, I'd rather they go in and out of the no huddle instead of just going with it for a quarter when they think the offense is stagnant. Wait until you get the defense you want on the field and then go into the no huddle for a few plays...but it's got to be a true "hurry up" offense, they're almost running the clock to 1 second in the hurry up, which really doesn't give you a ton of advantage.
Adamg, Ward isn't playing because he can no longer separate from DBs. Would you rather have him on the field than either Brown, Cotchery or Sanders? I wouldn't. Too bad he's not going to get his numbers in the next two games, and he won't be back with the team next year unless he takes a HUGE pay cut. The Steelers have to Wallace and Cotchery. Love Ya Hines, but the team ain't paying you for past performance. Father times remains undefeated.
forget too long to get the play off, he should have spiked the ball. the coaches should have relayed that to him.
Maybe they should have several no huddle scripts of about 5-10 plays each.
When they go no huddle Ben would just tell them the script in the huddle and then they peal off 5-10 plays without stopping. Especially on the road in loud stadiums I think this would be more effective, also this team seems to do much better when working on a script.
Sorry, datruth, but if you watch the plays Ward does get in, he's usually found a hole in the secondary and is open. We both know, he's never been a speed demon and his game has always been the short/intermediate stuff over the middle and on 3rd down. That's exactly what's required in the red zone. And he's played with BR long enough to know where to go when BR moves around buying time in the pocket.
I like Brown, but he's dropped a couple TD passes Ward likely would have caught. IMO, Wallace has no business even being on the field in the red zone because he is, as Tomlin says, a "one trick pony". But then given how Wallace seems to have plateaued and is mouthing off without backing it up, I can see the Steelers allowing him to leave via free agency after next season just like Burress and Holmes.
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