The Defense rang up nine sacks, but had at least four or five others in their grasp that didn't go down as sacks b/c of penalties (Trent Cole facemask) or the fact that Big Ben was able to make it back to the line of scrimmage after feeling the pressure.all that pressure? let's thank Asante Samuel ... with a lockdown corner, D coordinator Jim Johnson is able to send the house as much as he wants. How about that run defense? just sick. No. 1 in the NFL by nearly 20 yards! Props to the LBs Gaither, Bradley and Gocong. And No. 4 overall - even withe crazy MNF game at Dallas. Just wow ... And Brian Dawkins can still play the game. He may be a step slower, but he's got the savvy to make up for it. that strip and sack on Big Ben was incredible.
oh, and Sav R0cca? all he did was control the steelers' field position for the entire fourth quarter. When the birds went to a more conservative game plan in the second half and weren't moving the ball, Rocca launched punts of 64, 54 and 37 yards , pinning the Steelers back at their their 30-, 6-, and 7-yard lines, respectively.
the offense opened hot, hot, hot ... then hunt fumbled (on what looked like a helmet to helmet hit), westbrook went out, don left for a series, LJ was sidelined. Oh, and they started the game with out their all pro guard Shawn Andrews - and their top returning receiver Kevin Curtis. good teams find ways to win and they found a way to win. It would've been easy to fold up the tents and say screw it, we can't win, but they didn't. Pride and guts, for sure.
Reggie Brown's triumphant return? zero catches for zero yards. don looked his way twice, but it didn't look like Reggie expended too much effort in trying to catch the ball. same as it's always been with him ... give him a chance to step up and he'll drop it (pun intended).
the team has proven to me that they can adapt to the type of game being played ... The are competitive if the game is smash mouth or a shootout.
Think about it - the birds are one botched handoff from being 3-0.
