Steelers and Texans fans take turns snapping each other in front of world’s greatest skyline. — DEJAN KOVACEVIC
Getting ready for kickoff …
Game: Steelers (3-3) vs. Houston Texans (3-3), 8:32 p.m., Heinz Field
TV, radio: ESPN (national), 102.5 WDVE
Online: GameCenter / Multimedia / Official game notes
If you missed it, today’s column examined Dick LeBeau’s defense.
UPDATE 7:05 p.m.: The Steelers’ inactives are linebacker Ryan Shazier, wide receiver Justin Brown, nose tackle Steve McLendon, safety Shamarko Thomas, cornerback Ike Taylor, guard Chris Hubbard and quarterback Landry Jones. Sean Spence will start for Shazier at inside linebacker.
Houston’s inactives are linebacker Jadeveon Clowney, former Pitt quarterback Tom Savage, wide receiver DeVier Posey, safety Josh Aubrey, offensive tackle Jeff Adams and cornerbacks Jumal Rolle and Darryl Morris. Whitney Mercilus will start for Clowney at jack linebacker.
There will be a column here after tonight’s game. I’ll also be joining Charlie Batch as part of the Steelers’ 102.5 WDVE postgame show.
Go Steelers!!!
GO STEELERS!!
Well… Here we go. Let’s hope the O can score some TDs from the red zone tonight and the D actually makes some splash plays.
Tough one as I don’t have a ton of faith in the Black & Gold.
I say Steelers by 4 – 21 to 17.
Take care all.
Randy in RVA.
Steelers by 4. 21-17. Here we go…
Randy in RVA.
Me – the nuances of the Steelers 3-4 can get complicated. But the basic objectives remain: Shut down Foster, force passing situations, and get pressure . The defense must do this and hope the Steelers offense does more than end a drive with a FG attempt. Go Steelers!
Hate to go all lowest common denominator on you here but plain & simple, the quarterback has to play better. I’d land on him even harder but he can’t be blamed for their lack of offensive philosophy.
Let me be the first on tonight’s thread.
Fire Haley!
Hey Rev, great to see you.
And I see that they plan on targeting Lance Moore in the red zone. The guy has been a red zone threat his entire career & it took them 7 games to realize he was on the team. Slow learners I guess.
MNF! Against all logic-still exciting to me!
JJ Watt is the best defensive player I have ever seen in person.
Better than Harrison at his peak?
He was great. Never saw him in person though.
Big catch by Bell. Now it’s safe to say that the Steelers are back.
back to what exactly?
Not a lot of time to pass for Ben so far.
That’s JJ watts for you.
Yep.
I’m not that down on the Steelers. Saw a number of games this weekend. Most of the league seems like pretty weak sauce.
Sorry Oshie…tired of hearing how the rest of the league is down…only concerned with the Steelers…I expect excellence from this organization.
Certainly a fair and valid point!
Glad Bryant is in. We really need a big receiver in the red.
Wheaton was mugged. NFL refs.
Troy is a second too late.
Ryan Fitzpatrick will throw at least 2 passes to the Steelers. They need to make sure to catch them.
On the other hand, they don’t have to throw it once.
Boy, Ray Lewis’ pre game comments were just brutal. He agrees with Cowher’s and Hines’ comments and then some.
Know an NFL coach very well and he emailed me that this isn’t your same old Steeler defense. We have found many holes to attack.
Might add , his team has already beaten us.
Let’s face it–Steelers are bad because of pathetic draft choices over the last five years..
Should have been sacked at the 2 becomes two first downs in a row.
I don’t see Thomas at the nose.
Looks like we’re not running with a traditional NT.
Oh, oh
Might be a long night
Here we go . . .
…Steelers. Here we go. Pittsburgh going to the super bowl.
I might go to the next home game. Anyone have a paper bag I can borrow?
That’s just a pathetic defensive start. There’s no other way to put it. Men against boys. It’s just one possession, but not a good start.
Monday Night football on your Homefield and you allow a second rate quarterback to march down the field and score a touchdown on their first possession.
You just overrated Ryan Fitzpatrick.
I’m missing The Miller’s for this?
It’s early. Leagues are better, more compelling, if certain teams are good and competitive. The Steelers are one of those teams. Really hope they turn it around.
Good choice to start out in nickel.
Is this in our playbook?
.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Play-action_pass
Ok maybe it is…
Did the site go down for a minute or is it sick of this lousy defense too?
A Romeo Crennel sighting. Man’s a survivor.
We stink.
Crennel vs Haley. That is a coaching match up with some serious chops!
Don’t put crennel in that category. What did he do to deserve that?
Texans ball.
Didn’t we cover picking up stunts back at latrobe?
David DeCastro could make some extra cash over the holidays as a revolving door at Macy’s.
Sometimes you just accept the sack and save about 50 yds.
This team is not good. Can’t tackle. No discipline. Don’t expect more from them. This is it for the foreseeable future.
Foster and Beachum lost at sea there..
Foster may go for 2 clicks tonight.
Cam Thomas at NT is a soloon door. Thomas will be walking in and asking for a drink all night.
Cam Thomas at NT is a soloon door. Foster will be walking in and asking for a drink all night.
Saloon doors around the world are offended.
Hahaha.
See my man McCullers move #55?
Worilds had a better view.
ain’t 55 moats?
55 is also the number of the Texans center.
I think I read that wrong lol
Gruden needs to go back to whatever carnival House of Mirrors he stumbled out of. He just sucks as a color com guy.
Captain Obvious.
Well, I can’t be Mr. Witty all the time, Jim. Have to give all my hats a whirl every now and then.
I think the play by play man is the best in the game.
There’s your third round pick ladies!
I think we could have found a non drafted free agent to average 15 yards on kickoff returns. Not to be critical.
Someone needs to tell the kickoff team that field position actually matters, another terrible decision to return a KO, bad field position again. They do this 3-4 times a game!
Should he have just let it lay on the 3 yard line ?
My bad. I guess I should lay off the internet while watching the game.
So we Internet to make the thoughts of bad Steelers plays disappear?
Haha!!
DeCastro may have to relinquish that number.
Here comes the boos.
Is Marcus Wheaton even looking at the ball coming to him?
He didn’t have a chance at catching that one. Well out of bounds.
At least Wing is having a good game.
This looks like 5-11 to me.
Really? You think there are 2 teams left on the schedule the Steelers can beat? Jacksonville and…?
Heh, wait…already played Jacksonville. Must need more Internet!
Who on earth do you expect them to beat?
Can’t say im surprised or too dissappointed. Could see lack of chemistry between Ben and WR’s back during pre season. Never bought into O-line hype and the one thing we can do well…run…can’t be used to set up passing game. Mix in no pass rush, no press coverage, no surprise.
The pre game stuff on ESPN said the Texans were weakest down the middle of their secondary. And where have we not tried a single pass?
Back to the bench Cortez.
This nickel with 2 defensive lineman is working like a charm.
Maybe 1 defensive lineman would work twice as well.
I respectfully disagree.
At least keisel knows what gap is his.
I think the Texans are in pretty good hands with Bill O’Brien.
I agree 100%. Terrific offensive mind.
Yep. That’s the first mismatch in this game.
13-nuttin
We have a buck linebacker, a mike linebacker, and now a puke linebacker.
Hope someone cleans off the inside of that visor. Might have been some splash pukage remnants.
now that’s funny….
How does a team come out this flat for home MNF game after such an embarrassing loss the previous week and the schedule getting meaningfully harder the next several games???????
Hasn’t happened since 1991.
Double J does it again.
Could there be a more boring team in the NFL?
.
Yawn.
We may be worse than I thought–but the Tomlin lovers will find more excuses.
Fire Tomlin and Haley tomorrow–promote Munchak for rest of year.
not gonna happen…keep dreaming
Gilbert is out. Adams is in. Big trouble. Gilbert had a string of games.
Justin Brown and Bryant are blocking machines. Too bad they’re WR.
Cushing should not be on the field at LB. So slow.
Is there anyone here that is confident these guys can score a TD before the half?
Me neither.
Oh goodie, soon time for a field goal.
Great call!!!
Did anyone bother to block on that pass?
This could be a season saving drive.
What’s Walt Harris up to? Bet he can takeover at halftime and we’ll run up the score board….actually half serious…
I have every confidence that if we can just get to the half w/o giving up any more points, the superb ability of our coaching staff to make halftime adjustments will win the day. Ok, no I don’t.
It’d be really nice if the defense could actually get a timely stop here
Puke LB with the play….
The Ickey Woods spot selling cold cuts has been the highlight of tonight’s telecast thus far.
You know, it doesn’t take one ounce of talent to play with a little emotion. That might be the most disappointing thing about all this for me.
lets see if we can at least get a fg here
I see about 45K by Tgiving in attendance. This team and franchise is not very good. And it is getting old at this point.
Inside 2 minutes..run, run, screen.
There’s my man Bryant…bout freakin time..
There’s your big speed guy, Bryant, Dom.
He did a good job dragging that toe.
Nice throw by Ben too…
ok I’m in shock………..we scored a td !
Down the middle of the field! I believe somebody down voted me foe mentioning it.
You called it Wild Bill. You should have Gruden’s job.
Any bets the Texans score here ?
ill bet my dinner they do
Let’s go!
Bell pass set that up. Kid has a great future.
And, a really great present.
Love me some Ross Ventrone covering kicks.
He really is a special teams demon…HE actually plays with energy…
Now someone needs to tell Tomlin to use his timeouts.
Big 3rd down here. Was that a fumble?
that ball was out
was it? I wasn’t really paying attention to it
Why does it take us two quarters to get going??
Go to Bryant!
Suddenly, is this starting to have the feel of the Carolina game?
Trickeration.
and why isn’t that a touchdown… Spence clearly picked it up and scored.
I don’t think it was legal because the play was blown dead.
Antonio can do it all.
whoop whoop!
GREAT CALL!!
Lance Moore. Red Zone. Game #7. Slow learners.
Holy cow. Haven’t seen a reversal of fortune like this in years.
Monday night magic.
holy holy holy holy crap
2 turnovers in a row? I’m gonna faint…need another drink…be right back.
I’m posting this just to ensure I’m not dreaming.
Where did this version of the Steelers come from????
From Mr. Peabody and the Way Back machine?
Nice catch by Bell.
wow Lmao
Incredible.
That was an amazing few minutes of football!
The last time I saw them score so many points in the last few minutes of a half I believe they were playing Houston at 3 Rivers in the AFC Championship in the rain.
Anyone remember the end of the 1st half of the AFC Championship against the Oilers in the ice storm ? That just looked like a replay.
Old minds thinking alike.
But the good news is those old minds still remember.
You said a mouthful.
I actually was there!
I say it every week. Why even have kickoffs in the NFL if you are going to kick from the 35?
It’s a waste of everyone’s time.
I guess that’s the point.
Totally agree. Only reason to not just spot the ball at the 20 after a score is the need to squeeze in more commercials after watching a kickoff sail out the back of the endzone.
Good point.
JJ Watts looked a lot happier in that Verizon commercial than he did at the end of the half.
Well it’s now clear that some work went into red zone practice this week. It just looked for a long time like we’d never get down there.
Could there be a more exciting team in the NFL?
Lol, it’s amazing how a football game can be such a roller coaster of emotions and excitement.
DK probably just did a 180 on his column. #fairweathercolumnist
No need to start writing in-game anymore. I just watch and let it play out.
Poor poor rossi…
Dejan, The Immaculate Projection! That is so Pittsburgh I don’t know whether to laugh or shed a tear.
Honestly didn’t think it was that clever. But 608 RTs in the first 10 minutes appear to contrast that assessment.
Dude we’re fairly simple minded here in da Burgh.
If there’s one thing a steeler crowd can relate too, it’s that…
Nuttiest three minutes EVER! Now keep it going & I just might get excited about the rest of the season!
I think we’re gonna need 40 points
Really great to see Spence contributing. I am as critical of Tomlin as anyone but it was pure class to not give up on that kid.
That’s a very good point.
Good call, Bernard.
Sooo now that we have a lead…i’m thinking quick outs and check downs are perfectly ok. Better than running into a wall every time.
Thank God for Brad Wing! All the mojo turned when he made such a good hold on the field goal! Lol
Uggghhh….nice punt, but why not use Blount and gain the yardage for first down??
Or Ben.
Anybody else think we should have gone for the jugular instead of punting?
Agree. You have 2 strong backs and all the momentum. TD there puts Texans on their buts.
Absolutely
Unquestionably. Way not to have the pulse of the team or the stadium.
Playing not to lose….not a fan of that…
Would o-line hold up?
Speaking of simple minded, our punt coverage team, doh!
Fitzpatrick barely gets the ball there on every pass. But, it doesn’t batter if they are wide open.
Does Troy have a deflection yet?
Must get at least 1 first down here.
Man it would be nice for 12 play 8 or 9 minute drive hear ending with a TD.
Oh boy 2 lineman down this could be trouble.
Great…Beachum hurt now too…
Has Mike Adams played well?
I think he’s held his own Dom…
He’s been ok.
The problem with a tiny guy like Archer is he can’t do much of anything w/o the ball. So, you’re kind of tipping your hand when he’s in.
Beachum back in….
How in the world did they miss that knee being down? That’s terrible. I saw it from Chicago.
Walt Coleman was the ref in the tuck game in New England in the snowstorm. Gruden had a flashback there. I don’t blame him.
I should be enjoying this game more, but I am Bylsmad put with Tomlin and the Steelers. No emotional investment anymore with the home team.
Remember, Fitzpatrick will throw us 1 more. Just got to hang onto it when it comes.
What a misevaluation of what they had with 28 dude is just horrible.
He makes Delton Hall look like Rod Woodson.
At least Beltin’ Delton could hit…
Do you remember when channel four had the burnt toast club? The dude was holding up a piece of toast with 35 scraped in the bread, just tremendous.
His contract was a makeup for Keenan Lewis…
2 wrongs don’t make a right.
Come on Cortez!! Geeeezzzzz
I was going to comment on our lack of stupid penalties this week….then Cortez came back in, it’s the only way he knows to break up a pass.
Back to playing crappy D…
How do you not cover Johnson?
run out of condoms…
Offense needs another score in order to win this.
Gonna have to score something in this half, guys.
Antonio Brown has caught 6 passes but for only 40 yards. I know you’re all concerned.
If I was Ben, I would be rolling away from JJ Watt on this drive. He looks pissed.
Dri Archer is disappointing as a returner. I expected some elusiveness on the kick returns.
He slowed down on that last one Jim…I agree.
Seems tentative to me right now.
Bryant should be in the game stretching the field….someone call Disco for goodness sakes…
On 2nd thought Watt is huffing and puffing like the BBW out there.
Bell is very special.
I remember so many Steeler fans complaining when he was drafted…
Imagine how good he’d be if he didn’t smoke pot so much
Ricky Williams disagrees.
So conservative.
Refs helping us out for once tonight.
Kudos to this O-Line….
What a catch by AB!
What a catch!!
Nice catch by AB with Bryant running deeper route. Go Haley Go Haley…
That’s a catch. At least it was for the first 100 years of football.
Uh oh. NFL history on the line.
Dejuan I’m nt n Twitter but maybe I should be. You could take your standup to Station Square. Kids running pass routes after the game against Allen! You’re on a roll!
Autocorrect fail, sorry
Wow! I’ll take it. Sometimes they reverse a catch like that.
Second foot looked close…
His 2nd foot hit the chalk.
The Killer B offense!!
Game over! Tough one sunday!
Think I’ll wait till I put this one in the win column, even up by 11
That was not definitive…
This is BS, that was a TD…
They showed the overhead he clearly hit the chalk man
They don’t use the spider cam for replay….
Just sayin he was out, great effort but he was.
Suish is money
Mike Mitchell!!!
Wow. A strip by Mitchell? Wow.
So say Haley goes at the end of the year, any possibility they could lure Gruden here. Don’t you think he’d be lickin his chose to work with this offense?
Chops
I don’t think he’s coming back except to be a HC.
How many turnovers do the Steelers have tonight??
3 Biz….
Thanks, not used to having to count them
Gruden just said “The one thing Mitchell can do is run and hit and find the football.” I count 3 things there.
I was in favor of the Mike Mitchell signing…glad he is starting to make some plays….
These guys make everything look so hard.
Why is it that Ben throws the ball out of bounds so much?
stupid deep pass… why throw that??
Turico was all over it. I hope it doesn’t come back to haunt them .
Ross Ventrone!!
When is the last time a Steeler outside LB has made a strip sack?
Nice play Cortez Allen….
Superfly Snuka!
I keep wondering where Chan Gailey is…
Great timeout there when Troy easily had that one
Only the Steelers can make that difficult…
OMG it’s Bob Ligashesky !
Well I’ll give them credit I expected a loss tonight and at 13-0 it was looking grim.
Lots of Steeler fans were expecting a loss tonite…diehards were concerned…but they won…Go Steelers!!
Great game!
Great win!! It’s amazing how much of a difference an opportunistic defense can make.
Shot at endzone on 2nd down not a crime. No one would be complaining if Steelers scored knockout punch there. Just because Mike Tirico “never understands” why a team would try that doesn’t make it bad idea. There’s a lot I wouldn’t ask of Tirico, including hosting NFL broadcast.
Face it, Haley-critics: he called a fine game. Wasn’t the “verticle” game that was our bread & butter; was the quick outs and dumps to Bell and Brown. First half shot at Bryant in end zone oughtta make the “east-west” naysayers happy though. That and the flea flicker for naught.
So, I think, at least for another week, the Steelers are not dead.
Lets see what happens Sunday
Agree, Biz. But this outlook is an improvement over just last week’s.
I need to come clean: Fretted the Steelers might fizzle. Instead, they sizzled.
You never know
I tried to stay ready for either option.
This could be a spark for the D
Right now, a win is a win, which is a win
Milo and folks were right though, Fitzpatrick is a fizzle at QB
And Keisel and Troy are old grizzle. But the grizzled ones came up with key turnovers, tonight.
And then there’s Lawrence Timmons: he drizzled all over himself. Puts a new twist on what Tomlin calls a “splash play.”
http://tinyurl.com/nmwkpn9
Ben is not the problem. He is a very good QB. Houston doesn’t have one and it makes a big difference. Houston is marginal due to the QB play and the breaks went the Steelers way tonight. Adams nice game and Brown is really good. Shame Haley is such a dope. Indy/Luck coming up hmm