BTSC Week 9 Game Ball Goes To...

by Michael Bean on Nov 8, 2011 6:00 AM EST in BTSC Game Ball of the Week

For obvious reasons, it's more fun to hand our fictitious weekly game ball hardware in the aftermath of a Pittsburgh Steelers win. Unfortunately, we don't have that luxury this week, as the Steelers saw their four-game winning streak snapped by the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday night. The 23-20 win at Heinz Field gave Baltimore a regular season series sweep over Pittsburgh, and vaulted the rival Ravens into sole possession of first place in the AFC North and the conference standings through nine weeks of the 2011 NFL season.

So, let's not spend too much time on the exercise, but an overview of the players worthy of consideration for our Week 9 'Game Ball.'

James Harrison: 3 sacks, 8 tackles, 1 forced fumble. Hell of a first game back for Deebo.
Antonio Brown: 5 receptions, 109 yards. Browns' second 100-plus yard game in his past three.
Ben Roethlisberger: 20-of-37, 330 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT. Outside of his telegraphed interception to Terrell Suggs inside the Ravens red zone, Big Ben was once again masterful in his first game since being named the AFC Offensive Player of the Month in October.
Larry Foote: 10 tackles (6 solo, 4 assists) for the veteran linebacker, an admirable, albeit not perfect, performance in place of the injured James Farrior.
Steelers offensive line: 1 sack allowed.

It's hard not to give the nod to James Harrison here. I mean, how many times do even the great ones like No. 92 register three sacks in a single game, let alone when making their first appearance in over a month following surgery to repair broken bones around the eye socket. Throw in the forced fumble that William Gay recovered for just the fourth takeaway of the year for the Steelers, as well as his sound work in run support, and he's even more deserving.

All that said, I'm going with the offensive line this week. We've seen Harrison single-handedly take over a game against the Ravens; but we've never seen the offensive line keep the Ravens' physical, disruptive defense in check quite like we saw them do on Sunday night. From a short article I wrote Monday afternoon for SB Nation Pittsburgh about the play of the line in Week 9:

Maurkice Pouncey rendered Haloti Ngata relatively ineffective from his center position, Ramon Foster continued to impress at right guard, and Max Starks limited Terrell Suggs’ disruptive ways all game. Limiting a defense like Arizona to one sack, which the Steelers did in their Week 7 win in Phoenix, is one thing. Keeping Big Ben upright against the vaunted Ravens pass rush is another. In the teams’ first meeting, Roethlisberger was sacked four times. In the two matchups last year that Roethlisberger participated in, the Ravens brought down the sturdy Steelers quarterback three times in Week 13 and six more in the playoff game that the Steelers won in dramatic fashion.

The line still has room to improve, make no mistake about that. But considering the strides the unit's made since disastrous showings in Weeks 1 and 4, it's hard not to be impressed and encouraged by their collective play as we approach the meat of the season's second half. If the line can play like that on an even somewhat consistent basis, the Steelers will easily reach double-digit wins and again be back in the playoffs with an opportunity to extend their lead in the all-time Super Bowl wins department.

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Both the O-Line and Deebo

are well-deserving a game ball. And it will not belittle the accomplishments of our front five if I go with Harrison with this one. And this is why.

We all knew that the O-Line needed to perfom well for the Steeler to get a shot a winning this one. And they did just that. It must have been for the first time in years that the Steelers won the trenches war, on both sides of the football. That being said, the play of the unin as a whole has been improving for a few weeks now, ever since we got back Max Starks. So while the O-Line good play was a pleasant surprise, it was not something that I did not expect (well, maybe at least to some extent).

On the other hand, we had a major issue at the LB position coming into the Ravens game. With Farrior and Woodley out, Sylvester doing poorly, Timmons clearly out of his place at OLB and Worilds being unproven, there was a big question whether we could put pressure of Flacco, while containing Ray Rice and the Ravens’ tight ends.

We all let out a sigh of relief when we heard #92 was cleared to play, and we all were sure he would be in great shape. But not playing for a month has to leave a mark, whether it is conditioning, rust or overall awareness of a surgically repaired bone near the eye. Harrison quickly answered all the questions.

Three sacks, a few disrupted running plays, a forced fumble. Needless to say, it was Harrison who gave the Steelers a chance to take the lead in the 4th quarter with the strip-sack, when the Ravens were driving well into our territory. Without that turnover (2nd FF of the season for Deebo), the game may have been over much sooner, and not in Steelers’ favor.

So for me Harrison was the most valuable player on the field on Sunday night. My game ball goes to him.

Life's a journey, not a destination.

by kliuch on Nov 8, 2011 7:31 AM EST reply actions

I'm with you.

For the Ray Rice-vaulting pirouette alone he deserves it!

"If you're not getting better, I don't care what business you're in, you're a dead man. I try to look critically at the mistakes that I make and try to learn from them, like our team does." - Mike Tomlin

by Rebecca Rollett on Nov 8, 2011 8:55 AM EST up reply actions

Easily James Harrison

Glad to have him back

"It’s easy to lie with statistics, but it’s easier to lie without them." -Fred Mosteller
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by John Stephens on Nov 8, 2011 7:44 AM EST reply actions

Harrison reminded us all

he is still the best OLB in the league. Im so happy to have him back. I really want him to keep that black visor, he looks SO badass with that thing on. When we get Woodley back, and now that Harrison is full strength, that is truly a QBs worst nightmare. When we see the Ravens again with Wood and Harrison, Flacco is toast.

by blitzzburgh on Nov 8, 2011 1:30 PM EST up reply actions

O Line gets the Ball...

…for all that Harrison accomplished, under his circumstances, he is deserving also, but, the game would have been another blow-out had the O Line not performed as it did. Facing the same crew that demolished it in Week 1, the O Line (albeit in a different configuration) stepped up and showed that it could face the most vaunted opponent and perform at a HIGH caliber. Plus, no key injuries coming off the Line.

United we Stand, melded like Steel
To Roger Goodell, We'll never Yield.

by PaVaSteeler on Nov 8, 2011 7:54 AM EST reply actions

...And frankly, Harrison's performance notwithstanding...

…the Defense, at the most crucial juncture of the game, did not peform. Whether it was the scheme calling, the players, or a combination of both, we had Ratbirds pinned on their 8 yard line, and could not stop them with less than 3 minutes on the clock. Thus, the game’s outcome would have been far worse had the O Line not given Ben all the protection he had, and had the O Line not allowed the rushing success we did achieve against the #1 defense.

United we Stand, melded like Steel
To Roger Goodell, We'll never Yield.

by PaVaSteeler on Nov 8, 2011 7:58 AM EST reply actions

Great job by the OL.

You’re right, a strong game from Deebo is expected, but from the OL?

by Billy52 on Nov 8, 2011 8:26 AM EST reply actions

Game ball or not,

Max Starks deserves consideration. As kliuch said and we’ve all seen, the O line has done much better since getting him back. But Sunday night he was tested like he may not be all season, and he made Suggs a non-factor (except for the INT which was not on Starks). That he did that says a lot, as Suggs is a beast, and has given us trouble for years.

by NCSteeler on Nov 8, 2011 10:28 AM EST reply actions

agree 100%...said the same thing about Maxie:)

I Feel a Sin Coming On....

by the duchess of steel on Nov 8, 2011 12:13 PM EST up reply actions

Couldn't disagree more, Bean-o!

You were right on at first, but the logic was what killed me.

Just because we’ve seen Harrison do that type of thing, doesn’t make it less deserving. It’s smacks of that BS they’re teaching kids in school these days: everyone has to have a chance to be a winner and get a ribbon.

Hey, I’m sorry, but when you have a great performance, but someone else performs better than you, even by a little? They still performed better than you.

Harrison all the way. Kudos to the o-line without question, but I can’t see it. :)

I'll be hiking the Pacific Crest Trail from May, 2011 to Sept., 2011, to raise money for charity. For more info, please visit: http://thf2.wordpress.com

by Fifty-Eight on Nov 8, 2011 2:13 PM EST via mobile reply actions

fair enough

the logic wasn’t very sound :)

maybe i should have just admitted that i wanted to make sure i got some commentary in about their play and it wasn’t clear i’d have time or other posts to do so!

Freel free to email me anytime at behindthesteelcurtain@gmail.com with questions, suggestions, complaints, etc, or to just say what's up. -Michael Bean (Blitz)

by Michael Bean on Nov 8, 2011 3:57 PM EST up reply actions