Here's a few post game quotes from Coach Tomlin and some select players after a come from behind win over the Browns.
Coach Mike Tomlin: It is great to get a win against a division opponent this time of year. They are a good football team. I am excited for the guys in the locker room today. We had an opportunity to do something today that we hadn't done and that was to show our mettle and come from behind and pull it out. We did it. It was far from perfect, but usually that is the case. I am proud of those guys and the way they stayed true to the plan, trusted each other and finished the game. We fall short in so many areas as a football team. We do. We are searching for perfection and we look forward to getting back to work. The reality is we were good enough to win, so we are not going to apologize for style points. One thing that is for certain; we stink as a kickoff coverage unit. Not to take anything away from Josh Cribbs. He is a great return man. His reputation is well deserved, but we have to grow in that area.........You learn and grow from all of your experiences. It is great to learn and grow while getting a win and we march forward.
How do you feel about the defense not getting any sacks?
-We knew there would be potential of us not getting a bunch of pressure. I think the difference in what they have done at this point offensively since we played them the first time is that (Derek) Anderson makes quick decisions with the football. He gets the football out of his hands. The big thing was that we wanted to make him make decisions, but we had to be great in coverage. He's not holding the ball and getting the ball out of his hands, so we have to be close to people. We were close to people. It's not about sacks, it's about pressure and pressure was sufficient.
Did you sit Dan Kreider because of his concussion?
Truth be known, we wanted to get an extra kickoff coverage man in a hat. So much for those plans.
Ben Roethlisberger:
On the touchdown (30-yard TD run 11:32, fourth quarter), were there a few points where you were looking to slide?
-There were a lot of points I was ready to slide! (laughs) I'd like to thank Willie (Parker) for all the help he's been giving me after practice being fast. I just remember I was in the pocket and I heard (LG) Alan (Faneca) literally saying `Go! Go! Go! You're good!' I hear Alan all the time in the pocket and I started running. I think I surprised the DB I surprised myself because I was ready to slide but then knew I was going to be able to get around him and Hines (Ward) was downfield blocking. When I get that close to the end zone, I'm trying to get in. Just the will to win, I guess, got me in.
How big is the way you won with the come-from-behind victory?
It was a big win for us. It was a first place game. We didn't play well in the first half. We had some miscommunication, errors that we hadn't had so far with myself and the receivers not quite on the same page with certain things. That was frustrating. In the first half, we were kind of flat, but we came in here at halftime and said let's buckle down. We can do this. And (head coach Mike) Tomlin said right to me as I was going out after halftime, `Listen. You've got a chance to win this at 29:30 of this half,' and I said I'm going to get this for you, and we did a good job offensively of getting it done.
OT Marvel Smith
Was it good to have a test like this, to have to come from behind?
-"It's big for the team, especially in a game like this, [which was] fight-`em-out, drag-`em-out the whole game. For it to come out to the last second like that [and] for us to come out victorious, we can just build upon [it] and continue to get better."
LB Clark Haggans
Was it hard not to get frustrated being down 21-9 at the half since you've dominated all of your opponents here?
-"No. Coach Tomlin talked at halftime and he was talking about we were down at halftime at home. And that was the first time that's every happened. So it was a learning lesson and we just played football. He said we'd never been down, so let's just see the resiliency of this team and just push forward. And we did. We were successful and came out with the win."
-Obvoiusly Tomlin addressed the special teams in more detail but we all know it sucked and changes will be made.
-I love how Ben talked about Faneca yelling at him in the middle of the a play to run. It'd be nice if the NFL Network had some audio of that play.
-Ben also did alot of praising the offensive line as he always does but I think we all know he makes them look much better than they really are.
-Doesn't Tomlin seem like he says all the right things to players in the locker room. There were quotes from several other players about what he said at halftime. He seems to know when to be critical and when to be motivational.
Your thoughts/observations: