Steelers Take Over 2nd Half and Win 32-20 In Pittsburgh, Arizona

It wasn't perfect, but that's nothing rare for the Pittsburgh Steelers.  The Steelers rarely blow teams out, but their 32-20 win over the Arizona Cardinals almost qualified.

On the road for the first time in three Sundays, the Steelers offense came out hot and scored 14 points before the Cardinals could crack their goose egg.  Then, things fell flat on both sides of the ball for the Steelers.  The Steelers couldn't put together a solid string of plays and the defense couldn't go three plays without being flagged.  Ike Taylor was playing physical and the refs, who were apparently recent graduates of Roger Goodell's flag football NFL, were not having it.  He was flagged earlier and often in coverage.  Thankfully, things were called evenly and the Cardinals got a few flags themselves.  The Steelers went into halftime with a healthy 10 point lead at 17-7.

The Steelers came out of the half a bit shaky with a weak set of downs.  The Steelers punted the ball away and the Cardinals would score big on that set of downs with a big pass play to their back up RB.  Things looked very grim in Arizona.  However, Ben had had enough apparently.  He decided to take over the game and lead the team down the field for a touchdown on the next series.  Woodley followed that up by sacking Kevin Kolb for a safety, which gave the Steelers the ball back quickly.  Ben took advantage of the tired defense and led a long drive that resulted in a Suisham FG.  That FG put the Steelers up by 3 and essentially ended the game.

My game ball goes to LaMarr Woodley.  His play today, especially in the 2nd half, was incredible.  He finished with 4 tackles and 2 sacks.  He should have had an extra sack, but Kolb's intentional grounding that lead to the safety brought one back.