Gold Rushed: Steelers Lose

    3

20

The start of the game is delayed due to a power outage in the stadium.

When it finally is football time, the 49ers win the toss and defer.

Ben comes out looking sharp, hitting Heath to convert an early 3rd down and make Heath the Steelers career leader in receptions by a tight end, passing Elbe Nickel. Ben hits Wallace on a slant and he is able to pinball off a few defenders and take off down the sideline for a big gain to get us into scoring range. Two plays later, Ben gets greedy and tries to hit Wallace on a post route but Carlos Rogers undercuts the route and picks off the ball at the goal line.

The 49ers come back pounding the rock giving Alex Smith easy passes. They move out past midfield on a series of 5-yard out routes. Gore carries them down into the red zone then Smith converts a 3rd down with a pass to Crabtree to get down to the 3. Troy blitzes off the edge on 3rd down and Smith visibly flinches, forcing a bad pass.

 

Akers hits a field goal.

0-3

All Antonio Brown does is convert 3rd downs, and he does it again to get the drive moving. Mendenhall churns out another then Ben goes play-action and has all kinds of time to throw but overthrows Heath and the ball gets picked off.

Probably the worst throw Ben has made since the first Ravens game.

Second Quarter

The 49ers take over with great field position and Smith converts a 3rd and 7 with a pass to Harry Potter's Uncle. The defense tightens down and holds to a field goal.

0-6

Lights out.

A fan runs on the field and Ben makes a quip about "Where's James Harrison when you need him?" The ESPN guys take the opportunity to tell us why Ben shouldn't play any more.

When the lights come back on, it's the Rashard Mendenhall show, picking up solid yardage on a dump-down from Ben and on a few carries. Ben converts a 3rd down by zipping a ball in to Heath, but 2 penalties afterwards leave us with a 1st and 25. Ben gets sacked but a penalty in the secondary gives us a gift first down. Ben keeps things rolling converting his 4th 3rd down of the game with a pass to Wallace on a drag route. The drive stalls out at midfield when Ben misses on 3 throws. Kapinos pins them inside the 15.

The 49ers convert another 3rd down on another out-route. Alex Smith scrambles for a first down to get them near the 40. The same combination of out-route/pound Gore gets the 49ers another first down near midfield as the clock hits 2 minutes. A chop block penalty derails the drive and the 49ers punt.

Starting at the 5, Mewelde Moore takes a draw play to the left and catches a huge block from Max Starks to spring him down the sideline for a big 20-yarder. Ben comes back and hits AB on a crossing route and he scampers out to the 45. Wallace gets us across midfield then AB converts another 3rd down. Ben hits Moore to get us into a 2nd and 3 and then in a confusing display of clock management the Steelers change personnel with the clock running and waste a good 20 seconds. The clock winds under 10 seconds and Ben hits Moore out of the backfield. Moore gets out of bounds with 4 seconds left, but we're left with a 55-yard field goal. Rather than risk a block, the Steelers opt for a Hail Mary shot. Ben hits AB on a back shoulder throw but he's tackled at the 15 and the half ends.

Halftime

Clock management has never been Mike Tomlin's forte, and we took a timeout into the half with us. Terrible coaching in the last minute there to change personnel and run Hines off the field and Heath back on to the field. Hines was on the other side of the field and had to come all the way across.

Third Quarter

Ginn makes the mistake of trying to bring the kickoff out and Sylvester blows him up inside the 10. A false start sets the 49ers back inside the 5 and the defense forces a big 3-and-out. A penalty on the punt flips the field back in the 49ers favor.

Mendenhall breaks into the secondary and moves the sticks, but the drive stalls out. Kapinos hits a great punt that gets bobbled but Lewis gets called for interfering with the catch but replay shows the returner touched the ball first. It's not reviewable so it's San Fran's ball near midfield with the penalty.

Keenan Lewis gets redemption makes a big-time play to break up a slant pass on 3rd down to force another 3-and-out.

Pinned back at the 10, Ben hits Heath down the sideline on a perfect wheel route and Heath rumbles all the way out to midfield. Heath snags another one on an out route to move the chains again across midfield. Mendenhall gets us into 3rd and short, and Ben goes back-shoulder for Brown down the sideline. Brown makes a wheeling catch that is initially called out of bounds but Tomlin challenges. Review shows Brown's hand barely touched before his second foot. Suisham squeezes it inside the upright from 51. Huge kick.

3-6

Alex Smith comes out and goes play-action and finds Davis deep on a post to get them out to the 50. The 49ers hit a screen pass and take it all the way down into the red zone. Smith goes play-action and throws back across the field, hitting Davis who takes it down to the goal line.

He's called out but Harbaugh challenges and loses. Smith goes play-action and hits Davis for the score on the next play.

Ouch.

3-13

The Steelers come back with the no huddle. Mendenhall finally cuts one back and moves the sticks then Ben hits Cotch down the sideline on a wheel route to take it all the way down to the 49ers 30. The drive stalls out and Suisham misses from 48.

The defense holds to another 3-and-out.

Fourth Quarter

Andy Lee's leg must hang out with Barry Bonds' arms. Pins us inside the 10 again.

Ben stands in and takes a shot on 3rd down to deliver a strike to Cotch to move the sticks. Ben gets swarmed and fumbles.

Haven't used that one in a while.

The defense comes up with another 3-and-out, but Timmons gets flagged for...um....something? Looking at the replay I have honestly no idea what the penalty was for. Frank Gore pounds it in.

3-20

Ben gets sacked again and the Steelers go 3-and-out.

The 49ers run 3 times and punt to wind time off the clock.

Ben gets sacked again but is able to move the chains when he zings one to Cotch on 3rd down. He comes right back and hits Heath down the seam to get us to midfield as the clock rolls under 4 minutes. Ben takes a shot deep for Wallace but throws it inside where the corner is waiting and it gets picked off for the 4th turnover of the game.

Same game plan for San Fran.

The Steelers go 3-and-out and punt.

San Francisco mercifully puts this one to bed.

Players of the Game

Offensive Game Ball: Jerricho Cotchery

Defensive Game Ball: Ryan Clark

Honorable Mentions:
Heath Miller

Stevenson Sylvester

Greg Warren

Mr. Yuck Sticker of the Game

Left side of the line

Max Starks got dominated by Aldon Smith and Trai Essex looked bad at left guard. Essex and Legursky struggled with communication and were totally lost on inside stunts all game. Kemoeatu wouldn't have been much better. Gotta hope we can get Pouncey back for the playoffs.

Final Thoughts

• The Ravens are 3-4 on the road this season and have to go to Cincinnati the last week of the season. This division race is far from over.
• Props to San Francisco. They came in with a game plan and executed it. They forced turnovers and got points off of them.
• Can't turn the ball over 4 times and win games, simple as that.
• See you Saturday for the Rams.

Gameday: San Francisco 49ers

8:30pm

Mr. Green in the Library with the Candlestick Park

ESPN

What To Watch For 

 1. Edge of Glory

 Week 15 couldn't have been better for the Pittsburgh Steelers. On Wednesday, we were sitting in the #5 seed needing a loss by Tennessee (to Indy), Oakland (to Detroit), Denver (to New England), or the Jets (to Philly) in order to clinch a playoff spot. We were tied with the Ravens atop the division but since Baltimore swept us, they owned the head-to-head tiebreaker. By the time the clock struck 11pm last night, not only did all four of the Wild Card contenders lose, but San Diego delivered a whopping to Baltimore that made the Ravens defense look like The Citadel playing against Alabama. To top it all off, Houston also lost, giving them 4 losses. Now, the Steelers control their own destiny, not only in the division race but also for the #1 seed in the conference, which would give us homefield advantage throughout the playoffs. As things stand right now, Both the Steelers and Patriots have 3 losses with the Steelers holding the head-to-head tiebreaker. The Ravens and Texans have 4, and if we wind up tied with the Ravens we will be a Wild Card, regardless of record.

 2. Roll Up

 With Ben Roethlisberger's injury and Alex Smith's inaccuracy, both teams will be looking to run the ball tonight. The 49ers offense is built on Frank Gore establishing the run then busting teams down the middle with play-action passes to TE Vernon Davis. The Steelers D has been stout against the run since Arian Foster ripped them in Week 4 and will have to be strong tonight in order to put the onus on Alex Smith to win the game. For the Steelers, they face one of the best

 3. The One That Got Away

 Rashard Mendenhall has had the best stretch of the season over the last few weeks. Even though he hasn't broken the 100-yard mark since October, he has run hard and kept his legs moving to grind out the extra yards. The 49ers have the best run defense in the league and haven't allowed a rushing touchdown all season. Mendenhall has been hot lately, finding paydirt 5 times in the last 4 games. The 49ers will be without all-world inside linebacker Patrick Willis, who is a key component of their ability to stop the run. Mendenhall and Redman will need to have another big game to keep the pressure off Ben. On the other side, the Steelers will be without James Harrison due to his 1-game suspension for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Colt McCoy.

 4. Rolling in the Deep

 Mike Wallace hasn't posted a 100-yard game since October, but he has been solid in taking intermediate routes and turning them into big yards. The 49ers are a Cover-2 team so there will be gaps in the middle of the field for Wallace and Brown to exploit on crossing routes. If Ben is able to hit these guys in stride, they can use their speed to create some big plays. With Ben's injury, look for a lot of quick slants, bubble screens and hitch routes to allow Ben to get the ball out fast and avoid having to scramble or take big hits.

 5. Pumped Up Kicks

 The 49ers have won a lot of close games this season thanks to David Akers having a monster season. He leads the league with 36 field goals and has made 86% of his field goals, missing only once from inside of 40. Possibly more impressive, Akers is 6 of 7 on kicks over 50 yards. Of his 6 misses, 3 of them have been blocked. Akers has at least 6 points in all of San Francisco's games this year and has made 4 field goals in 5 different games. The Steelers defense has bent at times this season, but they're going to have to be even better to keep the 49ers out of field goal range given the monster year Akers is having. The 49ers also have Pitt-grad Andy Lee who leads the league in punting with a 50.7-yard average.

Monday Night Football.

Bring your A game.

I Am Legend: Steelers Win

  3

 14

And so the legend of Ben Roethlisberger grows. Somehow, after suffering an injury that sidelines other quarterbacks for weeks, he came back and played. We already knew Ben was the toughest quarterback in the league, but his legend has grown to the point where he is now in the discussion for toughest player in the league. What a human.

Cleveland wins the toss and takes the ball. McCoy hits some passes on two blown coverages to get the Browns inside the 5. McCoy tries to scramble for the goal line.

 

It's initially called a touchdown, but the score is called back because his elbow was down short of the line. Foote and Farrior blow up Hillis in the backfield on 3rd down, holding the Browns to 3.

0-3

Ben comes out throwing the ball all over the yard and looks sharp, hitting Wallace and Brown to move into Browns territory. Wallace takes an end-around down to the 10 then Ben steps up and hits Cotch who darts between two defenders into the end zone.

Great response. Sixth opening drive touchdown of the year for the Steelers.

7-3

The Browns are able to pick up a few first downs but a penalty puts their terrible offense in a long-yardage situation and it's punt time.

Ben converts a 3rd down to AB, the best 3rd down receiver in the league and gets 15 more on a roughing the passer penalty. Wallace makes a few moves on a bubble screen and moves us across midfield as the quarter ends.

Second Quarter

The Steelers keep moving but the drive goes to hell when Hines takes a bubble screen and tries to make a move inside the 10 and gets hit from behind, knocking the ball out.

Thankfully, the Browns can't do much better. After dropping a handful of easy picks early in the year, Troy finally snags one, jumping a seam route to the tight end and bringing it back into the red zone.

 

Heath gets a grab out in the flat and in an eerily similar situation to what we just saw, he gets hit from behind and coughs the ball up.

Two fumbles in the red zone is how you lose to a team like the Browns. Thankfully the Browns are terrible and work themselves into a 3rd and 20. Wait, what? They convert it with a draw play? Who had contain up the middle? Oh, nevermind, they had to punt a few plays later after McLendon gets a sack.

Mendenhall gets us away from our own goal line. Then it happens.

Ben rolls out and looks downfield. He can't find anyone and is hit from behind by a defender while he tries to get away.

 

 

He goes down in obvious pain.

Enter Homestead Charlie...who does nothing. Kapinos hits a good one, but the Browns take over near midfield.

The rest of the half consisted of 3 and outs and exchanging punts. Cleveland's punter coffin cornered our offense and the defense wouldn't let them inside the 40. Worlids ends the quarter with a sack.

Halftime

If you didn't spend halftime with your stomach in knots wondering what was going on with Ben, you're not human. Your thought process was probably something like this:

Broken ankle? High ankle sprain?

Would he be able to make it back by the playoffs?

Who all needs to lose for us to clinch a playoff spot?

Then, the smoke parted.

And out of the locker room limped number seven.

He gimped over to Doug Legursky, took a few practice snaps, and grabbed his helmet.

Holy shit he's going back in the game.

Third Quarter

The third quarter might be the worst coached quarter of the entire season. We were already short-handed with a quarterback who could barely walk and clinging to a 4-point lead. So how does Tomlin decide to come out of the half? With a reverse on the kickoff. Cleveland is all over it and we have to start at our own 6. 

Thankfully we have Rashard Mendenhall. He puts the team on his back and carries us all the way down the field into field goal range. Ben tries to take a shot deep for Wallace that falls incomplete. To make matters worse, Ben took a hit AND Kemoeatu takes a holding penalty that knocks us out of field goal range. Punt.

The Browns are able to move out across midfield thanks to a late hit penalty on Farrior but the defense locks it down and forces another punt.

David Johnson makes a catch and there's a defensive penalty so Ed Hoculi delivers a dissertation on why the penalty is declined. Not sure why we have Ben throwing pases when Mendenhall is ringing up first downs...is Arians trying to get Ben killed? Mendenhall keeps rolling and gets us across midfield.

Fourth Quarter

With the ball on the Browns side of the field, Ben hits Heath over the middle to get us into field goal range and give Heath the catch he needed to become the top receiving tight end in Steelers history - BUT WAIT! Chris Kemoeatu is playing, right?

Right. Holding penalty. 

Take that catch for Heath off the board. Somehow, Ben pulls it together and guns one to AB for a huge conversion to get us into field goal range. Two plays later, defying all odds, Ben takes a shotgun snap and hits Wallace across the middle. Mike turns on the jets and blows the defender away and races the safety towards the pylon. He makes a move and seemingly gets in, but upon review his knee was down at the 2.

Up by four, in the fourth quarter, with a quarterback who can barely walk. Running the ball here was the right call, and I have no problem with running Rashard 3 times. Some linebacker makes 3 unreal plays to stop Rashard at the goal line. The questionable call came on 4th down when Tomlin decided to go for it rather than kick the field goal and go up by 7. Mendenhall gets stuffed again. Ugh.

Thankfully, Cleveland goes 3-and-out.

The Steelers take over at the Browns 38, essentially needed 1 first down to get into field goal range. It looks like they get it when Redman converts on a 3rd and 1...

BUT Kemoeatu gets called for a THIRD penalty that knocks us out of field goal range. 

I can't believe I'm saying this, but we'd be better with Trai Essex at left guard. On the next play, Ben tries to go to Heath down the middle but can't step into the throw and the pass gets picked off.

Cleveland takes over with 7 minutes left near midfield, and McCoy hits a pass to move them into Steelers territory. Things start to look worse when McCoy scrambles and gets whalloped by James Harrison as he flings the ball out to a running back.

Here's the deal. McCoy was out of the pocket and had the ball tucked away like a runner. If Harrison makes that same hit on a running back, that's not a penalty. But since it's Harrison and McCoy is a QB, it's 15 more yards. Seneca Wallace comes in and completes a pass down to the 5.

Somehow, McCoy came back in the game. He tries to roll out away from pressure but Harrison catches his leg. Colt tries to fling the ball away but gets called for grounding. With 3rd down from the 16, McCoy tries to hit Massaquoi but Big Play Will Gay makes a great play on the ball and steps in front of Massaquoi for a HUGE interception.

BIG

PLAY

WILLLLLLL GAYYYYY

Cleveland has 2 timeouts left, so the Steelers need a first down to seal the game. On 2nd down, the Browns show an all-out blitz with only one safety deep so Ben takes a shot for AB down the sideline. Even on one leg, Ben executes a perfect back-shoulder throw. AB snags it, the back falls down and Brown takes off at full speed.

He executes two cuts and makes the safety look like a traffic cone and takes it ALL THE WAAAY

TO THE HOOOOOUSE



BOOOOOOM

14-3

Cleveland gets the ball back with about 3 minutes left, but with no timeouts. Gay makes tackles to keep guys in bounds. Farrior and Mundy both have interceptions taken away by replay and penalty. Worlids closes it out with a sack. 

Game.



And now, all  our hope rests in the tendons of this ankle.

Players of the Game

Offensive Game Ball: Ben Roethlisberger

Defensive Game Ball: William Gay

Honorable Mentions:

Antonio Brown

Jason Worlids

Troy Polamalu

Steve McLendon

Doug Legursky

Mike Wallace

Ryan Clark

Mr. Yuck Sticker of the Game

High Ankle Sprains

Ben and Pouncey both have them. We'll see how things go this week and if either of them are available against San Francisco.

Final Thoughts

• Once again, we just keep winning. Great effort by the defense to keep Cleveland out of the end zone at the beginning and end of the game.
• Can't say enough good things about Antonio Brown. Not only has he turned into the best 3rd down receiver in the league, he's also the most reliable target on the team.
• Rough night for the injury report. Ben and Pouncey with High Ankle Sprains, Ziggy with a groin, and Troy with a Hamstring.
• Ben is the toughest player in the league, period.
• I have no problem with running the ball 3 times at the goal line. I'd take the points on 4th down though.
• Solid game by Mendenhall and Redman. Rashard hasn't gone over 100 in a while, but he's running harder than I've ever seen him run in his career. He's keeping the legs churning and really driving for those extra yards.
• Heath Miller is tied with Elbe Nickel for the most receptions by a Steelers TE. He should break the mark next week.
• Hines is 9 shy of 1,000 catches.
• The line between a close game and blowout is very fine in the NFL. The difference between the 35 we put up against Cincy last week and the 14 against Cleveland this week is 2 red zone fumbles and a goal line stand. Take those 3 red zone turnovers off the board and this game isn't even close.
• Long layoff until the monday nighter in San Francisco.

All Three Phases: Steelers Win

  7

 35

Not often will I utter this sentence, but it was a beautiful December day at Heinz Field.

Might have to call up Al Gore to figure out how it was 60 degrees in Pittsburgh in December. The defense got the nod for pre-game intros.

Ike runs out with a terrible towel over his face. Swagger city.

Steelers won the toss and elected to receive but don't do anything with it and punt it away. Kapinos kills a 59-yarder to flip the field.

Dalton comes out and makes a big throw to AJ Green in double coverage. Green goes up and snags it over Ike for a huge gain. Cincy gets inside the 10 but then bungles it away after a penalty nullifies a touchdown. On fourth down, they take another penalty making it a longer field goal. Cam Heyward busts through the line and gets a paw on the ball for the Steelers first blocked field goal since Aaron Smith blocked a Rob Bironas kick against Tennessee.

With all the momentum on their side, the Steelers come out and lay another egg.

The Bengals come back and drive across midfield, mostly on the back of Cedric Benson, but a holding penalty puts an end to their drive.

After two failed drives, Ben comes out ready to do work. He hits Hines to get things started then Weslye over the middle. Mendenhall gets a carry then Ben hits AB on a slant that AB breaks between two defenders and cuts across the field, going all the way down the sideline to the 15.

Second Quarter

The Steelers pound Redman 3 times to get down to the 3, then Mendenhall comes in and finishes it off.

7-0

The Bengals respond by going 3-and-out.

Ben comes back and takes a shot deep for Wallace. The ball hangs in the air forever and Wallace is able to draw a pass interference call. With the ball at the 20, it's back to Mendenhall, who takes only 3 carries to find paydirt, getting there on a pitch play from the 5 where he makes a beautiful cut to find the hole and dances into the end zone.

14-0

On the ensuing kickoff, Sylvester gets a piece of the returner, knocking the ball free and Manny Sanders digs it out of a scrum.

AB makes a few moves on a reverse to get inside the red zone. On the next play, Ben rolls out away from pressure and finds Mike Wallace wide open in the back of the end zone.

21-0

BOOOOOOM

That's the killer instinct we've been talking about all season where you come out and stretch the lead out.

But Cincinnati came back with a fire under them. Honestly, it was do-or-die for the Bungles at this point. Dalton looked exclusively for AJ Green, because he was just a monster against Ike Taylor. Ike is a great player, but he gives up at least a half foot to AJ Green and even more in arm length. Nothing you can do when Green is making leaping catches all over the field. Green and Benson lead the Bungles down the field. As they get down into the red zone, Dalton extends a play by scrambling away from pressure and is able to find Green wide open in the end zone.

21-7

Ben gets sacked but comes back and hits Hines across the middle for a 12-yard gain that puts him over 12,000 career receiving yards. Manny Sanders converts a 3rd down then the wheels fall off. In a horrible display of clock management, Ben gets sacked then rushes the team to the line as the clock winds towards the two minute warning. Rather than letting the clock wind all the way to 2, Ben snaps the ball and throws an incompletion on the same out-route to Moore he missed on at the end of the Ravens game. With 2:05 left on the clock, the Steelers had to run their 3rd down play before the two-minute warning. They run a draw to get better punting position. Kapinos crushes one 57 yards.

The defense locks it down and forces 3 incompletions, giving us a chance to get the ball back and put points on the board.

Enter Antonio Brown. Touchdown Brown would rather just do it all himself. He fields the punt, catches a block from Special Teams Player of the Year Curtis Brown, cuts outside a block from Bryant McFadden and turns on the afterburners and blows past the punter.

First punt return touchdown since Santonio Holmes hurdled Mike Scifres in the 2008 playoffs.

28-7

Big-time response before the half.

With 1:16 left, the Bengals decide to give Dalton a chance to move the team downfield, but Darth Harrison almost breaks Dalton's arm with his tomahawk from the backside. The Bungles give up and head into the locker room.

Third Quarter

The Bengals pick up a first down on the back of Benson, but they do nothing else.

The Steelers go 3-and-out but more importantly Ramon Foster's ankle got rolled and he limped off the field. Kapinos blasts a 57-yard punt. What a game for Jeremy. 

Darth Harrison rings up another sack and the Bengals go 3-and-out.

With Ramon Foster out, Trai Essex comes in at right guard and the running game flat out dominates. Mendenhall and Redman just take the show over. Redman rips off the best run of the series going 27 yards up the middle when he just refuses to go down. Hines picks up a few more catches and gets a facemask call then the refs flag Essex for holding as a make-up to the Bengals. Arians decides it a good a time as ever to go back to the well with the WR screen. Mike Wallace makes a fantastic individual play and breaks unlimited tackles, spinning and bursting his way through the entire defense and into the end zone.

35-7

The Bungles were obviously flustered because they decided it would be a good idea not to block Darth Harrison.

That ended well for Dalton. 

That was Harrison's third sack of the game which tied some other Steelers record for 3-sack games. Speaking of threes, it was another 3-and-out for Cincy.

Hines gets another catch, his fifth of the game bringing him within 10 of 1,000. AB hauls in a big grab over the middle to convert a 3rd down.

Fourth Quarter

Mendenhall carries them to the fringe of field goal range, but the drive stalls out. Tomlin elects to give Suisham a try at a 50-yard field goal into the open end. The kick has enough distance but just misses wide right.

The Bengals throw up the white flag and bring in Pittsburgh native Bruce Gradkowski at quarterback. Bruce does a good job handing off to Cedric Benson, but he tries to force one to AJ Green and Ike undercuts it beautifully on the sideline for his second interception in two games.

Homestead Charlie comes in to wind some clock but can't pick up a first down.

Gradkowski moves the Bengals up to midfield but the Bengals decide that holding Harrison is a better option than letting him ring up another quarterback.

The Steelers take over with 4 minutes left and are able to run out the clock thanks to a running into the kicker penalty.

Victory Formation.

Game.

Players of the Game

Offensive Game Ball: Rashard Mendenhall

Defensive Game Ball: James Harrison

Honorable Mentions:
Mike Wallace

Antonio Brown

Jeremy Kapinos

Curtis Brown
Hines Ward
Cameron Heyward
Ike Taylor

Mr. Yuck Sticker of the Game

Um...

Honestly, there isn't much to complain about from this game. We started slow, but put together a great second quarter and finally were able to put a team away. So, for once, I've got nothing here. Even AJ Green, who is going to be a heck of a player in this league, making some big catches over Ike Taylor can't make me too upset. Green might just be a rookie, but he's got a big height advantage on any defensive back and has the talent to go up and make leaping catches that only a few guys in the league can make.

Final Thoughts

• What a game by Jeremy Kapinos. He averaged 54.2 yards per punt. Even though it was warm out, that's a heck of a game.
• Even though Mendenhall didn't rush for 100 yards, he still had a heck of a game. He was consistent all game, ran hard after contact, and found paydirt twice to boot.
• Can we say enough about what Antonio Brown brings to the game? He turned a simple slant route into a 45-yard gain to set up our first touchdown AND delivered our first punt return since the Santonio Holmes era.
• This was easily the most complete game we've played all season. After a slow start in the first quarter, all three phases clicked and we dominated in every aspect of the game.
• Curtis Brown has put together a great season on special teams. He brings it every play. That's how you earn a hat on Sundays. He's going to be a great player in our defense some day.
• Never, ever question what James Harrison can do for this defense.
• Cleveland on Thursday night. Buckle up.