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OMINOUS SIGN?
The Steelers are allowing a pass-completion percentage of 66.2 percent, which not only ranks 28th in the league but is on pace to smash the team record of 62.4 percent set in 1991.
In its 78 years in the league, Pittsburgh has allowed 60 percent of opponents’ passes to be completed only four times. The 1991 and 2003 teams had losing records; the 2006 team went 8-8; and the 1987 team went 8-7. These Steelers, of course, are 5-1.
“The thing that’s most exciting is we don’t allow people to score touchdowns,” Tomlin said. “We lead the league in scoring defense. Even in red areas we make people kick field goals. That’s the formula for winning defense. I’m less concerned about what stats may potentially tell us because we all know, in many instances, they lie.”
But the stat that best defines New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees is his league-leading completion percentage of 69.7. He and the Saints are waiting on deck to dive into the Steelers’ secondary.
As for the quarterbacks who’ve compiled the 66.2 completion percentage against the Steelers, they’ve completed 60.2 percent against the rest of their opponents.
WREAKING HAVOC
Tomlin was asked why the defending champion Saints were handled so easily at home Sunday by the Cleveland Browns.
“They probably weren’t as familiar with the kind of damage that Shawn Rodgers can do,” Tomlin said of the Browns’ backup nose tackle. “That’s probably the thing that jumped off the tape to me more than anything.”
While the tape may show a dominating performance, Rodgers was credited with only one tackle in the game.
RASBERRY FOR THE LEAGUE
In the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game, Steelers linebacker James Harrison pulled up from a potential hit on Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown as Brown was being tackled on the play. NFL vice-president Ray Anderson praised Harrison the next day, but Tomlin was less than enthusiastic.
“I think what Ronnie Brown did had more to do with it than anything else,” Tomlin said. “James took his normal approach and angle to the football. Ronnie Brown caught the ball clean and got down like a savvy veteran does when he’s in harm’s way. I’m less concerned about Ray Anderson’s evaluation of James’s performance than I am just evaluating James’s performance myself.”
Is Tomlin OK with the league office commenting on his players’ performances?
“It would be tough for me to care less about their opinion, to be honest with you,” he said.
The Steelers are allowing a pass-completion percentage of 66.2 percent, which not only ranks 28th in the league but is on pace to smash the team record of 62.4 percent set in 1991.
In its 78 years in the league, Pittsburgh has allowed 60 percent of opponents’ passes to be completed only four times. The 1991 and 2003 teams had losing records; the 2006 team went 8-8; and the 1987 team went 8-7. These Steelers, of course, are 5-1.
“The thing that’s most exciting is we don’t allow people to score touchdowns,” Tomlin said. “We lead the league in scoring defense. Even in red areas we make people kick field goals. That’s the formula for winning defense. I’m less concerned about what stats may potentially tell us because we all know, in many instances, they lie.”
But the stat that best defines New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees is his league-leading completion percentage of 69.7. He and the Saints are waiting on deck to dive into the Steelers’ secondary.
As for the quarterbacks who’ve compiled the 66.2 completion percentage against the Steelers, they’ve completed 60.2 percent against the rest of their opponents.
WREAKING HAVOC
Tomlin was asked why the defending champion Saints were handled so easily at home Sunday by the Cleveland Browns.
“They probably weren’t as familiar with the kind of damage that Shawn Rodgers can do,” Tomlin said of the Browns’ backup nose tackle. “That’s probably the thing that jumped off the tape to me more than anything.”
While the tape may show a dominating performance, Rodgers was credited with only one tackle in the game.
RASBERRY FOR THE LEAGUE
In the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game, Steelers linebacker James Harrison pulled up from a potential hit on Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown as Brown was being tackled on the play. NFL vice-president Ray Anderson praised Harrison the next day, but Tomlin was less than enthusiastic.
“I think what Ronnie Brown did had more to do with it than anything else,” Tomlin said. “James took his normal approach and angle to the football. Ronnie Brown caught the ball clean and got down like a savvy veteran does when he’s in harm’s way. I’m less concerned about Ray Anderson’s evaluation of James’s performance than I am just evaluating James’s performance myself.”
Is Tomlin OK with the league office commenting on his players’ performances?
“It would be tough for me to care less about their opinion, to be honest with you,” he said.
. But it is nearly impossible to play lights out against both the run and the pass at the same time. DL has schemed a great way to shut down the run while at the same time managing the pass defense in a way that make's it difficult to put points on the board. Since DL has been with the Steelers in 2004, the Steelers have averaged 16.6pt/g and had the number 1 ranked scoring defense four times. I don't think you will fined another defense that has performed better over the past seven years. (Baltimore has averaged 17.4 and was ranked 1st once) Oh, and by the way... Our amazing 2008 defensive effort that had us #1 across the board (rushing, passing, overall, scoring), well, we averaged 13.9pt/g. So far, the end result of this years efforts have been better than in 2008.
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