Hey, how about that new kicker of ours!

[hawaiiansteel]

a very impressive game for Shaun Suisham, our new kicker.

4/4 in FGs from 45,46, 47 and then the game-winner in OT from 41 yards.

maybe we found the right kicker after all, I even remember Suisham kicking the 2nd half kickoff into the end zone for a Buffalo touchback...imagine that!

[pick6]

Re: Hey, how about that new kicker of ours!

ILL HAVE TO ADMIT THAT I WAS SKEPTICAL ABOUT GETTING RID OF REED, BUT HAPPY TO SAY IT LOOKS LIKE IM WRONG. HE LOOKED REALLY FLUID. I WOULD EVEN VENTURE TO SAY THAT WE WOULD HAVE LOST IF WE STILL HAD REED. JUST HAVE TO WORK ON A CONSISTANT KICKOFF.

[Shawn]

Re: Hey, how about that new kicker of ours!

I am almost certain we would have lost this game with Reed. Suisham had some serious room to spare on those kicks as well. The guy looks very solid.

[Flasteel]

Re: Hey, how about that new kicker of ours!

a very impressive game for Shane Suisham, our new kicker.

I guess that goes to show how new SHAUN Suisham is.

Great job Suisham!!!

[JAR]

Re: Hey, how about that new kicker of ours!

Wait until he misses one, fickle fans will be all over him too.

[birtikidis]

Re: Hey, how about that new kicker of ours!

I believe on one kick he barely made it to the 20...

[jj28west]

Re: Hey, how about that new kicker of ours!

I admit I was completely wrong on this guy so far. He is streaky so we will see. I would never have predicted this type of production in a million years! Need the kickoffs to be a little deeper & higher put he saved us today so I really cant b!tch.

[hawaiiansteel]

Re: Hey, how about that new kicker of ours!

I am almost certain we would have lost this game with Reed.

Reed Who?

[Oviedo]

Re: Hey, how about that new kicker of ours!

Just another lesson that players are just temporary occupants of a Steelers' uniform. They are all replaceable and they will be replaced eventually.

[hawaiiansteel]

Re: Hey, how about that new kicker of ours!

Skinny Skippy, eh?


Steelers Beat Bills in Overtime, Skinny Skippy Is Legit

Posted on November 28, 2010 by ryan


Got this e-mail from JJ moments after Shaun Suisham (!) converted the game-winning field goal in overtime: “Well, that wasn’t fun.” Pretty much sums up the final 40 minutes or so because at halftime, with the Steelers leading 13-0, I figured Pittsburgh was just getting warmed up and Buffalo was in the process of checking out.

Instead, the Steelers’ defense had trouble getting off the field in the second half, and the Bills finally got some traction out of the Patriots’ blueprint for matriculating the ball down the field. It’s easy to point to the final three periods as proof that the Steelers’ defense is fatally flawed, but here’s the thing: there’s only one Tom Brady. And even though Ryan Fitzpatrick had some success completing short passes, that’s exactly what this defense is designed to do.

It wasn’t pretty, but it worked. And let’s be honest: a lot of weird stuff had to happened for the Bills to even have a chance to tie the game late in the fourth quarter. For the second consecutive week there were some questionable penalties against the Steelers (and I’m not even talking about the Deebo roughing-the-passer call) and a that’ll-never-happen-again freak catch-and-run by Fred Jackson. Pretty sure hot routes to the running back wasn’t Chan Gailey’s recipe to scoring TDs going into this game.

But unlike last year, the Steelers have found ways to overcome penalties and poor play. Eking out an overtime win against a 2-8 outfit isn’t how you’d draw it up, but as Mike Tomlin says all the time, “You don’t get style points.” (And I’ll be honest: the Bills are the best 2-8 team in NFL history.)

Whatever. Pittsburgh’s 8-3 and will play for the division lead next Sunday night. In the meantime, onto the high(low)lights:

* After watching the Steelers offense plod through their opening possessions in recent weeks against the Pats and the Raiders, it was nice to see them march down the field on their first drive against the Bills — mostly on the ground — control the clock, and punch it into the end zone on a Mendenhall touchdown.

That all went out the window in the third quarter, but credit to the offense for regrouping in time to make some big plays down the stretch. None bigger, perhaps, than Big Ben’s 3rd and 17 scramble for 18 yards — on a bad wheel, no less (note: no word on if Ben’s toes are broken — still waiting official word from Bill Cowher) — following an iffy holding call on Chris Kemoeatu that negated a 42-yard Mendenhall run a few plays earlier.

A year ago, Roethlisberger probably gets sacked for a 15-yard loss and Greg Warren snaps the ball over Daniel Sepulveda’s head into the end zone on the next play.

* By the way: Shaun Suisham’s new nickname is Skinny. As in: Skinny Skippy. He was 4 for 4, all beyond 40 yards. The 41-yard game-winner was obviously huge, but you could make an argument that his 48-yarder in the fourth quarter — after Manny Sanders dropped a HUGE pass that would’ve moved the sticks — was even bigger.

It’s amazing how quickly things change: in August, Suisham was a journeyman who struggled with consistency and Jeff Reed had a legit case for a long-term deal that paid him like one of the league’s best kickers. Three months later, Suisham has Jeff’s job. And if Reed were still on the team I’m pretty sure there’s no way he converts four times Sunday.

(Sorta related: we whinge all the time about coaches being way too conservative when it comes to jettisoning dead weight on the roster. There are a lot of things we can accuse Tomlin off — piss-poor clock management tops the list, I think — but it’s not that. Essex has been replaced by Foster, Randle El has given way to Sanders, and Skinny is the new Skippy.)

* I don’t watch the defensive backs on every snap (or, hell, every series), but I feel safe in writing that Ike Taylor is having a Pro Bowl season. And William Gay, who had a 2009 effort against the Pats two weeks ago, was solid Sunday, particularly when he replaced an injured Bryant McFadden opposite Taylor in the second half. In fact, Gay was in tight coverage on the Troy pick near the Steelers’ goal line.

Related: I love Anthony Madison, special teams ace, but I’d prefer to never seen Anthony Madison, sub-package defensive back, on the field.

* It’ll be interesting to see what the NFL Gestapo decides to do with James Harrison. He was flagged for leading with his helmet on a hit to Fitzpatrick (and watching the replay, there’s no way officials don’t call that … at least against Deebo because I saw the Dolphins’ Kendall Langford do virtually the same thing against the Raiders’ Bruce Gradkowski during the four o’clock games).

But here’s the deal: Deebo is a “repeat offender” and the league has threatened to suspend players who repeatedly break the rules. So would they suspend Harrison for the Ravens’ game?

Common sense says no, which means that Harrison is screwed. At this point, nothing surprises me. Upside: the 2010 Steelers are all about overcoming adversity. So we’ll see.

In the interim, I’ll take the W. And before I forget: a very special thanks to Stevie Johnson for extending Thanksgiving through the weekend. I owe you one, dude.

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[sentinel33]

Re: Hey, how about that new kicker of ours!

i heard that the lions wanted to bring reed in but he turned them down. said he wanted to play for a superbowl contending team. is this guy a moron or what.
anyway, way to go sweezy. keep it up

[ALLD]

Re: Hey, how about that new kicker of ours!

Reed is getting paid by the Steelers while he sits and watches every Sunday. He can pick and choose, but he might FWP it up and find himself out of the league.

[hawaiiansteel]

Re: Hey, how about that new kicker of ours!

Kicker Shaun Suisham goes 4-for-4, earns teammates' respect

By John Harris, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, November 29, 2010




Suisham was sweet
Chaz Palla | Pittsburgh Tribune-Review


ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Shaun Suisham is now an official member of the Steelers.

Suisham was 4 for 4 kicking field goals Sunday, including the game-winning 41-yarder in the Steelers' 19-16 overtime win over the Buffalo Bills.



In his first pressure performance since replacing Jeff Reed a week ago, Suisham was at his best in a tight game in which the Steelers scored only one touchdown.

"How 'bout Shaun banging field goals for us?" coach Mike Tomlin said at his news conference. "He's now a Steeler -- Casey Hampton and others know his name now."

Running back Rashard Mendenhall, who gained a season-high 151 yards on 36 carries, said he knows who Suisham is.

"That was definitely clutch, a lot of pressure," said Mendenhall, who scored on a 1-yard run in the first quarter. "Four for four -- you'll take that every day, and it shows why he's here."



Mobbed by his teammates following the game-winner, Suisham was invited to speak with the media in the interview room after the game -- a practice normally reserved for quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

"It was a lot of fun," Suisham said. "It's amazing what can happen in a month. Start of the month, I lost my mother-in-law. I had been out of football this year. Two weeks ago I wasn't playing football, and now I'm part of the Pittsburgh Steelers and was fortunate to make a kick to win the game."

Suisham was a steadying influence all day.

When the offense bogged down at the Buffalo 27 early in the second quarter, Suisham booted a 45-yard goal to give the Steelers a 10-0 lead. It was his first field goal attempt after converting all five extra points last week against Oakland.

Suisham also boomed a 46-yard field goal in the second quarter, as the Steelers built a 13-0 lead. He drilled a 48-yarder in the fourth quarter that broke a 13-13 tie.

His final field goal try would determine how successful his day would be.

"Big field goal," Roethlisberger said. "He hit one later in the game, a long one to get us up three, and then that one at the end. Big hit. You know, (we had) confidence in him to come out and hit it."

Suisham said he didn't place undue pressure on himself after replacing the popular Reed, who was in his ninth season with the Steelers before being released.

"How could I? I mean, I'm not going to be any better for this football team if I am worried about it," said Suisham, who spent the 2005 training camp with Reed and the Steelers. "Jeff was great to me. I've always remembered that and certainly appreciate it. When you're with an organization as long as he has been, he's obviously done a lot of very good things. You just take the opportunities when you can get them.''

[url]http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/s_711401.html[/url]