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Numbers speak volumes in Steelers' blowout
By Mike Prisuta
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, September 8, 2008
[url="http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/s_587065.html"]http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsbu ... 87065.html[/url]
The Steelers were so dominant for openers that even the kickoff team had its way Sunday with the vastly overmatched Houston Texans.
Andre Davis may have had two kickoff returns for touchdowns last December against Jacksonville, but he averaged an embarrassing-by-comparison 18.7 yards on six such efforts yesterday at Heinz Field.
And Davis was at the head of the Delta pledge class -- Texans' edition -- based on how ineffective Houston was all game long on offense and defense.
The Steelers stopped the Texans on fourth-and-1 from the Steelers' 48 to end Houston's first possession.
The rout ensued soon thereafter.
We still don't know how good the Steelers are after their 38-17 Texans Buzzsaw Massacre, but we know they're a whole lot better than Houston.
They were good enough to do what they wanted when they wanted while amassing statistics that were as difficult to fathom as they will be to duplicate against legitimate competition.
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was almost perfect, completing 13-of-14 attempts, throwing for a couple of touchdowns and posting a passer rating of 147.0.
Running back Willie Parker surpassed the two rushing touchdowns he scored a year ago with a season-opening hat trick, crossing the goal line from 7, 13 and 4 yards out while churning out 138 rushing yards and averaging 5.5 yards per carry.
And what can you say about first-time starter LaMarr Woodley, except that he may have set a Steelers record for making everyone forget the guy he was replacing (for the record, it was outside linebacker Clark Haggans).
Woodley's line included three tackles, two tackles for a loss, two quarterback hurries, one sack, one interception, one pass defensed and one fumble recovery.
The fumble recovery irked Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel.
"He stole the fumble from me," Keisel said.
That's one he owes Woodley, or vice versa.
As for putting the pummeling in perspective, "Obviously, it's week one, we can't get too excited," Keisel said. "But we're happy with the team we have, and we're excited about what's to come."
The Steelers are especially jacked about how they were able to dismantle the Texans from a schematic standpoint.
They unleashed destruction without deception.
They kept their cards close to the vest and still won every hand.
They won so many physical, one-on-one battles that they never had to concern themselves with a chess game.
"Very basic," Keisel assessed. "We didn't run any of our stuff, really. We ran less today than we did in training camp. We're still vanilla.
"We know we have a lot of tough games coming up. Cleveland's coming up (Sunday night in Cleveland). I'm sure we can probably use a couple of those nice blitzes for them."
As for the offense, "we saved a lot in the bag," Roethlisberger said. "We have a lot of things we could have used, but we decided to save them for next week. I bet we showed 50 percent of what we can do.
"Why do anything crazy? Why show crazy reverses or why show flea-flickers? Why do that stuff if you don't have to?"
The Steelers never had to against Houston.
The Browns will have to be wondering this week about what the Steelers still might have up their sleeves.
Mike Prisuta is a columnist for the Tribune-Review. He can be reached at [email="mprisuta@tribweb.com"]mprisuta@tribweb.com[/email] or 412-320-7923.
By Mike Prisuta
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, September 8, 2008
[url="http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/s_587065.html"]http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsbu ... 87065.html[/url]
The Steelers were so dominant for openers that even the kickoff team had its way Sunday with the vastly overmatched Houston Texans.
Andre Davis may have had two kickoff returns for touchdowns last December against Jacksonville, but he averaged an embarrassing-by-comparison 18.7 yards on six such efforts yesterday at Heinz Field.
And Davis was at the head of the Delta pledge class -- Texans' edition -- based on how ineffective Houston was all game long on offense and defense.
The Steelers stopped the Texans on fourth-and-1 from the Steelers' 48 to end Houston's first possession.
The rout ensued soon thereafter.
We still don't know how good the Steelers are after their 38-17 Texans Buzzsaw Massacre, but we know they're a whole lot better than Houston.
They were good enough to do what they wanted when they wanted while amassing statistics that were as difficult to fathom as they will be to duplicate against legitimate competition.
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was almost perfect, completing 13-of-14 attempts, throwing for a couple of touchdowns and posting a passer rating of 147.0.
Running back Willie Parker surpassed the two rushing touchdowns he scored a year ago with a season-opening hat trick, crossing the goal line from 7, 13 and 4 yards out while churning out 138 rushing yards and averaging 5.5 yards per carry.
And what can you say about first-time starter LaMarr Woodley, except that he may have set a Steelers record for making everyone forget the guy he was replacing (for the record, it was outside linebacker Clark Haggans).
Woodley's line included three tackles, two tackles for a loss, two quarterback hurries, one sack, one interception, one pass defensed and one fumble recovery.
The fumble recovery irked Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel.
"He stole the fumble from me," Keisel said.
That's one he owes Woodley, or vice versa.
As for putting the pummeling in perspective, "Obviously, it's week one, we can't get too excited," Keisel said. "But we're happy with the team we have, and we're excited about what's to come."
The Steelers are especially jacked about how they were able to dismantle the Texans from a schematic standpoint.
They unleashed destruction without deception.
They kept their cards close to the vest and still won every hand.
They won so many physical, one-on-one battles that they never had to concern themselves with a chess game.
"Very basic," Keisel assessed. "We didn't run any of our stuff, really. We ran less today than we did in training camp. We're still vanilla.
"We know we have a lot of tough games coming up. Cleveland's coming up (Sunday night in Cleveland). I'm sure we can probably use a couple of those nice blitzes for them."
As for the offense, "we saved a lot in the bag," Roethlisberger said. "We have a lot of things we could have used, but we decided to save them for next week. I bet we showed 50 percent of what we can do.
"Why do anything crazy? Why show crazy reverses or why show flea-flickers? Why do that stuff if you don't have to?"
The Steelers never had to against Houston.
The Browns will have to be wondering this week about what the Steelers still might have up their sleeves.
Mike Prisuta is a columnist for the Tribune-Review. He can be reached at [email="mprisuta@tribweb.com"]mprisuta@tribweb.com[/email] or 412-320-7923.
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