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ARTICLE
By
Teresa Varley It
wasn’t pretty, but nobody said it had to be as the Steelers defeated the Miami
Dolphins 3-0, improving their record to 8-3 and maintaining a one-game lead in
the AFC North, while the Dolphins fell to 0-11. The game
was a defensive battle in adverse weather conditions, which delayed the start of
the game and made the field tough to play on. “I’ll start by saying it was great
to get a win tonight,” said head coach Mike Tomlin. “It was a great team victory
with a lot of positives to point to in the game, first and foremost, the work of
our defense as a collective unit. Any time you hold someone scoreless,
regardless of the conditions, it’s a great performance.” Jeff
Reed pulled out the win for the Steelers with a 24-yard field goal with 17
seconds left on the clock. “It was a test of our character
tonight,” added Tomlin. “It took 59-plus minutes to get that one done. Jeff
(Reed) banged one home for us, and I don’t want to miss pointing out our long
snapper [Greg Warren] and holder [Daniel Sepulveda]. In those conditions, it
takes all three of them plus protection. It was a great win. We’ll stack it up
with the rest of them and move forward.” “Ben did a nice job with the
football, administering the offense, particularly when we wanted to change the
rhythm of the game with the no-huddle,” said Tomlin. “Hines Ward was big
tonight. He was Hines Ward and we needed every one of those catches he provided
for us, particularly at critical times, on third downs, finding open spaces in
the zones. He had a workmanlike effort, as did Willie Parker. He ran the ball
hard, found running lanes and showed great patience at times. Because of the
weather conditions, the footing was tough. It was tough to get initial movement.
I thought he was extremely patient in running the football and allowing holes
and creases to develop so he could exploit them.” It was a
choppy start for the offense as they found themselves behind the eight ball
facing third-and-eight right off the bat. But a composed Roethlisberger was able
to find Hines Ward for 13 yards and the first down. Roethlisberger then hit
Cedrick Wilson for 14 yards and went back to Ward for an eight-yard gain.
On
second-and-six Roethlisberger was looking for Ward, but Joey Porter was right
there for the interception and then let his former teammates know about it. But
his current teammates couldn’t make it count. The
Dolphins were stopped in their tracks with Larry Foote knocking Jesse Chatman
for a one-yard loss, and then following it with Porter’s signature “boot.” Brett
Keisel stopped Chatman for no gain on the next play. John Beck had a completion
to Ted Ginn, Jr., but it wouldn’t be enough and the Dolphins were forced to
punt. Miscues
slowed the Steelers on their next drive as well. After moving the ball with
completions to Wilson and Ward and a few nice runs by Willie Parker,
Roethlisberger went back to pass and was hit in the arm by Will Allen, fumbled
but came up with the recovery. The 12-yard loss on the play gave the Steelers a
second-and-22, something they couldn’t overcome and were forced to punt a play
later. Ricky
Williams marked his return to the NFL on the next series for the Dolphins,
gaining five yards and a first down on his first carry, finishing the game with
just 15 yards. The defense quickly shut the door, stopping the Dolphins and
forcing an errant 22-yard punt by Brandon Fields to the Miami 48-yard line.
The
good field position didn’t play in the Steelers favor. Parker had a one-yard run
on first down and then Roethlisberger hit Nate Washington for a six-yard gain.
Roethlisberger scrambled for one-yard on the next play, setting up
fourth-and-two. The Steelers went for it, but came up short when Najeh Davenport
was knocked for a one-yard loss and the Dolphins took over on
downs. The
Steelers had a golden opportunity when James Farrior forced the ball out of
Williams’ hands and Lawrence Timmons recovered. They took over at midfield where
Parker had a three-yard gain. Washington went around left end, but was stopped
for no gain. On third down Roethlisberger hit Ward who fought for a 19-yard
gain, but the play was negated by a holding call on Davenport. Roethlisberger
went to Carey Davis, but the eight-yard completion fell short of a first down.
The
defense came up with another stop for the black and gold and then Allen Rossum
gave them a spark with a 33-yard punt return to the Dolphins 47-yard
line. Roethlisberger
got the drive started with a 15-yard completion to Dan Kreider. Parker rattled
off an eight-yard run, and followed with a one-yard run up the middle. Just when
they were getting moving an offensive pass interference call on Heath Miller
negated Ward’s first-down reception. Roethlisberger was sacked on the next play
and the Steelers were forced to punt again. The
Dolphins got the ball back one more time for the half, but weren’t able to go
anywhere and the half ended with a punt. The
second half started with a flurry for the Dolphins. Beck had a 15-yard
completion to Ginn to their 47-yard line. Beck hit Marty Booker for a four-yard
gain and then Chatman rattled off an nine yard run. The Dolphins went into their
bag of tricks and for the second week in a row the Steelers were beat by a
flea-flicker when Beck hit David Martin for a 14-yard gain to the Steelers
26-yard line. The defense tightened up, knocking Chatman for a loss of one yard.
Keisel then tipped Beck’s pass, which Chatman caught for a four-yard loss. The Dolphins went for it on fourth down,
but a pumped up defense wouldn’t stand for it as Foote and Farrior combined for
an eight-yard sack. The
offensive struggles continued for the Steelers on their next drive as they
couldn’t move the ball. After getting a first down on a five-yard reception by
Ward, they were stalled. Parker was knocked for a one-yard loss and
Roethlisberger was sacked for an eight-yard loss, forcing another punt.
Another
defensive stop put the ball back in the hands of the Steelers offense. With the
rain coming down hard again, they put the ball in Parker’s hands for four
straight carries for 23 yards. But on third-and-one, Davenport was knocked for a
one-yard loss. Reed came on for a 44-yard field goal attempt, but the wind and
rain had it go wide left. The
Steelers dodged a bullet on the next drive. Beck had two huge third down
conversions with a 20-yard completion to Booker and later connecting with him
again for 21-yards. They weren’t able to convert on their ensuing third down and
Max Starks blocked Jay Feely’s field goal attempt. The Dolphins got a break as
they were called for delay of game, giving them a fourth-and-11. They went for
it instead of kicking in the miserable conditions and James Harrison came up
with a sack, forcing Beck to fumble and Aaron Smith
recovered. Another
golden opportunity slipped by for the Steelers when a sack once again ended a
drive and they had to punt the ball away for the fifth time. But the defense
stepped up again, forcing a three and out. The offense finally got clicking late in the fourth quarter. Roethlisberger completed a 19-yard pass to Ward, but on the next play a holding call negated a nine-yard run by Parker. Roethlisberger went back to Ward for an 11-yard gain, giving the Steelers a third down at the Dolphins 12-yard line at the two-minute warning. Willie Reid pulled in a six-yard reception for a first-and-goal at the six-yard line. Roethlisberger was sacked on third down and it all came down to Reed. Reed came through with a 24-yard field goal, to give the Steelers the 3-0 win. |
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