polamalubeast
01-12-2016, 07:45 AM
For all its faults, for all the yards it allowed this season, for the lead it let slip away in Cincinnati, the Steelers defense did what it often has done throughout the 2015 season — stood tall when it counted. Along the way, it accomplished a feat unseen since their great 1970s Super Bowl dynasty.
Ryan Shazier’s second forced fumble of the game in which he ripped the ball out of Bengals halfback Jeremy Hill’s hands at the 20 with 1:23 left in what seemed to be a losing cause for the Steelers Saturday night has become the norm for their defense.
Seven times they forced turnovers in their red zone in the 2015 regular season, tied for the most in the NFL and most by them since their 2005 Super Bowl team. That forced fumble and Ross Cockrell’s recovery at the 9 was the final big play on a night the Steelers defense did something that has not been seen in their postseason history in 40 years.
They held an opponent scoreless for the first three quarters of a postseason game for the first time since the 1975 AFC championship when they beat Oakland, 16-10, at Three Rivers Stadium and went on to win their second Super Bowl.
“It’s the time of the year where you have to step up and play,” said linebacker James Harrison.
They did just that. The Steelers forced five fumbles and recovered three, and Antwon Blake intercepted a pass he returned 35 yards. Blake’s interception led to a field goal as did two of their fumble recoveries. The third forced fumble was Shazier’s first that saved a likely score when he hit halfback Giovani Bernard and he lost the ball at the Steelers 25 near the end of the third quarter.
read more
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers/2016/01/12/On-the-Steelers-Defense-continues-to-give-up-lots-of-yards-and-few-points/stories/201601120057
Ryan Shazier’s second forced fumble of the game in which he ripped the ball out of Bengals halfback Jeremy Hill’s hands at the 20 with 1:23 left in what seemed to be a losing cause for the Steelers Saturday night has become the norm for their defense.
Seven times they forced turnovers in their red zone in the 2015 regular season, tied for the most in the NFL and most by them since their 2005 Super Bowl team. That forced fumble and Ross Cockrell’s recovery at the 9 was the final big play on a night the Steelers defense did something that has not been seen in their postseason history in 40 years.
They held an opponent scoreless for the first three quarters of a postseason game for the first time since the 1975 AFC championship when they beat Oakland, 16-10, at Three Rivers Stadium and went on to win their second Super Bowl.
“It’s the time of the year where you have to step up and play,” said linebacker James Harrison.
They did just that. The Steelers forced five fumbles and recovered three, and Antwon Blake intercepted a pass he returned 35 yards. Blake’s interception led to a field goal as did two of their fumble recoveries. The third forced fumble was Shazier’s first that saved a likely score when he hit halfback Giovani Bernard and he lost the ball at the Steelers 25 near the end of the third quarter.
read more
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers/2016/01/12/On-the-Steelers-Defense-continues-to-give-up-lots-of-yards-and-few-points/stories/201601120057