Noise was a factor in loss

[stillers4me]

By Mike Prisuta -- WDVE-FM
Posted 6 hours ago
NEW ORLEANS – Coach Mike Tomlin acknowledged the “tough environment” the Louisiana Superdome quickly became when the Steelers visited the Saints but added that playing under such conditions “comes with the territory when you’re trying to be world champs.”

Still, this was a whole new ballgame for the Steelers as far as the decibel levels were concerned, and it was a contributing factor in the 20-10 loss here that dropped their record to 5-2.

“It was worse than Indianapolis in 2005, the first time we played the Colts,” offensive tackle Max Starkshttp://www.steelers.com/assets/nflimg/icon-article-link.gif (http://www.steelers.com/team/roster/max-starks/7df7af66-c7ff-472b-bcd8-a6a73f94467a/) said. “This kind of reminded me of college (at the University of Florida).

“It was deafening.”...............


...............“There were times I was changing protections and guys couldn’t hear me,” Roethlisberger said. “I’m only 3 or 4 yards behind them.”...........

Wide receiver Antwaan Randle Elhttp://www.steelers.com/assets/nflimg/icon-article-link.gif (http://www.steelers.com/team/roster/antwaan-randle-el/3213a7ab-1ca2-4a53-8414-7b571ef581aa/) recognized “communication in the line and out to the receivers, getting stuff blocked,” as a problem.

“We had a lot of different things we could have done and just didn’t get done,” he said. “A lot of ‘coulda, woulda, shoulda.’”............


http://www.steelers.com/news/article-1/Noise-was-a-factor-in-loss/0721f497-86e0-4429-9d66-51111c80e56e

[fansince'76]

Didn't seem to be a problem for the Browns a week ago....

[SteelerSal]

Didn't seem to be a problem for the Browns a week ago....

They wore ear muffs, read lips and used sign language.

[Devilsdancefloor]

Didn't seem to be a problem for the Browns a week ago....

i bet the superdome was very quiet last week compared to last night

[fansince'76]

i bet the superdome was very quiet last week compared to last night

Possibly - I just think blaming crowd noise is a lame excuse.

[stillers4me]

Possibly - I just think blaming crowd noise is a lame excuse.

I don't think anyone is saying that's the reason we lost, but it sure made things worse. Kudos to the Saints fans. They did their job well.

I'm thinking that we've won 6 superbowls and none of those years did we go undefeated. Just get a few things tightened up and beat the Bungles. One game at a time.......

[steeldevil]

I'm sure it was. It is not an excuse, just a fact. It was loud as hell in that dome...

[steelpride12]

Maybe not the entire reason we lost, but a good factor sure. Saints fans are loud and proud and I could surely tell they were awfully loud.

[SteelerFanInStl]

Possibly - I just think blaming crowd noise is a lame excuse.

Agreed. We should've been ready for it.

[tube517]

There is a way to counter/quiet a noisy crowd - Score and make plays and get a lead.

[SMR]

I don't think anyone is saying that's the reason we lost, but it sure made things worse. Kudos to the Saints fans. They did their job well.

I'm thinking that we've won 6 superbowls and none of those years did we go undefeated. Just get a few things tightened up and beat the Bungles. One game at a time.......

Wise words. Kudos!

[Edman]

If I recall, the Superdome went dead the moment the Steelers pulled within three, and got even quieter after the forced fumble.

Crowd noise is a lame excuse. You guys screwed up, plain and simple.

[I-Want-Troy's-Hair]

are u kidding me, unprepared, confused? This is the excuse? We weren't prepared for the noise? Well gentlemen you are all professionals and this isn't the first time players OR coaches have played in a dome. What a sorry ass excuse. Ahhh let's see New Orleans on Halloween what the hell were they expecting.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10306/1099967-66.stm

What had become a cozy home-away-from-home feeling abandoned the Steelers Sunday night in what Mike Tomlin correctly called a "hostile environment" that apparently caught players and coaches off-guard and left them confused.

The Steelers had won four consecutive road games as they pulled into New Orleans, some of them before their loud and adoring road-warrior fans, who poured out for both games in Florida, Tampa and Miami. The Superdome was different.

As usual, many Steelers fans attended, and they made their presence known. But Saints fans overwhelmed them, and Tomlin and the players cited the noise as a factor in the 20-10 loss.

"It was worse than Indianapolis in 2005 the first time we played them," offensive tackle Max Starks said, referring to the infamous game in the Colts' old indoor arena in which the Steelers alleged crowd noise was illegally amplified by the home team.

Starks said the noise almost was unexpected and made it sound as if the players were unprepared for it.

"The communication aspect of it is what kind of gets lost," Starks said. "You try to make calls. If someone is making a call on the right side of the line and you try to hear it on the left side, it gets pretty tough and the center can't pass that down because he usually has his head between his legs waiting for the quarterback.

"It's a tough situation to get in. We finally figured out a way to do that and overcame it. But we didn't overcome it quick enough."

No one on the Steelers' side -- players nor coaches on the field nor the sideline and particularly not the coaches in the box upstairs who have television replays in front of them -- raised an issue on Rashard Mendenhall's run on second down on the first goal-line series of the game, in the second quarter. Mendenhall appeared to get the ball over the line, or at least on it.

Even though Tomlin wasted an earlier replay challenge on a non-fumble by New Orleans that replay quickly showed was clearly a non-fumble, he took a pass on using his final replay challenge that might have resulted in a 7-0 Steelers lead.

"When you're on the road, you don't get the [good] looks at replays," Tomlin said. "I didn't get that sense from our guys, particularly Rashard that he thought he was in, so I didn't challenge."

Home scoreboards rarely show a replay to help the visiting team decide if it should challenge the call. NBC-TV, however, showed a fine shot of Mendenhall crossing the goal line and did so in a timely manner. All the coaches in the box would have had to do was watch and tell their head coach to challenge.

Confusion seemed to reign in the 'Dome, the Steelers' first indoors game since they struggled to win in Detroit Oct. 11, 2009.

With a first down as close to the goal line as possible, the Steelers opted not for the safe and usually effective quarterback sneak in that situation, but instead ran Isaac Redman off the right side. Right guard Trai Essex, getting his first start after missing the previous four games with a sprained ankle, said he blew his assignment on that play, and Redman was blown up for a two-yard loss.

After Mendenhall's run that should have been reviewed, he lost nearly a yard on third down, and Tomlin decided to kick a field goal on fourth down at the one.

Starks said the offense eventually "calmed down" from all the confusion "and we started playing a lot better. It was just too little, too late in a lot of instances, especially down at the goal line early on. That was likely a difference-maker as well."

The Saints' defense did a good impersonation of a Dick LeBeau-led Steelers unit, with their well-regarded coordinator Greg Williams adding to the confusion. Even though the Saints were without their starting two cornerbacks and lost rookie No. 3 corner Patrick Robinson for awhile, the Steelers were unable to take advantage, especially not by throwing anything deep. And they could do little against the blitzes Williams sent against them.

Chris Kemoeatu seemed to misidentify one Saints "game" on the line, missed a block and Ben Roethlisberger paid for it with one of three sacks. Rookie Emmanuel Sanders did not recognize a "hot" on a blitz and, as a result, got in the way of a pass that Roethlisberger intended for Hines Ward, and it fell incomplete. That occurred when Tomlin, his team trailing by just three in the third quarter, decided to go for it on fourth-and-four at the New Orleans 40.

"They did a lot of different schemes," Ward explained. "They were getting pressure on Ben, we were trying to figure out what they were trying to do to us, made us hurry up a couple throws. They had a great scheme. "I think we adjusted in the second half, came out and moved the ball better than we did in the first half. But we knew it was going to be tough -- the defending world champs, Halloween night -- I saw so many costumes in the stands -- and they lost to Cleveland last week."


Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10306/1099967-66.stm#ixzz146Ol4KKp

[Psycho Ward 86]

LOL ok. We lost because people like screaming. We lost cuz we were the crappier team.

[Burghfan58]

Tell me how a Pro football team can be shocked and unprepared for noise inside a dome against last years champs on Sunday night football. Absolutely unbeleivable.

[NCSteeler]

this makes me feel like the coaches are really bad. One to not prepare for it, DUH. Two to not make some attempt to adjust at the half, DOH!

[Galax Steeler]

Noise is no excuse for a lose we should be prepared for this kind of stuff. The whole game it just looked like we wasn't prepared. What a sloppy game it was for us.