It was Halloween night when the Steelers played in the Super Dome, taking on the defending Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints.
It was reported that more than 17,000 fans showed up in costume for the game. In any other city, that many people wearing costumes is called a world record. In New Orleans, they call it Sunday night. Either way, it was pretty impressive and certainly more fun to watch than the game at times.
A Tale of Two Halves Part 1 – The First Half
In a game where both teams’ defenses played extremely well, the first half was marked by great defense and very little scoring.
The first quarter was fun to watch if you had either team’s punter on your fantasy roster. Each punter had three punts in the first quarter and the longest drive of the quarter was by New Orleans. It lasted seven plays and covered 20 yards.
The second quarter was a little better in that some points were scored. On a pass from Big Ben, it looked like Antwaan Randle El had scored. In fact, that was the ruling on the field. New Orleans challenged and the ruling was overturned. Then the Steelers showed us why Jerome Bettis was so valuable.
On three consecutive runs from the 1-yard line, Rashard Mendenhall could not score. The Steelers settled for a Skippy Reed field goal.
We’ll never know if a touchdown there might have changed the game, but you never like to see your team, a team historically known for running the football and doing it well, unable to score with three tries from the one.
With 1:16 left in the half, Reed was given the chance to extend the lead, but could not connect on a 51-yard attempt.
One has to wonder if it would have been better to make Ben pooch punt there forcing the Saints drive a much longer field for a score instead of trying a relatively low percentage field goal. Especially when you consider that in the third quarter, from nearly the exact same spot on the field, the Steelers went for a 4th and 4, which they did not convert. Of course, they might have only tried to convert the fourth down because Reed had missed earlier.
As it was, the Saints got the ball on their own 41-yard line and drove down the field to kick a 31-yard field goal and tie the game at the half.
A Tale of Two Halves Part 2 – The Second Half
Anyone who doubts Drew Brees in an excellent quarterback needs only look at the second half of this game against the Steelers. Brees threw only two incomplete passes in the half. He had 191 yards and two touchdowns in the half and finished the day having thrown passes to nine different receivers. I’m not sure, but I think they grabbed a couple dudes out of the stands to run routes on the Steelers’ secondary.
There were two bright spots in the second half for the Steelers. The first was Mendy breaking off a 38-yard run on 2nd and 1 for a touchdown.
With the Steelers down 13-3 at the time, this score brought the Steelers to within one score. A defensive stand, or better yet, a turnover would give the Steelers a chance to get in front and give them a better chance to win the game.
On the ensuing possession, the Saints were moving the ball on Steelers, driving for what might have been the game winning score. The drive included a 50-yard strike to Robert Meachem. I can only assume that there was some sort of miscommunication on the defense on that play because there is not a Steelers’ player within 10 yards of him when he catches the ball.
Three plays after that, on 3rd and 4 from the Steelers’ 20-yard line, the Steelers’ defense the second bright spot of the second half. On a well-executed blitz, Bryant McFadden came in from Brees’s right and hit him, knocking the ball loose. Lamaar Woodley fell on the ball and the Steelers were exactly where they wanted to be: 8:01 left in the game with the ball on their own 27 and starting a drive to win possibly win the game.
The Play That Changed the Game
As it so often does, the Steel Curtain provided the play that could have won the game. On this occasion, however, the offense failed to capitalize and the man who put the ball on the ground was someone you don’t normally associate with fumbling problems.
On the third play of the possession, Big Ben found Heath Miller with a short pass which Miller converted into a big gain of 25 yards. It was during the run after the catch that New Orleans linebacker Marvin Mitchell popped the ball loose and the Saints recovered.
Eight plays later, Brees found Lance Moore with an 8-yard TD, which effectively ended the game.
The final nail in the coffin was an interception thrown by Roethlisberger which allowed the Saints to kneel on the ball and hand the Steelers a rare nationally-televised loss, only their second loss on the season.
Here’s the highlight package from the game, courtesy youtube. Miller’s fumble is at the 2:43 mark.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNUavBooVEs