The Blitzburgh Report

The Stats on Harrison

A lot of the Steelers’ offensive players that are performing at the top of their positions get a lot of attention, but how about linebacker James Harrison? He’s making a strong case for the Pro Bowl. Aside from tackles he is at or near the top in key categories for linebackers. His 6.5 sacks are tied for fourth, his six forced fumbles are the best in the league (at any position), and his three fumble recoveries are tied for first. Not to mention he also has an interception. He is really hitting his stride in the last few weeks and if he keeps up his pace he’ll no doubt carry on the tradition of Pro Bowl Steelers linebackers. The fact that he had his best performance on national TV should certainly help his case.

Banged up, but ready to go

Willie Parker and Ben Roethlisberger will miss some practice time, but will play against the Jets next Sunday, Mike Tomlin said at his press conference today. Willie still has swelling in his knee, and Big Ben still is nursing his sore hip in addition to a sore shoulder. Deshea Townsend has an injured ankle but is also expected to play. It is never fun seeing your quarterback and running back both banged up, but it is the reality of life in the NFL at week 11.

Is it time to shelve Ryan Clark for the season?

I wrote last week about how Ryan Clark is apparently in a lot of pain still from his enlarged spleen and does not appear to be suiting up any time soon. I mentioned how it has given Anthony Smith a chance to showcase himself, but Die Hard Steel raises another point in that maybe it is time to place Clark on injured reserve and bring in someone to help with special teams, namely Chidi Iwuoma.

It actually makes a whole lot of sense, in fact, maybe too much and we won’t see it happen as these things tend to go. The Steelers need a lot of special teams help right now if they intend to not lose or almost lose another game because the kick coverage is terrible. Bringing in a guy like Chidi might go a long way. Then again, bringing Anthony Madison back was suppose to have the same effect and he was one of those who missed tackling Josh Cribbs on his 100 yard return last Sunday.

(Update: As of the evening of 11/13 both Ryan Clark and Jerame Tuman have been placed on injured reserve)

Steelers Power Rankings Run Down

ESPN - 5th
Fox Sports - 5th
NFL.com - 4th
CBS Sportsline - 4th

I can’t complain about those too much. I think it is best overall for the Steelers to remain somewhat under the radar. Let people still think the Colts are number two or that the Cowboys or Packers really have a chance against any of the top AFC teams. All that matters is where the Steelers are in the standings, and as of today they are the number two seed in the AFC.

With the Steelers currently ranked number one is total defense in the NFL, it got us here at the Blitzburgh Report thinking about what kind of success the team has had over the years when its defense has been ranked in the top five to end the season. Let’s take a quick look at the breakdown since 1970:
Times defense ranked first in the NFL:

1974 - Super Bowl win over the Vikings
1976 - Championship game loss to Raiders
1990 - Didn’t make playoffs
2001 - Championship game loss to Patriots
2004 - Championship game loss to Patriots

Times defense ranked second in the NFL:

1979 - Super Bowl win over Rams
1983 - Divisional Round loss to Raiders
1995 - Super Bowl loss to Cowboys

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Heading into the bye week, the Steelers are off to an impressive 4-1 start, in which they dominated their four wins. Here’s a brief look at some of the stats so far:

Offense

Passing:

• Ben Roethlisber already has 1013 passing yards, with a 61.8 percent completion rate. He has 9 touchdowns versus 3 interceptions. His quaterback rating is 99.2. He has been sacked 11 times.

Rushing:
• Willie Parker leads the NFL in rushing yards with 507. He has 121 attempts for an average of 4.2 yards, and an average of 101.4 yards per game. He has one touchdown.
• Najeh Davenport has 209 yards on 28 attempts for an average of 7.5 yards per attempt, and 41.8 yards a game. He has three touchdowns.

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Former Steelers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt is 1-2 so far as head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. If history tells anything, former Bill Cowher assistants have not had much success as head coaches in the NFL and Whisenhunt may have his work cut out for him. Let’s take a look at some stats:

-Including Whisenhunt’s record so far, former Bill Cowher assistants are a combined 174-229 as head coaches.

-Former Cowher assistants are a combined 2-5 in the playoffs.

-Only two have winning records- Chan Gailey (18-14) and Marvin Lewis (36-31).

-In their first game against the Steelers, they are a combined 2-3.

Coach	Reg. Season	Playoffs	First Game Against Steelers
Chan Gailey	18-14	0-2	Never played Steelers
Dom Capers	48-80	1-1	W 18-14
Jim Haslett	45-51	1-1	W 32-29
Mike Mularkey	14-18	0-0	L 24-29
Marvin Lewis	36-31	0-1	L 10-17
Dick LeBeau	12-33	0-0	L 0-15

Wishenhunt has a chance today to even the record of the coaches in their first game against the Steelers. The Cardinals are tough to get a read on because they can just as easily be 0-3 or 3-0 because of their last second finishes in each game. Whisenhunt is going to have a lot of incentive to beat his former team today, but don’t think that the Steelers players want to get shown up by him either, especially Ben Roethlisberger (who’s friction with the former OC has come to light over the off season). Either way, it should be a lot closer game then the first three for the Steelers.