Steelers' Keisel improves 'D' by more than a hair
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Brett Keisel: The beard at work (or not) Sunday after a sack of Blaine Gabbert.
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The beard is taking over center stage again. I get that. But this is ridiculous: "The beard is back and it's helping our team win," Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel insisted.
Nonsense.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it until I see Keisel's beard make its first tackle or bat down its first pass or get its first sack.
Hey, don't get the wrong idea. I like a good beard as much as the next man. Keisel has a beauty going again, just like last season. It was nearly as hot of a topic at Super Bowl XLV in February as star quarterbacks Ben Roethlisberger and Aaron Rodgers. It even had its own T-shirt -- "Respect The Beard, Fear The Diesel" -- and raised a lot of money for charity.
It was great fun.
But enough.
The story here this morning is not about Keisel's beard or its new T-shirt -- "Da-Beard" -- which can be purchased at brettkeisel.com. It's about Keisel's ability, which too often gets lost in all of his hair and doesn't get nearly the recognition it deserves. He was the best defensive player on the Heinz Field lawn Sunday in the Steelers' 17-13 win against the Jacksonville Jaguars, apologies to linebacker LaMarr Woodley, who had two sacks.
What a difference Keisel has made since returning to the lineup after missing two games with a knee problem. The same defense that was gashed for 86 yards and a touchdown by Indianapolis running back Joseph Addai and 155 yards and a touchdown by Houston's Arian Foster in his absence stiffened almost immediately. Tennessee's Chris Johnson managed 51 yards on 14 carries in the Steelers' 38-17 win Oct. 9 and, although Jacksonville's Maurice Jones-Drew ran for 96, he needed 22 carries and took a solid beating.
Still, Keisel isn't satisfied, not after the Jaguars scored 10 second-half points to make the game far too interesting.
"We have to be better if we want to be great. We've got to put people away when we have the chance."
Certainly, Keisel did his part Sunday. There was so much more to his performance than his work against the run. He tackled Jones-Drew for a 3-yard loss on a screen pass. He batted away another pass at the line of scrimmage, something he seems to do just about every week. And, I almost forgot, he had two sacks.
The second one was huge, coming on the first play after the Jaguars took possession at their 23 with no timeouts and 1:01 left. "It's always devastating when you take a sack in your two-minute offense," Keisel said.
First Published October 19, 2011 12:00 am
