Gerry Dulac's Two-Minute Drill: Game Five vs. Browns
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Linebacker James Harrison hits Browns wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi.
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In a game in which ILB Lawrence Timmons had two sacks and an interception, it was Harrison who delivered the knockout blow to the Browns with two thunderous -- albeit debatable -- hits on receivers Joshua Cribbs and Mohamed Massaquoi. But he also had a team-high 10 solo tackles and 1 1/2 sacks. The hit on Cribbs was significant because it knocked him out of the game with a head injury and forced the Browns to abandon their Wildcat package. "The key to the game was stopping Cribbs," LB James Farrior said. "And he stopped him."
One of the reasons the Steelers drafted rookie C Maurkice Pouncey with their No. 1 pick was his intelligence, and it was on display against the Browns. It was Pouncey's job to figure out all the defensive looks the Browns present in their sub packages and make the calls for the rest of the offensive line. It was something the Steelers didn't do last year when Ben Roethlisberger was sacked eight times in Cleveland. Sunday, Roethlisberger was not sacked once." He worked his tail off all week," said offensive coordinator Bruce Arians. "He takes a lot of pride in that."
A quick look at the top performances Sunday from the game:
1 BIG PLAYS: Backed at their own 4 in the third quarter, offensive coordinator Bruce Arians showed the importance of having Ben Roethlisberger back at quarterback. On first down, on a pass designed for Heath Miller, Roethlisberger found Mike Wallace down the right sideline for 50 yards. On the next play, on a pass designed for Wallace, Roethlisberger hit Miller for 36 yards. Three plays later, a sight-adjustment pass to Hines Ward produced an 8-yard TD pass and a 14-3 lead. "It doesn't matter who's making plays, as long as someone is making them," Wallace said.
PDF2 BIG HITS: Harrison delivered the first of his two knockout blows in the second quarter when Cribbs, his former college teammate, ran for the third time from the wildcat formation. That ended any chance Cribbs might return his fourth career kickoff for touchdown against the Steelers.
First Published October 18, 2010 12:00 am
