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Week 16 Game Recap: Pittsburgh Steelers 41, St. Louis Rams 24
What you need to know
| Pittsburgh Steelers |
Even though the Rams were able to get some pressure on QB Ben Roethlisberger and sack him four times, they were not able to stop Roethlisberger and the passing game from making big plays throughout the game. He went 16 for 20 for 261 yards and had three touchdowns, and no interceptions. Roethlisberger had an exceptional first half as he had 212 yards and all of his three touchdowns. He started off quickly by hooking up with WR Santonio Holmes for 83 yards on their first play on offense. He would have two touchdowns passes to WR Nate Washington and one to RB Najeh Davenport. Roethlisberger twisted his ankle on a sack in the third quarter and seemed to be still favoring it after the game as he walked off the field.
The league's leading rusher, RB Willie Parker, broke his lower leg on his first carry of the game. Parker got his leg twisted back awkwardly on the tackle and left for the locker room on a cart. He came out of the locker room on crutches and it was reported he had fractured his lower fibula.
RB Najeh Davenport who came into this game as a backup, will likely take over the starting duties now that Parker is out indefinitely. Davenport responded with a great game by rushing for 123 yards and scoring two touchdowns. It was only Davenport's second career 100 yard rushing game and both have been against the Rams. He was able to use his physical and bruising style of running to wear down a below average Rams defense.
WR Santonio Holmes had a big game by catching four passes for 133 yards, including a 83 yard reception on the Steelers first offensive play of the game. WR Nate Washington had two catches, both for touchdowns in the game.
| St. Louis Rams |
QB Marc Bulger held his own against the league's number one defensive unit by throwing three touchdowns in the game. He threw with good accuracy in the game and made some exceptional passes. Bulger did have two interceptions, but it was the play of the offense that kept St. Louis in the game for three and half quarters.
RB Steven Jackson had a very solid game as he posted 106 total yards of offense and scored on a nice 12 yard catch and run. He showed good acceleration and ran hard in the game. Jackson punished defenders often but, the patchwork Rams offensive line was no match for the Steelers in the long run as they held him to 20 yards rushing in the second half.
WR Isaac Bruce led the Rams in receiving by catching seven balls for 87 yards, including a 12 yard touchdown. WR Torry Holt had a quiet game only catch three passes for 41 yards, but he did had a heated conversation with Head Coach Scott Linehan toward the end of the game on the sideline.
What you ought to know
| QB Ben Roethlisberger, Pass: 16 - 20 - 261 - 3 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 2 - 11 - 0 |
Roethlisberger had an excellent first half and looked very sharp in this game. Backed up near their end zone on the opening drive, Roethlisberger hit WR Santonio Holmes on a deep pass down the middle of the field for 83 yards. He would find WR Nate Washington in the right corner of the end zone for touchdown three plays later to cap off a four play, 96 yard drive. Roethlisberger would bring the Steelers back down the field midway through the second quarter and would hit Washington again on 33 yard touchdown pass on what was a perfectly thrown pass. He had an excellent first half completing nine of 11 passes for 212 yards and three touchdowns. Roethlisberger led Pittsburgh down the field on its first possession of the second half on a 69 yard drive that ended in a RB Najeh Davenport one yard run. He played a solid game completing 16 of 20 passes in the game, but he took a beating in the game, including a tackle in the third quarter that looked like he twisted his ankle. He was sacked four times in this game.
| RB Najeh Davenport, Rush: 24 - 123 - 1, Rec: 2 - 44 - 1 (2 targets) |
Davenport saw a lot more action then usual because starter Willie Parker got hurt very early in this game. Davenport who is a bigger and more physical runner then Parker, ran the ball well early, chewing up chunks of yards on each run, including a nice 14 run up the middle. He caught a 32 yard pass on a fake punt in the first quarter on what was a perfectly executed play. Davenport caught a 12 yard touchdown pass when QB Ben Roethlisberger checked down to him and he was able to break a tackle and cross the goal line. The Steelers were able to pound the ball on the Rams with Davenport in the first half as he had 12 carries for 65 yards. He also added 44 yards receiving and a touchdown for a big first half. Davenport got his second touchdown of the game on the Steelers opening drive of the second half with a one yard plunge into the end zone. He had 31 yards on that scoring drive, including an 18 yard run that was the biggest play of the drive. He looked comfortable as Pittsburgh's primary ball carrier and did a good of moving the chains. Davenport came out of the game early in the fourth quarter after it looked like he twisted his ankle. He would return to the game a few plays later after getting his ankle re-taped and ran effectively, including a 16 yard gain.
| RB Carey Davis, Rush: 6 - 28 - 0, Rec: 2 - 0 - 0 (3 targets) |
Davis got two carries for eight yards in the first half as he became the primary backup to RB Najeh Davenport as starter RB Willie Parker went out early with a serious injury. Davis got some carries in the fourth quarter when Davenport went of the game with a twisted ankle. He had a nice 12 yard for a first down after getting to the edge on a sweep to the left. He finished the game with six carries for 28 yards.
| RB Willie Parker, Rush: 1 - -1 - 0 |
Parker appeared to get hurt on the second play of the game for Pittsburgh. He appeared to get his ankle twisted and Parker came out of the game after the play. It was initially reported as an ankle injury and he did not return to the game. He was seen on crutches later on and it was reported as broken fibula, likely a season ending injury.
| WR Hines Ward, Rec: 6 - 59 - 0 (6 targets) |
Ward had a fairly quiet first half considering QB Ben Roethlisberger had over 200 yards passing and three touchdowns in the first half of this game. He caught three passes for 34 yards in the half. He would add three more catches for 25 yards in the second half. The Rams defense did a good of covering Ward most of the game, but he did have a couple of big third down catches for a first downs.
| WR Santonio Holmes, Rush: 1 - 7 - 0, Rec: 4 - 133 - 0 (6 targets) |
Holmes night got off to a big bang as QB Ben Roethlisberger threw a deep pass to Holmes down the middle of the field and he took it to the St. Louis 13 yard. It was an 83 yard completion and Holmes almost took it the distance but the defender was able to run him out of bounds. He would come back to catch a 23 yard pass down the left side of the field on the next drive. Holmes added another ten yard catch as he had a big first half, catching three passes for 116 yards. He only had one catch for 17 yards in the second half.
| WR Nate Washington, Rec: 2 - 50 - 2 (2 targets) |
Washington caught a 17 yard touchdown pass on the Steelers' first drive of the game as QB Ben Roethlisberger found him in the corner of the end zone. His second catch of the game was another touchdown catch as Roethlisberger hit him on a perfectly thrown pass for 33 yards in the end zone. Washington made a nice catch as the defender would have been penalized for pass interference had he not caught the ball. He finished the first half with 50 yards receiving. He would not catch a pass in the second half.
| TE Heath Miller, Rec: 1 - 7 - 0 (2 targets) |
Miller was not much of a factor in this game as he only had one catch for seven yards.
| PK Jeff Reed 2 - 2 FG, 5 - 5 XP, 11 points |
Reed made a 21 yard field goal at the end of the first quarter and he would make a 29 yard one toward the end of the game.
| PIT Rush Defense |
The Steelers defense did a good job of shutting down the RB Steven Jackson in the second half by holding him to only 20 yards, after giving up 65 yards in the first half.
| PIT Pass Defense |
Ike Taylor made the biggest play of game for the Steelers defense by taking an interception back 51 yards for touchdown with about four minutes left in the game. The Pittsburgh did look shaky at times as they gave up three passing touchdowns in the game but they clamped down in the fourth quarter.
| QB Marc Bulger, Pass: 18 - 35 - 208 - 3 TD / 2 INT, Rush: 1 - 0 - 0 |
Bulger got off to a good start in this game as the Rams did a good job of mixing the run with the pass. He threw a little screen pass to RB Steven Jackson, who was able to make something from nothing and score from 12 yards out. Bulger was able to lead them back down the field and he threw his second touchdown pass to WR Isaac Bruce for 12 yards. Bulger played pretty well in the first half, even though the Steelers did a good job of getting pressure on him. He finished the first half nine for 17 for 101 and two touchdowns. He led St. Louis on an 81 yard drive on their first possession of the game and threw his third touchdown pass of the game to WR Drew Bennett on 23 yard completion. He threw a perfect pass to a well covered Bennett. Bulger did have two interceptions, one on the last play of the first half where they threw up a Hail Mary and another toward the end of the game on a desperation fourth and long.
| RB Steven Jackson, Rush: 12 - 85 - 0, Rec: 3 - 21 - 1 (4 targets) |
Jackson made an impact early in this game as he ran the ball very well and he took a short little screen pass and cut back across the field for a 12 yard touchdown reception. He busted a nice 36 yard run on the Rams' second possession and ran it to the Pittsburgh 12 yard line. He then went to the sidelines to rest for the next three plays, while the Rams were able to get the ball into the end zone while he was off the field. Jackson looked good in this game as he ran with great vision and was able to make good yardage gains when it looked like he had no where to run. Jackson only had five carries in the first half but, had 65 yards rushing. He added 18 yards receiving and a touchdown. Jackson didn't have as good of a second half, as he only rushed for 20 yards and had one catch for three yards.
| WR Isaac Bruce, Rec: 7 - 87 - 1 (9 targets) |
Bruce caught a 12 yard touchdown pass from QB Marc Bulger in the second quarter and he did a good job of keeping his feet in bounds on the play. He had four catches for 44 yards in the first half as the Pittsburgh secondary did a good job of not giving up any big pass plays. Bruce caught an 18 yard pass on the Rams first drive of the second half. He would come back with a big play a few downs later when he caught a 21 yard pass up the middle of the field on a third and long play. Bruce finished as St. Louis' leading receiver and was targeted often in this game.
| WR Torry Holt, Rec: 3 - 41 - 0 (10 targets) |
Holt had 19 yard catch in the first quarter and added a 14 yard reception later on. He only had two catches for 33 yards as the Steelers defense did a pretty good job on both Holt and Isaac Bruce in the first half. Holt had only one catch for eight yards in the second half and was seen having a heated exchange with head coach Scott Linehan on the sidelines after a Pittsburgh interception.
| WR Drew Bennett, Rec: 2 - 35 - 1 (7 targets) |
Bennett caught a 23 yard touchdown pass over the middle of the field with a defender draped all over him. It was a perfectly thrown ball by QB Marc Bulger and Bennett made a great over the shoulder catch. He would only catch one more pass for 12 yards in the game.
| TE Randy McMichael, Rec: 6 - 51 - 0 (7 targets) |
McMichael made an impact in the third quarter with a nice one handed reception for ten yards and a first down, on a third and long play to extend a St. Louis drive. McMichael would add three more catches in garbage time when the Steelers had the game well in hand.
| PK Jeff Wilkins 1 - 1 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 6 points |
Wilkins hit a 52 yard field goal late in the first half. He would add three extra points.
| STL Rush Defense |
The Rams run defense seemed to catch a big break when RB Willie Parker went out very early in the game with a broken leg, but RB Najeh Davenport ran very effectively on St. Louis and he totaled 123 yards rushing and backup RB Carey Davis added 28 yards.
| STL Pass Defense |
The St. Louis pass defense did not play very well as they gave up 261 passing yards to QB Ben Roethlisberger and three passing touchdowns. They did get good pressure on him and sacked Roethlisberger four times.
