In the desert, Pittsburgh lost to itself

By Darrell Laurant  |   Friday, October 05, 2007  |  Comments( 1 )

Pittsburgh Steelers
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No longer is anyone asking the question: Can the Pittsburgh Steelers be beaten?

That's because they have been, 21-14 by the Arizona Cardinals. They were beaten by a team coached by Ken Whisenhunt, who lost out to Mike Tomlin for the Steelers' head coaching job (Cardinal assistant Russ Grimm was also a finalist for that job). And they were beaten in a traditional Steeler manner -- stop the running game, excel on special teams.

In fact, Tomlin's squad almost seemed at times to be staring at a mirror image of itself. Like the best Steeler defenses, the Cardinals featured a force in the middle (Darnell Dockett, who had three of the four sacks on Ben Roethlisberger), aggressive linebackers (Calvin Pace and Karlos Danby) and a ball-hawking secondary (two picks). True, Arizona ran a 4-3 instead of the Steelers' 3-4, but the results were pretty much the same.

If Willie Parker can't run, the Steelers generally can't win -- and on Sunday, "Fast Willie" gained only 37 yards in 18 carries as the Cardinals stacked the box and dared Roethlisberger to beat them. He almost did, with a couple of TD passes to Santonio Holmes, but was basically hurried the entire game.

Whisenhunt, who greeted his former co-workers warmly before the game, downplayed the fact that he was intimately familiar with the Steelers' game plan and tendencies. After all, that was Bill Cowher's team, not Tomlin's -- and game film generally provides all the information a team needs to compete.

It may have been more that the Cardinals wanted to win for their coaches. And, Dockett said, for themselves.

"I think all week, even in my own family, people didn't give us a chance," he said, "and I kind of took that personally."

The Seattle Seahawks come to Heinz Field on Sunday, and the Steelers will be trying to get the injured Troy Polamalu and Casey Hampton back into the lineup. Even without them, however, and taking away Steve Breaston's 74-yard punt return, Pittsburgh held Arizona to 14 points.

It was by far the worst performance this season for the Steelers' offensive line, which couldn't create any room for Parker. Somehow, the Cardinals managed to stuff the run and still pursue Roethlisberger with a vengeance. Usually, the Steelers do that.

And Steve Breaston? He's from Pittsburgh.
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