Cover / Artwork » Roethlisberger found Santonio Holme

Ten Years Later: The bounty game against the Steelers and Ravens This week Womens Jerome Bettis Jersey , the time circuits on my BTSC Delorean are set to a time when Beverly Hills Chihuahua topped the box office, as confused movie-goers looked for Eddie Murphy and not a dog in a sombrero. Pink’s “So What?” was big on the radio and the Dow slumped 777 points in what was the biggest single-day drop ever. Welcome to September 29, 2008. The Steelers were hosting the Ravens on Monday Night Football to complete Week 4. The Ravens were 2-0 and storming into Heinz Field with a new coach (John Harbaugh) and Joe Flacco at the helm. Rex Ryan’s defense wasn’t ranked as high as usual, but Ed Reed, Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs, Bart Scott and Haloti Ngata were a dangerous bunch. How criminally dangerous we didn’t know until later on MNF. The Steelers were 2-1, but had just gotten embarrassed a week before in Philadelphia. Roethlisberger looked pedestrian and was injured, the Offensive Line was the wrong kind of “offensive” and the defense wasn’t sharp either. A win was imperative to get the team back on track, especially when a bitter rival was visiting.The hard-hitting rivalry remained just that, as Andre Frazier was hurt on the opening kickoff and had to be stretchered off. It was a precursor of the brutality that was to come.The Steelers’ defense was without Casey Hampton and Brett Keisel against a run-first team. But the defense shut down Willis McGahee and LeRon McClain on the first few drives.The Steelers’ first drive featured Ben Roethlisberger completions to Nate Washington, Heath Miller and Santonio Holmes, as well as nice runs by Rashard Mendenhall. But Corey Ivy sacked Ben on third down and Pittsburgh had to settle for a Jeff Reed 49-yarder with 6:44 to go in the first quarter.On 3rd-and-long during the next drive, LT Adam Terry saw James Harrison blow by him and plant Flacco into the turf to force a punt. After the punt, Roethlisberger looked to go deep but threw a five-foot pass right into the gut of Ngata for the INT. That led to a Matt Stover 33-yard boot to tie the game with only :22 left in the quarter.Photo by: Gregory Shamus/Getty ImagesAfter stopping the Steelers, Flacco and his backfield drove down the field aided by runs and passes to McClain and McGahee. The drive halted on the Steelers’ three and Stover converted a chip-shot for a 6-3 lead.With less then four minutes in the half, the boo-birds came out at Heinz Field as Roethlisberger was sacked twice. To make things worse Jerome Bettis Jersey , Kendall Simmons had to be helped off of the field after the second sack and third of the game. The Steelers’ offense was in the midst of an 8-quarter TD drought and the OL’s poor, 8-sack performance against Philadelphia the week before looked less like an anomaly and more like a persistent problem.Aided by good field position, Flacco again looked like an accomplished veteran as he led his team into scoring territory. A few plays after McClain rumbled a screen pass 28-yards and the Steelers’ D took undisciplined penalties, No. 5 threw his first NFL TD pass. The 8-yard score to TE Daniel Wilcox made the score 13-3, as a stunned home crowd sat through halftime in disbelief.The second half didn’t start any better, as Rashad Mendenhall got absolutely walloped by Ray Lewis and walked off with his shoulder hanging low. The Steelers had to punt yet again.This play was quite significant as it launched the rivalry into an even nastier stratosphere. Instead of calling for help, Lewis boasted, “You’re done,” to the fallen first-rounder. Suggs later bragged on radio that a bounty was out on Mendenhall and Hines Ward.“The bounty was out on him and the bounty was out on (Ward). We just didn’t get him between the whistles.” said Suggs on ESPN’s Mike and Mike. Admitting to a major breach of football law and the Ravens were still never punished. Wow!With Mendy starting in place of an injured Willie Parker, out of the game and for the season, Bruce Arians’ offense had to turn to FB Carey Davis and their 3rd-down back, Mewelde Moore. Still, they couldn’t get anything going. Fortunes finally shifted towards the end of the third quarter. Jarrett Johnson, who never was penalized for 15 yards in his entire career of six years, got nailed for hitting Hines Ward out of bounds. Ward was instigating, as he did so well. With 4:12 left in the third, s across the middle and he sprinted all the way into the end zone for a 38-yard score. Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty ImagesDefense prevailed once again on the very next play after the kickoff. James Harrison burst through Terry and pummeled Joe Flacco. The ball spurted from the rookie’s grasp and LaMarr Woodley hustled to fall on the ball. But realizing that he was in the clear James Conner Jersey , he rolled over and sprang to his feet to dash to glory. No. 56 leapt into the stands and celebrated with a throng of fans. Just like that, the Steelers were up 17-13 and the Heinz Field crowd became its boisterous self again. Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty ImagesWith 12:30 left in the game, the Steelers tried to put the nail in Baltimore’s coffin. Roethlisberger ducked Bart Scott on a blitz and found a wide-open Hines Ward who rumbled all the way down to the Raven 10-yard line for 49 yards on the play. However, the Steelers had to settle for a Jeff Reed field goal from 18 yards when the drive stalled at the one. The score was 20-13 in favor of the home team.Harrison and Woodley continued to run wild with an elapsing clock in the fourth quarter, however Flacco completed a 35-yard pass to Mason from the Steelers 40. With 2nd and goal to go, McClain’s dominance continued when he ran over Lawrence Timmons for a 5-yard touchdown. With 4:02 left on the clock, it was a 20-20 tie.Carey Davis exited with a bad left ankle, so Mewelde Moore was the only back available for Pittsburgh. The Steelers couldn’t get in Reed’s range, so they punted. The Ravens surrendered their final time out when McClain got hurt and limped off with less than a minute to go. Baltimore opted to take a knee and try their luck in overtime.The Ravens won the coin toss and Ray Lewis, like he did everything, vociferously yelled, “We wanna receive! We wanna receive! We wanna receive! We wanna receive!”, which they did. With an accurate kicker in Stover and sudden-death rules, nerves were tight in the Steel City. But Yamon Figurs great return past the 50 was negated by four flags and the drive began at the Baltimore 15. Great coverage by Bryant McFadden on Mason and a third down sack by Timmons of Flacco, gave the Steelers a shot at the win. Ben went deep to Santonio, but it fell incomplete. On third down, Moore took a short pass and rambled for 24 and the Steelers were in range for Reed. A few plays later https://www.thesteelerslockerroom.com/authentic-terrell-edmunds-jersey , No. 3 came in and nailed a 46-yarder for the OT win. There was much rejoicing as the Steelers vanquished their rival for the first of three times in that magical season. Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty ImagesAs for me, I was quietly trying to watch the game on the bedroom floor as my 13-month-old and my pregnant wife were deep in slumber. But I couldn’t control myself when Woodley scored in the third and screamed in complete joy. The child cried, my wife yelled and I apologized as I fibbed about stubbing a toe. She went back to bed as I worked to get my son back to sleep, which was a chore back then. Now in a rocker, I whispered to my son the significance of the game as I rocked him back to dreamland. It was our first bonding moment with the Steelers. It just felt right and I felt like the king of the world. For the past 2½ months, one thing has been clear in the NFL: Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints are hard to stop.The Saints’ winning streak reached 10 games with their 31-17 victory over Atlanta on Thanksgiving night.The Saints will play their second consecutive Thursday night game when they open Week 13 by facing the Dallas Cowboys.And it’s not the least bit surprising that the surging Saints kept the No. 1 spot in the latest AP Pro32 poll. They received all 12 first-place votes and 384 points in balloting Tuesday by media members who regularly cover the NFL.“Right here, right now, Drew Brees is this year’s MVP in a very crowded field of contenders,” Newsday’s Bob Glauber said. “At almost 40 years old, he’s playing perhaps his best football, with 29 touchdown passes and just two interceptions.”The league’s other 10-1 team, the Los Angeles Rams, stayed at No. 2 after its bye week. And the Kansas City Chiefs, who also were on a bye last week, remained No. 3.Tom Brady and the New England Patriots are still No. 4 after disposing of the New York Jets 27-13.The only change in the top five was the Chicago Bears, who inched up a spot to No. 5 after topping the Lions 23-16 on Thanksgiving as backup quarterback Chase Daniel threw for 230 yards and two touchdowns in place of the injured Mitchell Trubisky.The Los Angeles Chargers jumped two places to No. 6 after dominating Arizona 45-10 as Philip Rivers tied the NFL mark for consecutive completions at 25 and the broke record for the most to start a game.And the Houston Texans, who have won eight in a row after a 0-3 start Womens Terrell Edmunds Jersey , remained No. 7 after topping the Tennessee Titans 34-17 on Monday night.“The surging Texans honored late owner Bob McNair with an eighth consecutive victory behind a powerful ground game and the usual stingy defense,” said Ira Kaufman of Fox 13 in Tampa, Florida.The Pittsburgh Steelers dropped three spots to No. 8 after their 24-17 loss at Denver.“Big Ben blows the game in Denver,” Fox Sports’ John Czarnecki said of Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who threw for 462 yards but had two interceptions and now has 12 for the season.They will look to rebound Sunday night when they host the Chargers, who are expected to be without running back Melvin Gordon, who sprained the medial collateral ligament in his right knee during the rout of the Cardinals.The Minnesota Vikings and Seattle Seahawks, who are both in contention for wild-card spots in the NFC, each moved up a spot to Nos. 9 and 10.Among the teams making the biggest drop was the Cincinnati Bengals, who plummeted five spots to No. 24. They have lost five of six after a 4-1 start and will finish the season without quarterback Andy Dalton, who went on injured reserve with a thumb injury to his throwing hand.“The record may not show it, but this could very well be the NFL’s worst team by year’s end,” said Alex Marvez of Sirius XM.