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Oh my goodness!http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06012/636611.stm
LB Porter challenges Colts
Thursday, January 12, 2006
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Joey Porter shattered the peace of sweet comments expressing deference for Steelers opponents yesterday when the Pro Bowl linebacker sneered at what he called the Indianapolis Colts' finesse style of play, and said they did not dare line up against the Steelers and play "football."
"They don't want to just sit there, line up and play football," Porter charged. "They want to try to catch you off guard. They don't want to play smash-mouth football, they want to trick you. ... They want to catch you substituting. Know what I mean? They don't want to just call a play, get up there and run a play. They want to make you think. They want it to be a thinking game instead of a football game."
Edgerrin James ran for 124 yards Nov. 28, ending the Steelers' streak of 22 games not allowing a 100-yard rusher. He carried 29 times and did not have a carry longer than 10 yards. But Porter even scoffed at that accomplishment.
"I still think it was a cheap 100."
After Indianapolis won, 26-7, in the RCA Dome, several Colts remarked that they had beaten the Steelers at their own game, using a physical style. Even wide receiver Marvin Harrison was penalized for fighting with cornerback Ike Taylor and grabbing his facemask.
"We just wanted to go out today and play a physical ballgame and show the world that we can do that when we need to," defensive tackle Corey Simon said after that win.
Porter was taken aback by that, and quickly veered from coach Bill Cowher's request to his players this week not to stir up the opponent with trash talk.
"I don't think they outhit us," Porter said. "If they would have outhit us, they would have just lined up, and they wouldn't have done all the audibles every play. If you want to outhit us, line up and play football. That's when you outhit us. Line up, you get your people, we got our eight men in the box, run the ball."
The Colts run a no-huddle offense that relies heavily on Peyton Manning's precision passing game. They ranked third in the NFL in passing and 16th in rushing, although James did rush for 1,506 yards this season. Porter said James was not a physical runner.
"He's not the run-over type. He just leans forward. It's not like he's just out there to truck nobody. He's not a Jerome [Bettis] or nothing like that. He's one of those guys who has good balance and if you don't wrap him up, he's going to stay on his feet."
Porter said they pick up cheap yards on the ground when they have defenses spread out to defend against the pass.
"Don't try to run the ball when we're in the 3-2 sub package!" Porter said. "We have three down linemen, then you try to run the ball. That's not outhitting us; that's trying to outthink us."
The more Porter talked in the locker room after practice, the more momentum he gained on the topic. He at least acknowledged that the no-huddle offense should not be banned, but that doesn't mean he has to respect it.
"They can't say that finesse game is physical; it's clearly not physical. If they were a physical football team like that, they would just do what we do, line up and run the football. You know what I mean? That's not the way they want to do it. They want to try to catch you off guard. That's the way they want to play."
Porter said he was unaware the Colts boasted about being physical with the Steelers after that Nov. 28 game.
"Now that you said they outhit us, that's giving me a little more extra motivation to make sure I put on my big boy pads and make sure we do some hitting out there."
Porter said to get the Colts out of their game, the Steelers have to get a quick lead, or at least prevent Indianapolis from doing so. He said the Colts weren't stout enough to play the kind of game the Steelers do.
"Nah, nah. They won't just sit up and run on us. They have to have the play-action in there. Just sitting up there, lining up and running against us isn't going to happen. ...
"They want you to get up there, arguing, switch people around and make you switch people around, catch you when you're not ready. That's their game plan. That's the way they play. Hopefully we can change their game into our game, turn it into a smash-mouth football game."
The Colts outgained the Steelers, 366-197, in November, and the Steelers lost one more turnover. Indianapolis led at halftime, 16-7, and ran that to 23-7 after Bill Cowher's choice to try a fake onside kick to open the second half failed and the Colts turned it into a touchdown.
"We missed a field goal, we had some false starts in crucial situations," Porter said. "I feel like we missed some opportunities we had. The game could have been much closer than it was. When you squander opportunities like that and they take advantage of theirs, then the score comes out like it is and it looks like that.
"But they know they were in a game."
Note: I appologize to the mods, but this piece deserved to be posted in full.