Postgame quotes from the New England locker room
- Kevin Faulk, Running Back
- (On if the first half went how the team wanted it to go) “It is not about how you wanted it because we made some mistakes in the first half too. It was close where you wanted it to be at that point in the game against a team like that.”
- (On if he saw Ryan Clark’s hit on Wes Welker that knocked him out the game) “No, because I think I was blocking at the time. You could tell that was a hard hit because if Wes Welker stays down then it must have been a pretty hard hit.”
- (On the Patriots third down efficiency) “Well you just answered the question already. We had four, five turnovers in the second half. You can’t have that against a team like the Steelers.”
- (On the third quarter turnovers) “It’s always frustrating when you turn the ball over and then when you finish the game with a loss. That’s the most frustrating thing you can do, but hey the season’s not over yet. We have to come back, watch the film, look for our mistakes and come back and be ready to play next week.”
- (On how the weather affected the receivers) “It’s our job. It doesn’t matter what the weather conditions are we have to try to execute and do our job.”
- (On how Matt Cassel responded to adversity) “It’s not just about Matt, it’s about this whole team. We have to respond to adversity right now, we lost the game and we have to come back and bounce back next week.”
- Tedy Bruschi, Linebacker
- (On today’s game) “We try to pride ourselves on being a fundamentally-sound football team. When you have mistakes like we made out there it is just not good football. The ball was on the ground; they were breaking runs like they did and they are able to convert on third down, then all of a sudden you have a score that looks like it did on the scoreboard.”
- (On the poor weather conditions during the game) “Rain is rain. Snow is snow. Sun is sun. It is all about who takes care of the football better out there and who is able to force turnovers better out there. They did a better job of that than we did.”
- (On if he felt the offensive turnovers made it hard on the defense) “No, I wouldn’t say that. I can definitely tell you about how our attitude was in the huddle in there. When a situation is presented to us like that you just have to deal with it no matter where the football is. Whether [the football] is on the one-yard line or they get a fumble on the kickoff and they are in the red zone already. I think their offense came out fired up but I think we were up to the challenge. We wanted to get a stop and maybe force them to three [points] or try and get a turnover ourselves. I think we forced them to three [points] once. That was one of the first games I have been involved in where it seemed like the ball was on the ground so much. All of sudden, we are out there again. Whenever we got out there, it was just ‘this is what we have in front of us, and now we have to do our job.”
- Sammy Morris, Running Back
- (On the Patriots second half struggles) “Obviously not enough happened for us as a team. Turnovers will kill you, especially playing a team like Pittsburgh.”
- (On what the team will have to do to stay in the playoff race) “A couple weeks ago people were asking if it was a must-win and I would say that at this point of the season they are all must win. Obviously with a loss this late in the season it’s going to put a little more emphasis on this next game, on [it] being a bigger game for us.”
- (On the Patriots third down efficiency) “That’s the big thing about third downs, it keep drives going or it cuts them short. Especially when you go three-and-out, it cuts them short pretty abruptly. You add the turnovers and the scoreboard reflected [the outcome].”
- Ellis Hobbs, Cornerback
- (On whether every game is now a must-win) “I mean, starting in the beginning of the season, you have to think like that anyway. To play the way we do and lose, you just can’t expect the playoffs to be handed to us. It’s a competitive league this year.”
- (On what needs to be corrected) “I don’t want to jump to any conclusions. I have to see the film myself. First off, I’ll point the finger at myself. I’ll do whatever I can do to get better — hopefully, everybody else will do the same thing — and if everybody gets better individually, and as a team and just press that much harder, I think we can turn it around for this West Coast swing.”
- (On the weather and the turnovers) “This wasn’t our first time playing in crazy conditions. We’ve just got to make more plays on our side of the ball. We’ve just got to make more plays on offense and defense.”
- Matthew Slater, Wide Receiver
- (On fumbled kickoff return) “There’s no excuse. You have to field the ball. Yeah, it’s wet. Yeah, there’s rain. But I have to do my job.”
- (On the emotions he felt) “I’m frustrated. I cost my team the game. I just have to continue to work as long as I can, as hard as I can and go from there.”
- (On whether he saw the ball clearly) “I saw the ball. There’s no excuse. I just feel like I let the team down. You can’t give up the ball inside the 10, or the 5-yard line, whatever it was. Like I said, I have to do my job. It’s as simple as that. There are no excuses.”
- Jabar Gaffney, Wide Receiver
- (On the Patriot turnovers in the third quarter) “It was frustrating. We had the ball coming out in the second half and it was time to get back into the game and we let some opportunities go.”
- (On if the weather was a factor) “Both teams played in it, so you can never make an excuse for the weather. You just have to go play whatever the conditions.”
- (On being 1-for-13 on third downs) “You can’t win like that. You have to pick up third downs and keep the ball and we didn’t do a good job of that.”
- Logan Mankins, Guard
- (On the play of the Patriots offense) “Today was a pretty big disappointment for us. We came into the game with high hopes and we didn’t play very well. I can only speak for the offense but the second half was pretty ugly. You guys saw it, you saw a lot of the mistakes we made and you can’t win playing games like that.”
- (On the Steelers’ defensive line) “They have some pretty good players. I think a few of the pressures just came off the edge, they got around the edge and they got to [Matt] Cassel. It’s going to happen, and if we get another shot at them or when we play next week we can’t let that happen again.”
- (On momentum from the second quarter to the third) “I thought we had momentum coming out of the half. We drove down and missed a field goal but at least we drove down. We came back out, we’re driving the ball and it was second-and-one, sack, third-and-long, punt. That stuff kills you. Right after that we have the fumbled kickoff return, two strip sacks and an interception. You can’t beat Pop Warner teams doing that.”
- (On the offense) “I thought the first half was fine. We moved the ball. We didn’t score many points but we were moving the ball up and down the field I thought. The second half was just chaos. Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers. It was pretty ugly. Pittsburgh is just one of those teams that they do what they do. They are good at it.”
- (On mistakes) “When you go one play, turnover, one play turnover, you are not going to get into any rhythm at all. You are going to stay cold. That puts our defense in a tough, tough situation. For the most part they held their own. They were given the ball down by our [goal line] numerous times and [our defense] stopped them. The defense, they gave us a chance but we (the offense) didn’t give them a chance.”
- Mike Wright, Defensive Lineman
- (On the balance of the Steelers offense) “I can’t speak for the rest of the defense but I didn’t play the way I wanted to. I don’t think they got me off balance at all. I just have to play better. Have to play the run better and have to play the pass better. Also have to get more pressure on the quarterback and be more physical. I don’t know how it got out of hand. I don’t know. We need to be more physical and need to do our job better. That is all there is to it.”
- Brandon Meriweather, Safety
- (On the Steelers offense) “They have a great quarterback and actually they have a great offense. We expected them to come in and do exactly what they did, they just executed to perfection. They made plays and we didn’t. That is pretty much what got the game away from us.”
- (On the second half) “They just came to play in the second half and we didn’t. They did a great job of keeping us honest. They did a great job of running the ball and passing the ball. We really couldn’t just key in on one thing.”
Randy Moss postgame Q&A
Here’s what Randy Moss told the media after today’s game:
- Q: Coach Belichick said the whole story of the game was that you guys did not take advantage of opportunities. Do you feel like you let this one slip away? RM: I am speaking for myself. I am very disappointed in my play. Bill says time and time again, do your job. I always say as a wide receiver your job is to get open, catch the ball and score touchdowns. That first half and the whole game, there is nothing to say. We dropped balls. I didn’t really have a good game. I put a lot of blame on myself because I think this team really looks to me to do my job week in and week out. I don’t want to blame it on the weather. The balls were there, they just weren’t caught. This is something that will probably bother me until next Sunday. Hopefully this is something that we can rebound from. But, it does hurt. It is a bad taste.
- Q: Does the weather have an affect mentally? RM: I don’t really know what the feeling is but I think for the most part once you start catching you get into a rhythm and then you start feeling good. Once you drop one ball and you drop another ball I think it does start to affect you mentally. That is why they call us professionals because we are supposed to let the bad go and get back to playing football. I know, from my standpoint, that I didn’t play good today. I am not blaming it on the weather. I am not blaming it on the rain. The balls were hitting my hands, and hitting my body. I just couldn’t secure the catch. Hopefully, I can come out and have a good week of work and put this all behind me.
- Q: When it comes to Matt Cassel, he had a couple of interceptions and it is not something we have seen from him the last few games. Tonight was it just a matter of Pittsburgh’s defense? RM: Any given Sunday anything can happen. I think for the last couple of weeks we know from an offensive standpoint, the media and the fans have seen what Matt Cassel has done with this offense. So, in a certain sense people think we are riding high. But, football is football. I think once we came out in the second half a couple bad things happened and they trickled on down. Like I said before, part of being a professional is to play through adversity, let the bad go and try to make something positive out of anything. It was some bad football out there. A lot of the blame I am putting on myself. Hopefully, I can rebound.
Matt Cassel postgame Q&A, 11/30
Here’s Matt Cassel’s postgame Q&A from today’s game:
- Q: Can you talk about the number of turnovers you guys had? MC: A lot of turnovers, especially in the second half. Five turnovers in the second half; you can’t beat anybody doing that. That is what was very costly.
- Q: Was the weather a major factor in today’s game? MC: No, you can’t say that. The weather is the weather. You have to deal with whatever is out there. They had to deal with it too. When it comes down to it you can’t turn over the ball like that.
- Q: In the second half, was it something that Pittsburgh’s defense was doing to confuse you guys or was it lack of execution? MC: Lack of execution and they are a good defense. They made some plays out there. Our hats go off to them. They played well tonight.
- Q: How did you feel going into halftime? MC: Well it was 10-10 going into halftime and we were right where we thought we would be in the game. We didn’t turn the ball over in the first half and then you go out there and have five turnovers in the second half. That is a big difference maker.
- Q: It seemed like there were a lot of dropped balls today… MC: I missed some throws out there and maybe we missed some catches. That is just part of the game and that is going to happen. As an offense, we have to move forward. I really think the main thing for us was those turnovers. Anytime you go out there against a good defense, against a good team, who can manage the clock like they do and then turn over the ball, that takes away opportunities for us on offense and keeps our defense out on the field. We need to go back to the drawing board and do whatever we need to do to take care of the football.
- Q: Was it hard for you personally with the two strip sacks in the third quarter? MC: There is no doubt. As a quarterback, you have to go out and take care of the ball. That is your No. 1 priority. You get strip sacked twice and then those two turnovers on the interceptions. That is really what makes the difference.
- Q: Was it a ‘pilot error’ on the two strip sacks or was it that you were still processing what was going on down field? MC: It is just you drop back and go through your reads. Until I see it on film and really am able to analyze it, I couldn’t tell you ‘oh, well I was still going through my read or I held the ball too long.’
- Q: Where does a performance like this leave you guys? MC: Where does it leave us? It leaves us at 7-5 in the division right now. That is where it leaves us. We have four games left and we have to go out there and play well in all of them. This is still a tight race. We are going to go down to the wire here. Five [losses] aren’t going to knock us out of the playoffs right now but we have to come out and play better than we did today.
- Q: How did it affect you guys when Wes Welker was knocked out of the game? MC: Once one guy goes down, another guy has to step up. That is just how this league works. That is how our team works. We would love to have Wes [Welker] out there every single play. He is a guy that works hard and you want him out there. But if he doesn’t, then we have to move the next guy in and move on.
- Q: Can you talk about the offense’s game plan for this game? MC: For the game plan that we had and the structure that we had, we had a good idea of what they were going to do and how they were going to attack us. For the most part it played out how we thought it would.
- Q: You had a lot of success in the two games prior to today. How do you emotionally handle a game like this? MC: Emotionally, you just say ‘this is a loss and the last one was a win.’ You try to get better and go back to the drawing board and see what you need to do to get better.
- Q: You talked earlier in the week about not letting the ups and downs and distractions of your season affect how you play. Is this another occasion of where it just concerns you, the film room and the coaches? MC: That is exactly right. To be completely honest, I am not going to read anything you guys [media] write. We have to go out as a team and get better. That is what we have to do. It is not about Matt Cassel. This is about 11 guys on offense trying to get better and a team trying to get better. This isn’t about one guy’s performance or Matt Cassel and his stock rising or dropping. I could care less about that. I care about winning ball games. Tonight we lost so obviously I am upset.
Bill Belichick postgame Q&A, 11/30
Here’s Bill Belichick’s Q&A with the media from after today’s game:
- BB: We had a lot of opportunities out there today. We weren’t able to take care of some of the ones we had. Pittsburgh took advantage of those. That was really the difference in the game, the turnovers. It was a huge part of it. We just have to do a better job of taking care of the ball and taking advantage of opportunities. I really felt that we had enough out there but we just weren’t able to do enough with them.
- Q: What were the circumstances that led to Matthew Slater who is not your regular kickoff returner being back for the kickoff return in the third quarter? BB: Ellis [Hobbs] wasn’t out there.
- Q: Was there any thought to go with Kevin Faulk, a more experienced guy, because of the weather conditions? BB: Slater has been doing it.
- Q: (On James Harrison…) BB: They are a good pass rushing team. We have to do everything better. We have to block them better. We have to throw, catch [and] get the ball out on time. They just did a better job than we did.
- Q: There looked like there were some drops by either team early on, how much of a factor was the weather? BB: Yes, it was wet but there were plenty of catches out there, too. It is the end of November.
- Q: What does it say to you with the disparity of the score considering the turnovers? BB: Pittsburgh was the better team today. They beat us. They were the better team today.
- Q: You were 1-13 on third down conversions. Was there a particular package they were using or was it better execution by them? BB: They are a good third down defense. They lead the league in it. I think we need to do a better job than we did. Like I said, we had our chances in some others situations as well and we just weren’t able to take advantage of them.
- Q: Was it surprising to see Randy Moss drop a few passes the way he did? BB: I think there were a few plays everybody would like to have back – coaches and players.
- Q: Was it the same as last week with Dean Pees going up to the coaches box to call the game? BB: Yes, same set up.
- Q: Was it an especially rough game? BB: I think it is always physical when you play Pittsburgh. They are a physical team. I feel like we are a physical team, so it was a tough, hard hitting game. There was a lot of good contact out there and there always is when we play the Steelers.
- Q: What are your thoughts on the hit on Wes Welker? BB: I don’t have anything to say about that right now.
- Q: With Pierre Woods leaving the game are you concerned about the depth of the outside linebacker position? BB: We will see what we have for next week. I am not sure where that is right now, but we will see what we have going forward to next week. You hate to see anybody go out of the game. But, unfortunately that happens over the course of the year. Whatever it is, we will have to work our way through it.
- Q: The game was essentially over at that point but do you appreciate the hustle of Benjamin Watson at the end tackling Lawrence Timmons at the one-yard line. BB: Yes, definitely. I thought we played hard out there, I just didn’t think we played well. We didn’t play well enough. I thought there was a lot of good effort out there. We just have to do a better job than we did today. We have to take advantage of the opportunities we have.
- Q: Did Stephen Gostkowski’s missed field goal change the momentum going into the second half at all? BB: You always like to get the points when you send your field goal team out there. That’s why they are on the field. Pittsburgh had one of those at the end of the game, too, in the fourth quarter. We had the ball to start the third quarter and we didn’t take advantage of that opportunity either. I think that is the whole story of the game. We just didn’t take advantage of our opportunities and that goes all the way across the board.
- Q: What were your thoughts on Kevin Faulk’s performance? BB: Kevin is a good football player. He always seems to make some plays for us.
Game Notes
Thanks to the Patriots’ PR staff, here are a few postgame notes from this afternoon:
- FAULK MOVES INTO FOURTH ON PATRIOTS ALL-TIME RECEPTIONS LIST
- On a 9-yard reception in the third quarter, Kevin Faulk moved past Irving Fryar into sole possession of fourth place on the Patriots’ all-time receptions list. The 9-yard catch was the 364th reception of Faulk’s 10-year career and moved him past Fryar’s total of 363 receptions for the Patriots from 1984-1992. Faulk, who finished the game with 366 career catches, now trails only Troy Brown (557), Stanley Morgan (534) and Ben Coates (490) on the Patriots’ all-time receptions list. Faulk has had at least one reception in each game this season and has caught a pass in 42 straight regular-season games in which he has appeared.
- FAULK HAS SECOND STRAIGHT 100-YARD GAME FROM SCRIMMAGE
- Kevin Faulk totaled 121 yards from scrimmage, leading the team with 73 rushing yards and also pacing the club with 48 receiving yards on a team-best seven receptions. Today’s game marked the second straight contest in which Faulk has exceeded 100 yards from scrimmage (he had 105 scrimmage yards last week at Miami). Through 12 games this season, Faulk has totaled 808 yards from scrimmage (445 rushing and 363 receiving), a total that ranks second on the team to Wes Welker’s 894 scrimmage yards (26 rushing and 868 receiving). Since 2000, Faulk leads the Patriots in total scrimmage yards and is one of just six NFL players to have totaled more than 2,000 rushing yards and 3,000 receiving yards this decade (2000-08). The others to achieve the feat are Tiki Barber, Marshall Faulk, LaDainian Tomlinson, Brian Westbrook and Michael Pittman.
- FAULK GOES LONG
- Kevin Faulk had a 41-yard run in the second quarter, recording the third longest rush of his 10-year career and his longest since breaking a career-long 45-yard touchdown run on Nov. 3, 2002. The rush was the longest of the year against the Steelers, topping the previous best of 22 yards by Washington’s Clinton Portis on Nov. 3. Faulk’s 41-yard run was his third rush of 20 yards or longer in the last three games after having just three rushes of 20 yards or more in his previous five seasons (2003-07). Faulk entered the game as the Patriots’ leading rusher with 372 rushing yards, totaling his highest single-season total since compiling a career-best 638 rushing yards in 2003.
- FAULK MOVES INTO TOP 25 ON PATRIOTS GAMES PLAYED LIST
- Kevin Faulk is playing in his 134th game as a Patriot this afternoon, moving him into the top 25 on the Patriots’ all-time games played list. Faulk’s total of 134 games tie defensive back Don Webb (1961-71) for 25th place. Faulk is in his 10th season with the Patriots since being selected in the second round (46th overall) of the 1999 NFL Draft out of Louisiana State.
- VRABEL INTERCEPTION LEADS TO EARLY TOUCHDOWN
- Mike Vrabel leapt into the air and intercepted a Ben Roethlisberger pass near the line of scrimmage in the first quarter, recording his 11th career interception and his first since Dec. 3, 2006. Vrabel returned the interception five yards to the Steelers’ 14-yard line and set up a 3-play, 14-yard drive that ended in a 2-yard touchdown run by Sammy Morris and a 7-0 Patriots lead 2:59 into the game. New England scored off of an opponents turnover for the fourth straight week. Vrabel was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round of the 1997 NFL Draft and played four seasons for Pittsburgh (1997-2000) before joining the Patriots prior to the 2001 season.
- MORRIS SCORES
- Sammy Morris plunged into the end zone from two yards out to give the Patriots a 7-0 lead with 2:59 elapsed in the game. The touchdown was Morris’s fifth rushing score of the season and was the 22nd rushing touchdown of his career. The touchdown was Morris’s first since Oct. 20.
- QUICK HITS
- Randy Moss hauled in a 27-yard pass from Matt Cassel in the first quarter. Heading into the game, the Steelers had allowed the NFL’s lowest number of plays of 20 yards or more (16), holding a solid lead over the next best team (Washington, 26).
- Jerod Mayo stopped Willie Parker in the backfield for a 2-yard loss in the first quarter, forcing the Steelers into a second-and-long situation that resulted in Mike Vrabel’s interception.
- Vince Wilfork and Le Kevin Smith combined to stop Pittsburgh’s Gary Russell for no gain on third-and-one from the Patriots’ 2-yard line in the first quarter, keeping the Steelers out of the end zone and forcing a 20-yard field goal on the next play that preserved the Patriots’ lead, 7-3.
- Tedy Bruschi provided pressure on Ben Roethlisberger on third-and-three in the second quarter, helping to force an incompletion on the play and a Steelers punt on the following play.
- Ellis Hobbs and Richard Seymour combined to sack Ben Roethlisberger for a 7-yard loss on first down in the second quarter. The sack raised Seymour’s 2008 sack total to 7.5, and gave him a total of 6.5 sacks in the last 7 games.
- SCORING FIRST STREAK SNAPPED
- The Patriots scored first today to take a 7-0 lead, but fell to the Steelers 33-10. Today’s result broke a streak of 23 straight regular season victories when scoring first. Prior to today, the last time the Patriots lost a game in which they scored first was on November 12, 2006 against the New York Jets.
- WELKER’S STREAK OF GAMES WITH 6+ CATCHES SNAPPED
- Wes Welker finished the afternoon with four receptions, snapping his streak of 15 straight games (including playoffs) in which he had six or more catches. Prior to today, the last time Welker did not have at least six catches was on Dec. 23, 2007 against Miami, when he finished with five receptions. Welker had totaled at least six receptions in each of this season’s first 11 games, setting an NFL record for most consecutive games with six or more receptions to begin a season (topping the previous record of eight, set by Jacksonville’s Jimmy Smith in 2001).
- SWAT TEAM
- Ellis Hobbs broke up a Ben Roethlisberger pass intended for Santonio Holmes on third down in the second quarter, forcing a Pittsburgh punt on the next play.
- Deltha O’Neal broke up a deep Roethlisberger pass in the second quarter intended for Nate Washington.
- Mike Vrabel tipped away a Roethlisberger pass intended for Holmes on a first down in the first quarter.
Patriots starting offense
Here’s the Patriots’ starting offense:
- QB: Matt Cassel
- RB: Kevin Faulk
- TE: Dave Thomas, Ben Watson
- WR: Wes Welker, Randy Moss
- OL: Matt Light, Stephen Neal, Dan Koppen, Logan Mankins, Nick Kaczur
Patriots starting defense
New England opened in a 3-4 defense, and here’s who got the call to start:
- DL: Richard Seymour, Vince Wilfork, Mike Wright
- LB: Pierre Woods, Tedy Bruschi, Jerod Mayo, Mike Vrabel
- CB: Deltha O’Neal, Ellis Hobbs
- S: Brandon Meriweather, James Sanders
Inactives
- PATRIOTS: QB Matt Gutierrez, WR Kelley Washington, RB LaMont Jordan, T Wesley Britt, G Billy Yates, TE Tyson DeVree, DL Ty Warren, LB Adalius Thomas.
- STEELERS: QB Dennis Dixon, CB Bryant McFadden, CB Fernando Bryant, RB Najeh Daveport, LB Bruce Davis, OT Tony Hills, T Marvel Smith, DE Brett Keisel.
We’re at Gillette
- We are on our seat here at Gillette Stadium, set for this afternoon’s Patriots-Steelers game. The weather is cold and dank, and expected to get worse as the afternoon goes on. Our plan is pass along news and notes as the game continues, as well as some occasional analysis. In addition, at the end of the game, we’ll have game notes, as well as quotes from the locker room.
- There are a few players on the field going through warmups, but no one is in pads quite yet. In addition to the local reporters, there’s a sizable contingent of national reporters who have been credentialed for today’s game, including ESPN.com, NBCSports.com, Yahoo and The New York Times.
- Here are a few quick numbers to look for this afternoon:
- 1: The number of fourth-quarter leads the Patriots need to hold to set the post-merger NFL record for most consecutive victories entering the fourth quarter. New England has won 38 straight games in which it has held the lead entering the final quarter.
- 3: The number of sacks Mike Vrabel needs to reach 50 for his Patriots career, becoming the sixth player in team history to reach that plateau.
- 15: The number of consecutive games (including playoffs) in which Wes Welker has had at least six receptions.
- 67: The number of receiving yards Randy Moss needs to reach 13,000 for his career.
- 158: The number of receiving yards Randy Moss needs to pass Steve Largent and move into the NFL’s top 10 all-time leaders in receiving yards.
- 385: The number of passing yards Matt Cassel needs to reach 3,000 for the season and become the seventh player in franchise history to throw for 3,000 yards or more in a season.
- 1.000: The Steelers winning percentage (8-0) when they hold a passer to 175 yards or fewer. Pittsburgh is 0-3 when it allows 175 yards or more.
Bill Belichick Q&A, 11/26
Thanks to the Patriots’ PR staff, here’s Bill Belichick’s Q&A with the media from earlier today:
- BB: We feel like we are back in the division again with the annual game or two against Pittsburgh. As usual they look pretty good. There aren’t enough superlatives to use on their defense. They lead the league in everything and deserve to. They are very good at every position and have a great scheme. They are well coached. They are tough. They blitz well. They tackle well. They cover well. You can’t run the ball against them. They are very good in all of those things. I think they have improved tremendously in the kicking game from last year. From a coverage standpoint they are right at the top of the league in kickoff coverage. They do a good job covering punts. You get a guy like [James] Harrison who has twelve sacks and is right at the top in special teams tackles. He is a really complete player. Offensively, running backs [Mewelde] Moore and [Willie] Parker have different styles that we have to be aware of. They have a great quarterback, very good skill players, tight ends, wide receivers – [Hines] Ward, [Santonio] Homles, Heath Miller, [Nate] Washington. They are pretty well loaded and have a big offensive line. They are a real good football team. They are well coached. I think Mike Tomlin has done a real good job there and Kevin [Colbert] for putting that team together. They do a lot of things well to make you earn every yard you get and you have to stop them. They don’t do a lot of things to stop themselves. We are going to have to play a good football game out there on Sunday in every phase of the game. They challenge you all the way across the board. They have a good kicker. They do a lot of things well, as they usually do.
- Q: With Dick LeBeau having been there for so long it seems like they have run the same system defensively for 15 years now. How much has it varied? Is it the same defense that you have seen every single year? BB: Yes.
- Q: Is there an advantage to that? BB: They have a big scheme. It is not like they just do one or two things. They have a pretty good scheme and they tailor it to their personnel. With a guy like [Troy] Polamalu there are some things that he does but before that it was [Carnell] Lake. Out of curiosity I have gone back to some of my scouting reports in Cleveland where we played them twice a year and it is the same blitzes. Instead of being four wide receivers it is three wide receivers and a tight end with Heath Miller who is like a receiver at tight end. But it is the same basic plays, same protections. I don’t want to say there are no changes but they are minor. In this day and age that is pretty rare. Same thing offensively, they run a lot of the same off tackle, outside runs, more one back than they used to be. They were more two back in the past but they are a little more one back now and spread out a little bit more. When they run the ball it is still the same kind of blocking scheme. They are very good at it.
- Q: I would assume that if you have had the same system in place for so long the execution has to be at a high level. BB: The execution, particularly in that defense, it is probably as veteran as any team you are going to get. They have been doing it in that system for a long time. I think when you have that kind of continuity it helps the drafting process because your scouts know exactly what each position’s requirements are. They can see different guys doing it through the years and why one guy has been more successful than another guy and what attributes you have to play: outside linebacker, inside linebacker, defensive end or corner. You don’t have to worry about every two years changing coordinators. They are very consistent, so I think that helps the drafting and the player acquisition process. It helps the execution from the guys who are doing it, doing it repetitively and doing it with the same people. You want to keep your offensive line together and communicate and see the game through one set of eyes. Defensively, you like to do the same thing with your front seven and your secondary. You want to do that with the same people as much as you can. There is a lot of that there.
- Q: In your eyes has the team been successful because of their speed and athleticism or is it the quick reaction from knowing the system so well? BB: I would say it is a combination of power, speed, athleticism and reaction. They are well coached, they have good players and they play well. They play well every week. You can see them playing well every week. They are consistent. Their quality of players is high. Their scheme is good. They are well coached. They are well prepared and they are consistent. They are a very powerful and physical team. They are as physical as any team we will play. Their power, I think, is a tougher matchup than their speed. I am not saying they don’t have good speed but a lot of times they just overpower people.
- Q: Are Willie Parker and Mewelde Moore’s styles similar? BB: I would say they are pretty contrasting. Parker is fast. He is a good perimeter runner. I would say Moore is more along the Kevin Faulk lines. He is quicker, smaller guy, good receiver, kick returner. But I think Parker has a little more power and straight line speed. Parker is as fast as any back in the league. Fred Taylor and guys like that, they can really run. He can really run.
- Q: You mentioned going back to your notes of when you were in Cleveland, is that something you do often?
- BB: No, most teams have changed eight times since then.
- Q: What led you to do that? BB: Just out of curiosity. We were talking about it. Ernie [Adams] and I were together in Cleveland and we were sitting around talking about it. It is the same way they ran it back then, right? We go back to our notes and yes, it is the same thing.
- Q: Is your handwriting still good? BB: It was better then. I am saying that in a positive way that there haven’t been a lot of teams that have been able to stay the same and not be forced to make changes in one way or another. I remember their whole first and second down against multiple receivers defensive philosophy. That changed one time about five or six years ago and it looks like they might have changed it back. There is not much of that.
- Q: I know no coach likes to go into a game with a fine or suspension pending on one of his starters. If it is a fine over a suspension do you feel like that is a bullet dodged in the case of Matt Light? BB: We will prepare the same way we always do. Right now, we are preparing for everybody to be ready to go.
- Q: Does that mean Matt Light has practiced with the first team this week? BB: That means we prepare just like we do every week.
- Q: How deep are the notes that you have taken over the years? BB: It is the thickest file. It was the thickest file in Cleveland because the coaching was the same and playing them twice a year. We played them when I came here in 1996. That was the playoff game out here in the fog. Then we have been playing them, it seems like twice a year here a couple times. It hasn’t been too many years that we haven’t played them, I don’t think.
- Q: To you is that an important job that the head coach has, to keep notes to refer to? BB: Well, most of that stuff has changed even going back to Barry Foster and Eric Green. There are a lot of different players now. I am just saying from a scheme standpoint they have had a lot of consistency and certainly watching them play 11 games this year has a lot more impact on what we do than anything that happened back in the ‘90’s or back in ’02 or ’03. But, I am saying that it is pretty much the same. Harrison is different than [Jason] Gildon and Gildon was different than Kevin Greene and Kevin Greene was different than Greg Lloyd. But, they are all 10 sack or more a year guys. Whoever those players are they have been able to maintain a lot of continuity in their system even though the players have changed multiple times through the years.
- Q: Is there some element of that here because Dante Scarnecchia has been here so long, that your scouts know the type of players that he prefers? BB: Yes, but I think that has been the whole program since 2000. If the coach stays but you change coaches and you change systems…Like Larry’s [Kennan] offensive system before we got here and Charlie [Weis] was the coordinator – we ran that offense. But, even though we have changed coordinators our offensive system hasn’t changed. It certainly changed between 1999 and 2000. Even though you are an assistant coach in the same system if the system changes, which sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t, it didn’t in Pittsburgh but it did here in 2000. I think the scouts have to recognize the system change even though the coach might be the same.
- Q: On Logan Mankins… BB: I would say Logan is one of our most consistent players on and off the field. He is really pretty much the same guy every day. It is like time standing still. He has played that one spot. We have never really moved him. He has played well. I am not saying that he hasn’t improved, he has improved. He has played that same spot and he has played it pretty well. He has the same personality whether he was a rookie or whether he is a veteran player, one of the more experienced players now on our team. He is pretty consistent.
- Q: Why did James Harrison take so long to blossom? BB: I think it is more just opportunity. It is a little bit like Mike [Vrabel]. I think Mike was a good player when he was at Pittsburgh but he had a couple guys ahead of him and they didn’t give him much of an opportunity. He got more of an opportunity here and he has been pretty good here.
- Q: How much different does James Harrison show up on film than Joey Porter? BB: He is a very unique player. He matches up well against everybody. Dean [Pees] coached him in college and he was pretty dominant there. He is a smaller more compact, explosive guy. You see a lot of outside linebackers in a 3-4 defense that are 6-3, 6-4 or 6-5 that have a longer reach and a more linear style of play. He is a more compact guy, which is a little more unusual for that position. But he is really fast, explosive and powerful and he can still rush the edge even against those bigger tackles. It is kind of like Dwight Freeney. Freeney is six feet but you don’t see a lot of right ends that are that short that don’t have that kind of length. But, he has great explosion and quickness like Harrison does.
- Q: If you don’t have that length you have to be able to cover a lot of lateral… BB: You have to be able to win somehow. If you don’t win with power then you have to win with quickness, speed or technique. You have to have some winning pitch. If you only have one then some guys are going to be able to defend that. If you have two or three like Harrison does… I think Harrison has as much skill as anyone else but it is just that he is in a different package. He is not 6-4 but he is fast, explosive, very powerful and quick. He is a good technique player. He has great instincts. He does a great job of using his assets and using them in a complimentary way so you are not always blocking the same thing. Like I said, to me it is different but similar to Freeney.
- Q: On shorter pass rushers having an edge… BB: It is different. I don’t think it is better or worse. I think the better player is the better player. The shorter guys don’t do very well out there. You don’t see very many of them. The reason is because you are playing against tackles with a lot of length and height for the most part. So the ones that do well have to be exceptional in other areas like Harrison and Freeney are. Freeney may be right. He may have an advantage because he is different than the rest of them but it is hard for a big guy to push down on a little guy and get their hands on them like they can do on a 6-5 guy. You see guys that are 6-5 that are fast and come off the edge with great speed. But, a shorter player has a shorter stride length and a lot of times they are quicker and can make the up and under move quicker than the guy with the great length in stride that can get the edge. Sometimes those guys don’t have as much power or sometimes they do. It just depends on the player and what his skill set is. Harrison is shorter but he has a lot of skill. That guy is a really good player and it shows up in the kicking game too. He makes a lot of plays on special teams. He can run. He is tough. He is a good tackler. He is quick in space and he is a hard guy to match up against.