By Andy ("Yellow-malu"), via Wikimedia Commons

Troy Polamalu has been named the AFC Defensive Player of the Week for Week 17.

Polamalu had two tackles, three pass breakups, and an interception in the Week 17 matchup against the Cleveland Browns. In other words, business as usual for the reigning Defensive Player of the Year.

• LaMarr Woodley has been named the AFC Defensive Player of the Month for October. After a slow start Woodley had an amazing October with 7.5 sacks and 25 tackles.
• Speaking of LaMarr Woodley, the linebacker has been ruled out for Sunday’s game.
• There is some good news on the injury front. James Harrison has been listed as probable and will start, that is if all goes well with his visit to the eye doctor.
• Ryan Clark, get your finebarrow ready. The safety has been fined $15,000 for a late hit against Rob Gronkowski. Clark doesn’t seem to mind the fine, though.

“They’re really setting high standards for fair play,” said Clark of the NFL to the newspaper. “They’re also setting high standards for keeping players healthy, safe. And that’s something we as players wanted implemented.”

Clark, the Steelers’ union representative, added, “If you hit a guy out of bounds, they’ve been fining for that, so I’ve got to be smarter.”

More Fun With YouTube

I have some catching up to do with my Ravens Week offerings. Today there are two videos. First up, we have Hines Ward mic’d up during the AFC Championship Game in 2009.

» Continue reading “Steelers News Blitz: The “All About Defense” Edition”

By Andy from Pittsburgh, United States, via Wikimedia Commons

Ben Roethlisberger has been named AFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in the Steelers victory over the New England Patriots last Sunday. Roethlisberger was 36 for 50 and threw for 365 yards and two touchdowns on the day.

This is the second time Roethlisberger has earned this award this season. He was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week when he threw for 228 yards and five touchdowns against the Tennessee Titans in Week 5.

Here’s hoping this Roethlisberger shows up Sunday night!

Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week for last Sunday’s performance against the Titans.

Roethlisberger was 24 for 34 for 228 yards and five touchdowns, tying a career high for touchdowns in a game. He last threw for five touchdowns in 2007 against Baltimore.

Before Sunday’s game there were questions regarding his injured foot. That injury had no impact on his performance.

“I just don’t want to let my guys down. I want to give them my best,” said Roethlisberger after the game of playing injured. “I’ll be there until they take me off in a cart, which has happened before. I want to give them everything that I’ve got and put this team and this offense in the best position that I can to win football games. It is what it is, as coach always says. Regardless of injury, there are lots of guys going through it, we just have to go out and do our best. “

Injury? What injury?

It’s Friday, so you know what that means folks. Yes, only three more days until the next episode of “Dancing with the Stars”! Yes, I do seem to be talking about “Dancing with the Stars” quite a bit lately. I wonder why. In that case, let’s take a look at what else is happening in Steeler Nation, shall we?

• Hines Ward has been awarded the Art Rooney award for his charity work in the Pittsburgh community. Hines is known for his contributions to charity, but most noticeably his Helping Hands Foundation which helps children in the U.S. and South Korea. With this award, Hines joins the ranks of previous winners such as Joe Paterno, Jerome Bettis, and Terry Bradshaw.
• Four draft prospects visited the Steelers on Thursday. These prospects include Da’rel Scott of Maryland, Cortez Allen of The Citadel, Austin Pettis of Boise State, and Ras-I Dowling of the University of Virginia. Allen and Dowling are both cornerbacks, which I would imagine is more of a pressing need than wide receiver (Pettis) or running back (Scott).
• Finally, move over Kate and William. Ben Roethlisberger’s wedding will be the most important wedding this year. Ben, who will be married in July, has started talking about the details of his wedding. I’m sure my invitation is in the mail.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled “Dancing with the Stars” talk, already in progress.

The votes have been tallied, and Troy Polamalu has been voted as AP’s Defensive Player of the Year. Troy beat out Clay Matthews of the Green Bay Packers by a vote of 17-15. James Harrison of the Steelers finished third with 8 votes.

Troy is the sixth Steeler and first since James Harrison, who won in 2008, to win the Defensive Player of the Year honors.

If you’ve ever watched a Steeler game before, you know that Troy brings something different to the table. Sure, he creates game-changing turnovers and highlight reel plays. But you know he has to be in the back of every quarterback’s mind for each and every play. If you can’t account for Troy Polamalu, you’re going to be in trouble. Just ask Joe Flacco.

“Troy brings this defense from a ‘C’ defense to an ‘A’ defense,” said James Harrison. “He’s someone that you have to account for in the secondary.”

Make no doubt about it, having Troy back for most of the season is one of the big differences between this year’s Super Bowl-bound team and last year’s disappointing season that ended just shy of the play-offs. The Steelers need to play four quarters of good football in order to beat the Packers on Sunday, and all eyes will be on number 43.