Steelers notebook
Porter a bright spot on struggling defense PITTSBURGH – The Pittsburgh Steelers rank 24th in the NFL in defense but it’s not the fault of Joey Porter, who was recently named by NFL.com as the league’s best defensive player through the first month of the season.
The Steelers’ outside/dime linebacker leads the team in interceptions and tackles-for-loss and is tied for the team lead in tackles and sacks.
Against Oakland, Porter became the first player in league history to compile three sacks and two interceptions, and his 141 yards on interception returns ranks second in the league to Derrick Brooks’ 159 yards in four games.
The Steelers’ record is 242 interception return yards by Bill Dudley in 1946. Porter isn’t yet ranked among the top six Steelers in the all-time category, but he has time. And, of course, none of the top six are linebackers, and that’s what makes Porter’s accomplishment special. All three interceptions came in his new role as the single linebacker in the dime defense. Porter had been the rush end in the alignment the two previous seasons.
“He’s done a real nice job of making the transition,” said linebackers coach Mike Archer. “Third down’s a big down for us. When we’re playing good, we’re playing good on third down. If he can continue to do it, we can continue to do it. And we feel very good about his man-to-man capabilities and his ability to play the backs in this league man-to-man. It’s only going to make us better.”
“I knew with time I would be able to do it,” said Porter. “It was just, ‘How’s it going to play out? Will it hurt our third-down defense?’ That’s what I was thinking, because I can rush the quarterback pretty good. So I thought it would be good if I held up my end of the job, but are we still going to get pressure with the guy who replaced me? That was my concern, because I knew that it was only a matter of time before I could pick up the dime coverage since I cover a lot anyway.”
The new buck
Part of quarterback Kordell Stewart’s downfall last week against the Cleveland Browns was that he couldn’t pass over the middle to take advantage of the coverage liabilities of Browns middle linebacker Earl Holmes. So Holmes remained near the line of scrimmage, made plenty of his patented ankle tackles and flapped his mouth. Meanwhile, Holmes’ replacement at the buck linebacker spot with the Steelers, James Farrior, quietly went about having an outstanding game. He led the team with nine tackles, roaming sideline-to-sideline to make plays in both the run and pass game.
“It was by far the best game he’s had since he’s been here,” said linebackers coach Mike Archer. “He did a real nice job in the running game, and Larry Foote played real well, too. Those linebackers have to play well for us to win. We all know that. When you play in the 3-4, the four backers have to make plays both in the running game and in the passing game. As you do that, and hold a team to 13 points, you have a chance to win.”
Explained Farrior: “I just started playing. I stopped thinking and trying to do everything right and just focused on going out there and having fun, and I had a lot of fun. It felt like last year when I was making a lot of plays. I just felt comfortable.”
Has it hit the ground yet?
It wasn’t so much that Stewart lost his job as much as Tommy Maddox took it by storm. Going back to last January’s 6 for 8 passing performance in the regular season finale, and counting his preseason stats, Maddox has completed 38 of 50 passes this calendar year.
So, with “Tommy Gun” at the controls and the running game struggling, the Steelers can line up four wide receivers from the get-go and pass up and down the field. Right?
“We’re not the Rams now,” cautioned leading receiver Hines Ward. “We’re not going to go out there and say we need to throw the ball 50 times a game. We’ve still got three quality running backs. That chemistry, I think, that’s what led us to having a great year last year because we were balanced. I mean, there’s no need to panic and shy away form our run game. We still have to go out there and try to establish the dominance we had because we were No. 1 in the league last year and basically we have the same offense, so there’s no need to shy away from the run because it’s not clicking right now.”
Quotable
Saints Coach Jim Haslett on whether he’ll copy the Oakland Raiders and pass more than 60 times against the Steelers: “If we had that personnel and a veteran quarterback then we’d probably do something like that. I think that’s all based on who you have and what you think you can get accomplished. We’re not an empty (backfield) team. We don’t line up and spread it. It would be completely out of our realm to do that.”