Steelers win ugly in Green Bay
GREEN BAY, Wisc. – How does a talented team like Green Bay get to 1-7? The Packers showed everyone how it’s done in a 20-10 loss to the Steelers Sunday at Lambeau Field. The Steelers improved to 6-2 with the win, heading into Sunday night’s home game against Cleveland.
The Packers ran more plays (65-50) and owned a decided edge in possession (33 minutes to 27). They passed for more yards (203-59) and had more total yards (268-213), but couldn’t overcome penalties and turnovers that have plagued them all season.
The Steelers’ defense scored, Duce Staley had a successful return to action and Hines Ward set the table to break a team record in this weird game that saw the Steelers complete only nine passes.
Green Bay was penalized eight times for 74 yards and committed three turnovers, but that’s a credit to the Steelers defense. And, according to coach Bill Cowher, it was another example of the players keeping team ahead of individual.
Charlie Batch replaced Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback and “managed a good game,” Cowher said.
Staley came back for his first game action since last January and responded with 76 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries.
Defensively, the Steelers made sure they had constant pressure on Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre.
“We came after Brett,” Cowher said. “You can’t let him sit back there because he’ll find a whole. Brett Favre is what’s right about the NFL. He brings the passion and the competitiveness to the game.”
Which brings out the best in every opponent he faces.
“He’s a Hall of Famer,” safety Tyrone Carter said after intercepting Favre to help seal the win. “We knew we had to make plays on defense. We had to be aggressive and make plays when they were there.”
“I can’t say enough about our team,” Cowher said. “To come into a place like this and beat that football team, says a lot. It wasn’t pretty, but we made a couple of plays at the end to pull it out.”
Batch marched the Steelers 60 yards on seven plays and Jeff Reed’s 32-yard field goal put the Steelers ahead 3-0, with 11:40 remaining in the first quarter. Antwaan Randle El took a reverse 43 yards on the first play from scrimmage.
The Steelers got the ball right back when ReShard Lee fumbled and Troy Polamalu recovered at the Green Bay 44-yard line. Quincy Morgan drew a 26-yard pass interference penalty to move the ball to the Packers’ 16-yard line. Verron Haynes ran it to the Packers’ 7-yard line, leading to Reed’s 24-yard field goal and a 6-0 lead with 6:45 left in the opening quarter.
Ryan Longwell’s 40-yard field goal with a minute left in the first quarter cut the Steelers’ lead to 6-3. Longwell became the Packers’ first 1,000-point scorer with the boot, which left him at 1,001 career points. Brett Favre passed to William Henderson for 25 yards on third-and-1 to move Green Bay into field goal range.
Robert Thomas intercepted a Batch pass intended for Hines Ward and the Packers seemed ready to cash in with a third-and-goal at the Steelers’ 2-yard line, but back-to-back illegal motion penalties moved them back.
On third-and-12, Favre dropped back to pass and fumbled on a Bryant McFadden sack and Polamalu picked up the ball and ran 77 yards for a Steelers’ touchdown that increased their lead to 13-3 13:44 before halftime.
“I missed the sack on that, which was disappointing,” Polamalu said. “I was lying on the ground and I saw the ball rolling to me. I didn’t see the play, so I wasn’t sure if it was a fumble or not. I just picked it up and ran with it.”
The Packers embarked on a 16-play, 71-yard drive that took 9:30 off the clock, but Longwell missed a 31-yard field goal with 27 seconds left in the half and the score remained 13-3. The Packers converted four of five third downs on the drive.
Combined with the opening drive of the third quarter, the Packers held the ball for 17:04. That third quarter-opening drive covered 65 yards on 12 plays and led to Samkon Gado’s first career touchdown, a 1-yard run that cut Pittsburgh’s lead to 13-10 with 7:26 showing on the third-quarter clock.
“They possessed the ball for a good while there,” Batch said. “That was a little frustrating, but our defense came up big by keeping them off the scoreboard at the end of the half. That ind of turned the frustration back to them.”
Ward caught his first pass of the game with 2:55 remaining in the third. It went for 12 yards and another first down and Staley ran the Steelers into field goal range. Batch dropped a low snap on third-and-8 and was sacked for a 10-yard loss at the end of the third quarter.
Reed’s 50-yard field goal attempt was blocked Cullen Jenkins and the score remained 13-10.
Taking over at their own 16-yard line after a special teams holding penalty, the Steelers needed a drive to pull out the win. Staley ran twice for 14 yards and a first down before Batch scrambled for an 8-yard gain on second-and-7.
But the Steelers tried a deep pass that was incomplete and an ill-fated reverse to Randle El that lost two yards before Batch’s third-down pass fell incomplete, giving the ball back to the Packers with 9:33 remaining.
But after a late afternoon full of third-down conversions, the Packers couldn’t buy one when they needed it most. Instead, Favre’s pass was intercepted by Tyrone Carter and the Steelers took over at the Green Bay 20.