The Steelers defense did a great job of shutting down the Bills run game on Sunday. Spiller, who ran for 116 yards last week against the Chiefs, was held to only 23 yards. Here is a breakdown of the Bills running attempts by direction. Normally I wouldn’t refer to gaps by left and right, but it works best for the chart. If you have a question, don’t hesitate to ask.
[table id=31 /]
Below are the play counts for offense and defense during yesterday’s win over the Bills. Some noteworthy differences on offense- David DeCastro returned from his ankle injury and played every snap. Derek Moye, who saw 12 snaps last week, was inactive yesterday due to the return of Markus Wheaton. Guy Whimper took over for Ramon Foster after he left the game early with a right ankle injury.
On Defense, Keisel, Thomas, and Woodley saw a decrease in snaps due to injuries, while Jarvis Jones saw an increase in playing time from last week.
[table id=29 /]
[table id=30 /]
Earlier today, Ian Rapoport reported that a source close to the Steelers said that Ben was “extremely frustrated” with the direction the team was going, and was expected by the team to ask for a trade.
https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/399557001904410624
https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/399557204199899137
The team, Ben’s agent, and Ben himself were quick to respond to these rumors. Here’s what his agent had to say shortly after Rapoport’s report aired~
https://twitter.com/Rep1Sports/statuses/399594815202930688
https://twitter.com/Rep1Sports/statuses/399595246209613824
https://twitter.com/Rep1Sports/statuses/399595505556004864
Art Rooney II released the following statement shortly after~
“Contrary to erroneous reports, the Pittsburgh Steelers have not explored trading quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and have no plans to do so.”
Lastly, here is the audio from Ben’s interview after the game where he vehemently denies the trade rumors, and calls the story BS. Enjoy.
For the Steelers:
QB L.Jones, WR D.Moye, NT H.Fangupo, LB K.Wilson, TE R.Gordon,CB D. Van Dyke, and LB C.Carter.
Curtis Brown is active today for the first time in weeks, as is Markus Wheaton.
For the Bills:
QB Tuel, WR Woods, CB Rogers, RB Wingo, DB Smith, LB Powell, OL McClain.
Most notable inactive for the Bills is Robert Woods, who was expected to be out this week.
Mike Adams was a new addition to the injury list today. He did not practice, and is being considered as questionable for the Bills game on Sunday with a rib injury. RT Marcus Gilbert (ankle) is also questionable for Sunday. He was limited today, and if he can’t go, then Guy Whimper will take his place in the line up.
Beachum, DeCastro, Heyward, Miller, Taylor, Velasco, Wheaton and V. Williams are all listed as probable.
Ike Taylor was cleared to practice today and was a full participant. Heath Miller (non-injury), David DeCastro (ankle), Cam Heyward (knee), Fernando Valesco (thigh), and Markus Wheaton (finger) all were full participants today as well.
Vince Williams was cleared to return to practice today and participated in a limited capacity. Kelvin Beachum (knee) and Marcus Gilbert (ankle) were also limited today in practice.
For the Bills:
DNP: WR Robert Woods (ankle).
LIMITED: Marquise Goodwin (hamstring).
FULL: DT Kyle Williams (Achilles); QB Thad Lewis (ribs); QB EJ Manuel (knee).
EJ Manuel is still expected to start this Sunday at Heinz field.
The Steelers host the Buffalo Bills at Heinz Field on Sunday. Kickoff is at 1:00 Est., and the game will be televised on CBS with Marv Albert and Rich Gannon as commentators for the game. Scott Green and his crew will officiate. This is almost the five year anniversary of the Chargers game where Green was involved in a controversial review that kept a Troy Polamalu touchdown off the books.
Sunday’s game against the Bills won’t be broadcast to much of the country as you can see in the map below.
H/T- The506
Red- Bengals at Ravens
Blue- Raiders at Giants
Green- Bills at Steelers
Yellow- Jaguars at Titans
Grey- No Game
The Steelers have signed CB Isaiah Green back to the practice squad. Green was released on Tuesday to open a roster spot for the signing of DeMarcus Van Dyke. CB Devin Smith was released from the practice squad to make room for Green.
For the Steelers, it went just like Coach Tomlin said it would in his press conference.
Full:
David DeCastro (ankle) and Markus Wheaton (finger).
Limited:
Kelvin Beachum (knee), Marcus Gilbert (ankle), Fernando Velasco (thigh), and Heath Miller (coach’s decision).
DNP:
Ike Taylor (concussion) and LB Vince Williams (concussion).
For the Bills:
E.J. Manuel and Thad Lewis were back to practice today. Manuel missed the last 4 weeks due to a sprained LCL, but is expected to start this week in Pittsburgh barring any setbacks. Lewis is coming back from a rib injury that kept him out last week. WR’s Marquise Goodwin and Robert Woods did not practice today.
As expected, the Steelers announced that they will place LB Sean Spence on Injured Reserve, thus ending his chances of making a return this season. Spence had just a few weeks to show the coaching staff he was ready for the 53 man roster, only 14 months after tearing his ACL and LCL, dislocating his knee cap, and suffering damage to his peroneal nerve.
Spence suffered a broken finger almost immediately after returning to practice last month, which only hurt his limited chances of getting the all clear from coaches. The fact that he was on reserve/PUP to start the season speaks volumes about how far he’s come from such a serious injury. Hopefully we’ll see the young linebacker who was praised by coaches as being a quick student last year, back on the field next spring.