Archives for November 2013

‘At one time Buffalo had 10 straight possessions that ended either with a punt (nine times) or interception (once).’

‘”We didn’t capitalize on everything that we thought we could have,” said Manuel, who missed four games with a sprained right knee. “Obviously it wasn’t the way I wanted to come back and have my game off of the injury.”‘

‘The Bills were too conservative on Sunday, including punting from the Steelers 36-yard line down by 14 points. While Manuel was coming back from a long layoff, you have to have more faith in your offense than to punt four times inside the 50.’

‘But a good quarterback makes his receivers better. A good quarterback throws receivers open, putting the ball in a spot where only his teammate can get it. Manuel was the opposite Sunday, missing a wide-open Johnson multiple times before his injury, then turning to check downs and swing passes after he couldn’t connect with his receivers.’

‘The red zone offense continued to struggle. On third-and-goal from the 1 on their first possession, the Bills threw a pass to the corner of the end zone. It was overthrown by Manuel, who said a running play had been called but he threw instead of letting Jackson have another shot at the Steelers defense, which had given up 12 rushing touchdowns this season.’

‘The Bills had averaged 145.8 rushing yards. But the stretch runs that worked against Kansas City didn’t work this week.’

‘”I thought he was good enough to play,” Bills coach Doug Marrone said, “but I wanted him to play better.”‘

‘The Steelers made sure the Bills couldn’t run the ball. That left Manuel with more responsibility than he’s capable of handling this early in his NFL career.’

Steelers bring down Bills, 23-10 (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

Buffalo’s offense doesn’t show up vs. Steelers (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

Players, not coordinator, make a defense (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

Hard to see this defensive gem coming (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

Steelers, Big Ben will stick together (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

Cotchery continues to shine (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

Gerry Dulac’s Two-Minute Drill (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

Steelers Report Card: Steelers vs. Buffalo (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

Photo gallery (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

Defense rebounds as Steelers defeat Bills (Pittsburgh Tribune Review)

Rousing return of Steelers’ power run game (Pittsburgh Tribune Review)

Steelers’ defense regains some swagger in win over Bills (Pittsburgh Tribune Review)

Steelers veteran quarterback Roethlisberger refutes recent trade rumor (Pittsburgh Tribune Review)

Run game fails Bills vs. Steelers (Pittsburgh Tribune Review)

Ben will never quit on Steelers (Pittsburgh Tribune Review)

Injuries mount as Thomas, Woodley leave game (Pittsburgh Tribune Review)

QB Manuel rusty in return (Pittsburgh Tribune Review)

Photo gallery (Pittsburgh Tribune Review)

Steelers have Buffalo’s number (Beaver County Times)

Steelers embrace challenging weather (Beaver County Times)

Steelers’ defense responds (Beaver County Times)

Roethlisberger denies he wants to leave Steelers (Beaver County Times)

Steelers Game Reset: Steelers 23, Bills 10 (Beaver County Times)

Defense makes winning a breeze for Steelers (Washington Observer Reporter)

Winning this way can quiet the critics (Washington Observer Reporter)

Steeler respond with sense of urgency (Uniontown Herald Standard)

Don’t order playoff tickets yet (Uniontown Herald Standard)

Big Ben staying; helps Steelers win (Altoona Mirror)

Manuel struggles to find his footing (Altoona Mirror)

Groundless (Altoona Mirror)

Steelers’ defense rebounds from beating with strong effort against Bills (Erie Times News)

NFL comes away looking foolish after Big Ben trade rumor (Erie Times News)

Steelers OL takes another hit with Foster’s injury (Erie Times News)

Steelers ‘back in it’ after beating Buffalo (New Castle News)

Truth Could Be Two-Sided To Roethlisberger Issue (KDKA-TV)

Steelers rebound, 23-10, over Bills (Steelers.com)

Labriola on win over Bills (Steelers.com)

What Went Right, Wrong vs. Bills (Steelers.com)

Coach Tomlin’s Post-Game Comments (Steelers.com)

Photo gallery (Steelers.com)

Photo gallery (BuffaloBills.com)

Photo gallery 1 (Buffalo News)

Photo gallery 2 (Buffalo News)

Photo gallery (Rochester D&C)

Photo gallery (WGRZ-TV)

‘Manuel completed 22 of 39 passes for 155 yards with a touchdown and an interception. The Steelers limited Buffalo to 95 yards rushing, nearly 50 below its average, and sacked Manuel three times.’

‘The Bills managed just 227 total yards and ran for 95, 50 below their average. Manuel was sacked three times and never looked comfortable in blustery conditions that made going downfield a treacherous proposition. Manuel spent most of the day working in the face of a renewed pass rush and struggled with his accuracy when asked to do anything more than dump the ball to a running back.’

‘Rookie Jeff Tuel, who started last week’s 23-13 loss to Kansas City, is among the seven inactive players for Buffalo.’

‘Pittsburgh was coming off a 55-31 shellacking at New England, with the Patriots’ point total the highest allowed by the Steelers in their history. Facing Buffalo rookie quarterback EJ Manuel proved to be the remedy for the unit.’

‘Manuel tossed a 2-yard touchdown strike to tight end Chris Gragg with three seconds left in the game, but the Bills suffered their 10th loss in 12 trips to Pittsburgh, where their last victory came in an AFC playoff game 20 years ago.’

‘Defensive end Mario Williams was missing in action. He entered the game tied for second in the NFL with 11 sacks, but didn’t register a tackle, let alone a sack. It was the fourth time this season he failed to produce a sack in a game.’