Steelers @ Cardinals Week 7 Recap – Beat who you’re supposed to
Heading into week 7, this would be the first time these two storied franchises met since their famed Super Bowl 43 encounter, in which the Steelers sealed the close victory with the infamous Santonio Holmes TD catch. Though these two teams are two of the longest-running teams in the NFL, they haven't been traveling in the same direction in the past few seasons. While the Steelers are battling for another division crown and are several peoples pick to make it back to the title game, the Cards have been completely in flux since the departure of QB leader Kurt Warner a few years back, and the Kevin Kolb trade isn't exactly paying dividends as of yet. The Steelers looked to make it 3 straight wins, while the Cardinals were trying to avoid their 5th straight loss.
The Steelers started this one off much like they have for most of the season, leading a scoring drive on their opening possession for the 5th time in their 7 games thus far. Following a Ryan Clark INT (just the second by a Steelers secondary member this year), Big Ben's offense capitalized on a short field and looked sharp, going up on a 12 yard Heath Miller TD catch. The Cardinals offense didn't have an early answer, as the Steeler front 7 had tons of pressure on Kolb, and breakout RB Chris 'Beanie' Wells was very quiet in the first half before sustaining an injury that took him out for the remainder of the contest. Pittsburgh sharpshooter Mike Wallace again made an impact, going over 100 yards receiving, including a 95 yard TD catch in the mid-second quarter (the longest in Pittsburgh Steelers history).
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With the game at 14-0, it seemed to be going the Steelers' way in a hurry. But Arizona finally got on the board after two third-down penalties on Steelers lead corner, Ike Taylor. Taylor did an excellent job on the Cards best player (future hall-of-fame WR Larry Fitzgerald), holding Larry to just two catches until the game was out of reach, but the penalties came early and often in this one. Those two third-down bailouts lead to an Alphonso Smith TD run, cutting the lead to 14-7. The Cardinals, however, also responded with three separate defensive penalties on the subsequent Steeler drive, leading to a FG, making it 17-7 at halftime.
This time however, the Steelers wouldn't let their early success slip away in the second half. Although RB Rashard Mendenhall again looked totally lackluster (just 32 yards on 2.5 yards per carry), the receiving core made up for it. Antonio Brown had a big day, joining Wallace in going over 100 yards, and both WR Emmanuel Sanders and TE Heath Miller had TD catches in their nice contributions as well. The Steelers held the ball for the nearly the ENTIRE third quarter (10 minutes to the Cardinals 2), resulting in a TD pass that iced the contest. Big Ben looked phenomenal, netting 361 passing and 3 TDs, with no turnovers. For the defense, LB Lamar Woodley again stepped up in the absence of star James Harrison, getting two more sacks (his third straight game with multiple sacks, in fact) and a key pressure in the endzone that resulted in a safety.
Arizona did add a late touchdown pass as Kolb racked up numbers after the game was no longer in question, but Pittsburgh did what they were expected to do in a 32-20 victory. Arizona has now lost 5 straight and has a lot of questions surrounding their quarterback play and their injured RB, while Pittsburgh is tied for the division lead and goes into back-to-back elite showdowns with the Pats and Ravens at home.
By Jason Burke
Pro Football Fans Pittsburgh Steelers Correspondent