Capital Defense in D.C.

A "vote" of confidence for Pittsburgh with 23 - 6 win over the Redskins

My reverse psychology paid off for once. I had previously planned on the Steelers to take care of the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants and they lost. So naturally I picked the Steelers to lose in Washington to the Redskins and they pull off the road win. I am not going to get a job in Vegas anytime soon. I can't lie though, I honestly thought the struggling Steelers offense was going to cost them another close game. Wrong! The defense took care of that problem.

What a night for the sack attack! Last week the Steelers could not get to Eli Manning so they were more than determined to rattle Jason Campbell. They laid him out 7 times. LaMarr Woodley leading the way with 2 sacks of his own. One of them he simply hurdled a Washington blocker and whipped Campbell for a loss.

The Steelers "D" was all over FedeX field. They held the vaunted Redskins league leading rusher and their rushing attack to 60 total yards. They kept Washington to 221 yards of total offense and 13 first downs for the entire game. They intercepted 2 Campbell passes. And Campbell hadn't thrown an INT since last year! The first came after 271 straight completions.

The defense also had a blocked punt that set up a touchdown at the end of the first half to make it 10 to 6 Pittsburgh. The touchdown came on a QB sneak by Big Ben from about the 1. This was added to a Jeff Reed 35 yarder earlier in the 2nd quarter.

The first half was another ho hum effort by the Steelers offense however. Ben Roethlisberger was not very sharp. He was a unproductive 5 for 17 for 50 yards. The blocked punt was huge because the Steelers were not moving the ball by way of sustaining a drive. Thankfully the Steelers "D" were not allowing the Redskins any wind in their sails either. It should be noted that Ben did suffer an injury to the shoulder of his throwing arm.

So the second half began with Byron Leftwich at QB for the Steelers. The Steelers started the 3rd quarter with an 8 play, 72 yard, 4:38 drive ending in a Willie Parker touchdown. It was great to see Fast Willie back in the backfield. Over all Willie had a respectable day with 21 carries for 70 yards. Give the Redskins defense some credit for keeping Parker to a 3.3 yards per carry and holding the Steelers to a sorry 64 yards of total rushing.

Also the Steelers continue to outscore their opponent in the 3rd quarter. They have totally dominated the 3rd quarter week after week.

It was nice to see that Mewelde Moore kept a role in the offense though with 3 catches for 45 yards. and once again Nate Washington struck pay-dirt deep. This time Leftwich hit Nate on a 50 yard completion. Santonio "puffy" Holmes also had a contribution, highlighted by a tremendous dive for a TD in the 4th quarter.

Looking at the game in it's entirety the Steelers continue to struggle on offense. They are looking like the 2000 Ravens at times. That was Baltimore's Super Bowl season where the defense carried them. To the credit of the Steelers offense they are a little better than the Ravens offense of that year. But my point is the offense is below the middle of the pack in the league.

I still believe that the at the root of their problem is a sub-par offensive rushing attack. The Steelers are usually among the league leaders in this area. Whenever they try and become a passing offense they suffer offensively if you look at the teams history.

At this point it is only mid way through the season and they are atop the AFC North with a 6 and 2 record. Hopefully Willie Parker is back for the rest of the season and the rushing stats start to pile up.

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It is nice to note that we have a solid back-up QB in Leftwich when called upon. Once again the Steelers have demonstrated they understand the meaning of depth as seen with the injuries they have sustained on the D-line and in the backfield. That is a key component of a champion. The front office should be given a standing ovation thus far for filling the roster with guys who can step in if needed.

So here we go again with another big game next week when the Indianapolis Colts come to Heinz field. For now let's savor another big road win and another prime time victory.

By Andy Natalie
ProFootball-fans.com Pittsburgh Steelers Correspondent