Vis
11-05-2012, 07:41 AM
A day in the life of the Steelers
"We're treating it just like a home game,'' Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said during the week, once it became apparent that Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc with the power grid in New Jersey, and therefore the Steelers couldn't be guaranteed that their Jersey City hotel would have power when they arrived on Saturday.
Tomlin didn't make a big deal of it, which was smart. "A lot more people have a lot more adversity than what we had on this trip,'' Tomlin said. Not only was it not a particularly difficult hardship, it would have sounded absurd to complain about logistics when thousands of people had homes and property destroyed.
Here, then, was the Steeler Sunday schedule:
7 a.m.: Players wake up at Omni William Penn Hotel, downtown Pittsburgh, eat, and drive individually to the airport, 25 minutes away.
9:28 a.m.: Take off from Greater Pittsburgh International Airport.
10:21 a.m.: After a 53-minute flight, land at Newark (N.J.) International Airport.
10:33 a.m.: Team boards buses for ride to Westin Hotel, Jersey City, N.J.
10:55 a.m.: Pregame meal begins.
11:30 a.m.: Players lay on couches and sit on chairs, trying to rest before leaving for the stadium.
12:30 p.m.: Team boards buses for 11-mile trip to MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
12:55 p.m.: Arrival at stadium.
4:26 p.m.: Gametime.
7:29 p.m.: Game ends. Steelers 24, Giants 20.
8:35 p.m.: Buses leave MetLife Stadium for nine-mile trip to Newark Airport.
9:29 p.m.: Takeoff from Newark International Airport.
10:18 p.m.: After a 49-minute flight, land at Greater Pittsburgh International Airport.
Time from morning takeoff in Pittsburgh to nighttime landing back in Pittsburgh: 12 hours, 50 minutes.
"It was a challenge for us, because it was different,'' one of the stars of the game, Mike Wallace, told me afterward. "It just seems like a long day. Normally, you have a late game, and you get to sleep a little more and you're more rested for the game. When we got to the hotel, we really were just laying around on the floor or wherever we could find. But it all worked out.''
It's a mark of how meaningless the odd travel day was that the Steelers played their best game of the year. The artistic part of the game might have been better in wins over the Jets and Washington, but this was against the Super Bowl champs, on the road. The Steelers outscored the Giants 14-0 in the fourth quarter and throttled Eli Manning (10-24, 125 yards, no touchdowns, one interception) all day.
It had to be a sweet day for Ben Roethlisberger winning the head-to-head with Manning, who was drafted higher than him in the 2004 draft. Roethlisberger played significantly better (21 of 30, 216 yards, two touchdowns and an interception). His well-timed throw to Wallace, who finished it with a 51-yard touchdown, brought the Steelers within 20-17, and then Roethlisberger led a 51-yard drive that ended in an Isaac Redman touchdown run to win it.
"I love this team,'' said Wallace. "We're fighters. This win says we're rolling now."
Rolling, yes. Almost detoured by officials' calls, a big yes. A Keenan Lewis interference call on Victor Cruz gave the Giants 41 free yards when Lewis hardly brushed Cruz. The 70-yard "fumble'' return by Michael Boley that gave the Giants a 14-7 lead should have been ruled an incomplete pass out of Roethlisberger's hands -- and the Giants surely should have been called for an illegal clip downfield on the Boley return. For a while, it looked like everything would come up Giants, to salve the wounds of a wounded region for three hours. But in the end, the better team, on this day, at least, won.
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/peter_king/11/05/Week-9/index.html#ixzz2BM5wXua5
"We're treating it just like a home game,'' Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said during the week, once it became apparent that Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc with the power grid in New Jersey, and therefore the Steelers couldn't be guaranteed that their Jersey City hotel would have power when they arrived on Saturday.
Tomlin didn't make a big deal of it, which was smart. "A lot more people have a lot more adversity than what we had on this trip,'' Tomlin said. Not only was it not a particularly difficult hardship, it would have sounded absurd to complain about logistics when thousands of people had homes and property destroyed.
Here, then, was the Steeler Sunday schedule:
7 a.m.: Players wake up at Omni William Penn Hotel, downtown Pittsburgh, eat, and drive individually to the airport, 25 minutes away.
9:28 a.m.: Take off from Greater Pittsburgh International Airport.
10:21 a.m.: After a 53-minute flight, land at Newark (N.J.) International Airport.
10:33 a.m.: Team boards buses for ride to Westin Hotel, Jersey City, N.J.
10:55 a.m.: Pregame meal begins.
11:30 a.m.: Players lay on couches and sit on chairs, trying to rest before leaving for the stadium.
12:30 p.m.: Team boards buses for 11-mile trip to MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
12:55 p.m.: Arrival at stadium.
4:26 p.m.: Gametime.
7:29 p.m.: Game ends. Steelers 24, Giants 20.
8:35 p.m.: Buses leave MetLife Stadium for nine-mile trip to Newark Airport.
9:29 p.m.: Takeoff from Newark International Airport.
10:18 p.m.: After a 49-minute flight, land at Greater Pittsburgh International Airport.
Time from morning takeoff in Pittsburgh to nighttime landing back in Pittsburgh: 12 hours, 50 minutes.
"It was a challenge for us, because it was different,'' one of the stars of the game, Mike Wallace, told me afterward. "It just seems like a long day. Normally, you have a late game, and you get to sleep a little more and you're more rested for the game. When we got to the hotel, we really were just laying around on the floor or wherever we could find. But it all worked out.''
It's a mark of how meaningless the odd travel day was that the Steelers played their best game of the year. The artistic part of the game might have been better in wins over the Jets and Washington, but this was against the Super Bowl champs, on the road. The Steelers outscored the Giants 14-0 in the fourth quarter and throttled Eli Manning (10-24, 125 yards, no touchdowns, one interception) all day.
It had to be a sweet day for Ben Roethlisberger winning the head-to-head with Manning, who was drafted higher than him in the 2004 draft. Roethlisberger played significantly better (21 of 30, 216 yards, two touchdowns and an interception). His well-timed throw to Wallace, who finished it with a 51-yard touchdown, brought the Steelers within 20-17, and then Roethlisberger led a 51-yard drive that ended in an Isaac Redman touchdown run to win it.
"I love this team,'' said Wallace. "We're fighters. This win says we're rolling now."
Rolling, yes. Almost detoured by officials' calls, a big yes. A Keenan Lewis interference call on Victor Cruz gave the Giants 41 free yards when Lewis hardly brushed Cruz. The 70-yard "fumble'' return by Michael Boley that gave the Giants a 14-7 lead should have been ruled an incomplete pass out of Roethlisberger's hands -- and the Giants surely should have been called for an illegal clip downfield on the Boley return. For a while, it looked like everything would come up Giants, to salve the wounds of a wounded region for three hours. But in the end, the better team, on this day, at least, won.
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/peter_king/11/05/Week-9/index.html#ixzz2BM5wXua5