While the Pittsburgh Steelers and San Diego Chargers are nowhere near what the classic Muhammad Ali-George Foreman “Rumble in the Jungle” was, the Steelers found themselves deploying a very similar tactic that Ali used to defeat Foreman in that epic fight.
Battered on the opening drive which resulted in a quick Chargers’ touchdown, Keith Butler’s unit stiffened. The Chargers chipped away with jab after jab in the form of short passes to tight end Antonio Gates to the point where we the fans felt like we were dying a slow death.
With starting safety Will Allen hobbled early by a bad ankle, the Steelers continued to get pounded but they never hit the canvas. Time and time again they got just enough pressure on Philip Rivers to force quicker throws and less accurate ones as well.
There was Jarvis Jones, the much-maligned former first round draft pick getting a sack and forcing a fumble. Rookie Bud Dupree picked up a sack of his own with a brilliant, hustling play to get to Rivers. The ‘Fearsome Twosome’ of Stephon Tuitt and Cam Heyward constantly applied pressure up the middle and limited the Chargers’ running game throughout.
For all the good, the tackling issues are still very bad. Like punching one’s self in the face repeatedly, the Steelers continue to miss tackles at an alarming rate and no one is immune. From Antwon Blake to Lawrence Timmons, this unit knows it has to tackle better and with the Chargers chipping away, it looked like they might finally send the Steelers’ D to the mat.
Blake’s 70-yard pick-six was like a ‘Rocky Balboa-style’ flurry that the team desperately needed but even then the defense went back to it’s position in the corner. Rivers returned to his jabs with more passes to Gates and Danny Woodhead. The Steelers, now bloodied and cut deep, stood tall to force a field goal which as it turns out was really their biggest stand.
All they needed to do was give Michael Vick a chance and they did. Butler’s crew was far from perfect on Monday night but they’ve come a long way. They took everything the Chargers could throw at them and still never even so much as took a standing eight count. Well, maybe one or two… It was still the type of win for this group that you hope leads to bigger things.
If nothing else, they proved they can take a hell of a beating and still remain standing.
