codeorama Posted August 19, 2002 Share Posted August 19, 2002 Steelers feel the pain of loss August 19, 2002 By Teresa Varley Steelers.com PITTSBURGH, PA - The Steelers not only lost the game to the Redskins, giving away an early lead and losing 35-34, but they also lost the injury battle. One of the key factors in a preseason game is to escape injury free. For the Steelers, tonight just wasn't their night when it came to bumps and bruises. After seeing action early, veterans cheer on the younger players later in the game. In the first quarter, quarterback Kordell Stewart was knocked out of the action thanks to a late hit by linebacker LaVar Arrington. Stewart, who was diagnosed early with a mild concussion, did not return to the action but appeared to be fine. Then, an injury that could really hurt them happened when Kendrell Bell made a tackle and Joey Porter landed on his left ankle. Bell was taken to the locker room on a cart with an ankle sprain, the extent of which was not known. The Steelers lost their second quarterback of the night when Charlie Batch took a blow to the head and suffered a laceration on his chin on a play that drew a roughing the passer call. Batch was taken to the locker room for stitches and did not return after an impressive showing, completing eight of nine passes for 118 yards. Later in the game running back Amos Zereoue was hampered by an ankle injury, but walked to the locker room on his own. And LaVar Glover was also added to the walking wounded. Antwaan Randle El scores on a 32-yard reverse. The game itself had plenty of action on both offense and defense and it was a tale of two halves - the Steelers dominating in the first and the Redskins in the second half. Brent Alexander got the first action when he intercepted a Danny Wuerffel pass. The Steelers, though, were not able to do anything on that ensuing drive. The Steelers did get on the board first, though, after getting the ball on the one-yard line courtesy of a pass interference call. Batch connected with fullback Dan Kreider in the corner of the endzone for the score. The score by Kreider completed a nice nine-play, 83-yard drive. Tee Martin came in for one play on the next scoring drive when Antwaan Randle El scored on a 32-yard reverse from Jerome Bettis. The defense was fired up and on the Redskins next offensive play Joey Porter forced and recovered a Sage Rosenfels fumble. Rosenfels also was intercepted by rookie Nijrell Eason, who is having a strong preseason for the black and gold. Todd Peterson finished out the first-half scoring with a 28-yard field goal. The Redskins got the ball to start the second half, but it quickly turned in the Steelers favor when Justin Kurpeikis intercepted Shane Matthews' first pass of the game. Injuries have forced Tee Martin to see a lot of action. The Steelers wasted no time as Martin, who did struggle throughout the game, connected with Randle El on a 17-yard touchdown pass to cap a quick three-play, 21-yard drive that took only 48 seconds. The Redskins finally got on the board with a 10-yard pass from Shane Matthews to Derrius Thompson. Cowher tried to challenge the play, as Thompson didn't appear to have both feet down in the endzone, but the officials did not see him trying to make the challenge. Matthews had the same kind of luck as the other Redskins quarterbacks as he was intercepted by Hank Poteat, who returned it 42-yards to set up a 27-yard field goal by rookie kicker Joe O'Donnell. Matthews did give the Redskins some fire, though, as he threw for his second touchdown pass - an eight-yard toss to Chris Doering. Kendrick Clancy wanted to get in on the scoring fun and did so with a 16-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown. Sage Rosenfels returned to action for the Redskins and threw touchdown passes to Leonard Stephens and Derrius Thompson to make it a game. It looked like the Steelers were going to put the game away when Martin scrambled into the endzone, but he fumbled at the goal line for a touchback. Instead, the Redskins drove 80 yards down the field to take the lead 35-34. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atlanta Skins Fan Posted August 19, 2002 Share Posted August 19, 2002 Honestly, it was a borderline hit. LaVar grabbed Stewart when he was still in bounds, rode him out of bounds, and while doing so, slammed Stewart's helmet onto the sideline turf (about a yard off the field). You are only supposed to initiate contact on the field. LaVar initiated contact on the field, but the helmet slam occurred off the field. You can say it was momentum, but I don't think it was -- Stewart was going out of bounds either way, and LaVar just wanted to punish him in the process. I like LaVar's aggressiveness, and I like having the opposing QB removed. But I've seen cleaner hits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awesome Posted August 19, 2002 Share Posted August 19, 2002 late shmate. Arrington hit him a few yards from the sideline and the momentum just took them way out of bounds. Nothing late about that. Also, there really seemed to be some bogus roughing the passer calls last night:doh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk Diggler Posted August 19, 2002 Share Posted August 19, 2002 Oh Puhleease. I thought Philly was the biggest homer town ever but listening to that broadcast last night followed by this article pushes Pittsburgh into first in the race for homerdom. :puke: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
@DCGoldPants Posted August 19, 2002 Share Posted August 19, 2002 The burgh is still living off of their late 70s team. One for the thumb and all that crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codeorama Posted August 19, 2002 Author Share Posted August 19, 2002 Originally posted by Atlanta Skins Fan Honestly, it was a borderline hit. LaVar grabbed Stewart when he was still in bounds, rode him out of bounds, and while doing so, slammed Stewart's helmet onto the sideline turf (about a yard off the field). You are only supposed to initiate contact on the field. LaVar initiated contact on the field, but the helmet slam occurred off the field. You can say it was momentum, but I don't think it was -- Stewart was going out of bounds either way, and LaVar just wanted to punish him in the process. I like LaVar's aggressiveness, and I like having the opposing QB removed. But I've seen cleaner hits. I've seen cleaner hits too, but Arrington was airborne. I don't think he could let up unless he truly is superman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murilo Bustamante Posted August 19, 2002 Share Posted August 19, 2002 No way. Totally clean hit. Kordell was in bounds and running. Contact was made in bounds. Lavar slammed Kordell's body, not his head, and Kordell's neck snapped. It was not a head slam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Potato Sack Posted August 19, 2002 Share Posted August 19, 2002 In the first quarter, quarterback Kordell Stewart was knocked out of the action thanks to a late hit by linebacker LaVar Arrington Late hit? Any linebacker on an opposing team would've done the same thing if they had that speed and were that aggressive. Give me a break. Kordell saw "The Hitman" coming. He could've stepped out of bounds earlier and his little, soft head could've been saved a blow! I'm tired of these whiners. At work, all I'm hearing is "Cheap hit, cheap hit". I'm SO glad we came off with a win, otherwise I couldn't sit there with a big grin on my face, knowing that even ARRINGTON helped us out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Evil Genius Posted August 19, 2002 Share Posted August 19, 2002 Do pictures speak louder than words - if so, perhaps someone needs to email Teresa Varley this pic . Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kordell Stewart (10) gets tackled as he goes out of bounds by Washington Redskins' LaVar Arrington during the first quarter Sunday , Aug. 18, 2002, in Landover, Md. Stewart sustained a mild concussion on the play and did not return. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsvais) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk Diggler Posted August 19, 2002 Share Posted August 19, 2002 ASF what say ye about the above pic? :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonnyJ Posted August 19, 2002 Share Posted August 19, 2002 Originally posted by Atlanta Skins Fan Honestly, it was a borderline hit. LaVar grabbed Stewart when he was still in bounds, rode him out of bounds, and while doing so, slammed Stewart's helmet onto the sideline turf (about a yard off the field). You are only supposed to initiate contact on the field. LaVar initiated contact on the field, but the helmet slam occurred off the field. You can say it was momentum, but I don't think it was -- Stewart was going out of bounds either way, and LaVar just wanted to punish him in the process. I like LaVar's aggressiveness, and I like having the opposing QB removed. But I've seen cleaner hits. What surprised me was that it WASN'T even borderline. Considering Stewart's speed, I figured he'd get to the sideline, but Lavar caught him well in bounds. Rewind the TIVO, ASF. I didn't think it was even that big of a hit, just a shot to the body. I was surprised Stewart got his bell rung. Sorry, but it was a perfectly clean shot. If a QB is going to run, that is the risk he runs. If Lavar got flagged for that, it would seriously be time to just put the red jersey on QBs for games. Now, Cowsette's shot on Batch WAS borderline. Did anyone else wonder why Batch didn't get called for intentional grounding? He clearly was throwing the ball away, and he wasn't outside the pocket. I guess he made it look good enough - to an unbiased observer, at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codeorama Posted August 19, 2002 Author Share Posted August 19, 2002 I believe her email address is TVarley@dumbasssteelercrackheadhomers.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulldog Posted August 19, 2002 Share Posted August 19, 2002 Anybody that was stupid enough to have his starting quarterback take a naked bootleg in a preseason game on his own 25 yard line deserves what he gets................................ Cowher was definitely trying to win this game and so I find it amusing that he ended up losing it however improbably after he continued to have Plaxico Burress out there even when the Skins starting corners went out of the game and he was matched up against Rashad Bauman and Mark Washington. it was only poetic justice that another tall and athletic receiver, Derrius Thompson owned the second half and contributed so much to the win Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief skin Posted August 19, 2002 Share Posted August 19, 2002 Bunch of d@mn whiners, clean hit in bounds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murilo Bustamante Posted August 19, 2002 Share Posted August 19, 2002 Look at Kordell's feet- clearly in bounds. He went out of bounds because Lavar whacked him out of bounds. It's not a linebacker's job to assume a running QB, past the line of scrimmage, is going to run out of bounds. It's one thing to protect a QB who is trying to pass, and has gotten rid of the ball. But Stewart was out and running. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty dread Posted August 19, 2002 Share Posted August 19, 2002 Arrington's hit was clean as a whistle. Just look at the picture, he grabs a hold of him before he goes out of bounds. If Kordell doesn't want to get his bell rung he should get out of bounds quicker. Arrington hit him before they went out of bounds, it was a perfectly legal, and clean hit. It was as clean as the Aikman shot, and I've never heard that hit described as late. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Posted August 19, 2002 Share Posted August 19, 2002 You live with a mobile QB, you die with him. If a QB doesn't want to get hurt, he can stay in the pocket or he can slide. So far, the only claims of 'late hit' are coming from the Pittsburgh media. That's all I need to know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Posted August 19, 2002 Share Posted August 19, 2002 That was a very clean hit. No one has ever seen a cleaner hit than that. When you engage a man two yards from the sideline there's nothing more than you can be asked to do as a defender. Perhaps Kordell should have slid or something . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codeorama Posted August 19, 2002 Author Share Posted August 19, 2002 The ONLY thing DIRTY about that hit was Kordell's underwear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NavyDave Posted August 19, 2002 Share Posted August 19, 2002 It only helps to serve notice to the McNabbs of the league that if you decide to run there is a price to pay. How many QBs will have second thoughts about scrambling when Lavar and Trotter are out there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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