Steelers hang on to beat Rams, lose Roethlisberger
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is taken off the field on a cart after being injured during the third quarter against the Rams Sunday in St. Louis.
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is tripped up by Rams safety Mark Barron for a five-yard sack in the third quarter Sunday on a play that resulted in an injury to Roesthlisberger’s knee.
Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown is upended by Rams cornerback Janoris Jenkins after a six-yard gain in the first quarter Sundayat the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis.
ST. LOUIS – The Edward Jones Dome has been an unlucky place for the Steelers.
The last time they played here in 2007, they defeated the St. Louis Rams but lost running back Willie Parker to injury for the remainder of the season.
They hope the news isn’t quite as bad regarding quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
Roethlisberger suffered a knee injury in the third quarter Sunday against the Rams, but Pittsburgh’s defense came up with a number of big stops in a 12-6 victory.
While the win, which improved the Steelers’ record to 2-1, was a big one on the road against a physical opponent, Roethlisberger’s injury overshadowed everything.
“I spoke to him in the locker room after the game and he congratulated me,” said backup quarterback Mike Vick, who relieved Roethlisberger. “My concern is his health. Ben’s a great guy. We all look up to him in the locker room. He’s the centerpiece.”
The Steelers might be without their centerpiece for a while.
Roethlisberger had an MRI Sunday night that revealed no damage to his ACL. He does have an MCL sprain and bone bruise and is expected to miss four to six weeks after taking a hit low to his lower left leg on a blitz by St. Louis safety Mark Barron late in the third quarter.
Roethlisberger, who is expected to be out at least a month even if he has just a sprain, went down and lost the football, immediately grabbing his left knee. His teammates called for team doctors quickly and the Pro Bowl quarterback was helped off the field to the bench area and then carted to the locker room. He left the stadium on crutches.
“I wanted him to get up,” said Vick of his feeling when he saw Roethlisberger on the ground. “Then I grabbed my helmet. You’ve got to go into a different mindset.”
Roethlisberger, who led the NFL in passing yards last year, was 20 of 24 for 192 yards and an interception before leaving. He had led the Steelers to a 9-0 lead, as Pittsburgh scored on its first two possessions, getting a field goal from Josh Scobee and a 1-yard TD run from Le’Veon Bell, who returned from a two-game suspension for violation of the league’s drug policy.
The Steelers got one star back and lost another.
“That’s football,” said Bell, who had 62 rushing yards and 70 receiving on seven catches. “It’s one of those things that we’re a team that understands that we might not have all the guys out there at one time, but we still have to move in the same direction.”
That direction was slowed somewhat by the Rams’ defensive front.
St. Louis (1-2) hung around by limiting the Steelers to 62 rushing yards rushing and recording five sacks, four of which came in the second half.
“They made their plays,” said Steelers guard Ramon Foster. “They showed their pedigree but we showed ours, too. We’ve just got to finish better. But our defense did a good job of being Superman today. Hats off to them, they played a heck of a game.”
After the Steelers scored twice early using a quick passing attack, the Rams buckled down and took the quick routes away. St. Louis then got a 49-yard field goal just before the two-minute warning in the first half to cut Pittsburgh’s lead to 9-3.
The Steelers went for a 2-point conversion following Bell’s touchdown run, but failed for the first time this season.
Following Roethlisberger’s injury, the teams traded punts until a 34-yard pass interference penalty against Pittsburgh cornerback Antwon Blake put the Rams in Steelers’ territory. Wide receiver Chris Givens then gained 24 yards on a jet sweep to the Pittsburgh 7-yard line, with safety Mike Mitchell making a touchdown-saving tackle.
That proved to be big as a large pro-Steelers’ crowd helped caused a pair of false starts and the Rams failed to get into the end zone, settling for a 27-yard Zuerlein field goal that cut Pittsburgh’s lead to 9-6.
The Steelers moved the ball to midfield but were again forced to punt. St. Louis quarterback Nick Foles took a shot downfield on first down and safety Will Allen intercepted the pass, returning it 20 yards to the Rams’ 31 with 2:51 remaining.
That set up another Scobee field goal, this one from 41 yards, to put the Steelers ahead, 12-6, at the two-minute warning.
The Rams got one first down, but Foles threw incomplete on third and fourth downs – the second one on a breakup by Blake on a ball originally ruled a catch by Kenny Britt before it was overturned via replay.
“Hopefully, that’s something we can build on as a unit,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. “I told the group that if we are going to be the type of team we desire to be, we have to stack winning performance on top of winning performance.”
That could be tough without Roethlisberger, especially on a short week. The Steelers host Baltimore (0-3) Thursday.
“We rally around him,” said Steelers defensive end Cameron Heyward. “He’s our captain and we’re going to pick up the slack in other ways. We don’t want there to be any let off because he’s out. We want him to come back and do something special. And we’ve got a chance to do that next Thursday.”
The game started 30 minutes late after the artificial turf caught fire during St. Louis’ pregame player introductions. … Antonio Brown had 11 catches for 108 yards for the Steelers. … The Steelers had 259 yards total offense, St. Louis 258. … St. Louis was 2-for-10 on third downs and 0-for-2 on fourth downs. … Sean Spence started at inside linebacker in place of Ryan Shazier, who had his injured arm in a sling Sunday. … Second-year defensive end Stephon Tuitt had six tackles, including two for losses, and a sack. He leads the Steelers with 2 1/2 sacks. … Tight end Matt Spaeth suffered a hand injury.