The only chuckle I got out of the game yesterday was listening to Dan Dierdorf go on about how Harrison is held more than any other player in the league. I couldn’t help but think of the opinions of the football experts on the SDMB who would politely beg to differ.
A) While he is a former player, Dan Dierdorf is an idiot.
B) Are you trying to imply that all the other elite pass rushers in the entire NFL aren’t held as well?
I just don’t get it on the Harrison thing. I’ve never before really opined one way or another on him, or the amount of times he allegedly gets held . I don’t think he’s as good as Steelers fans make him out to be. Sure, he’s a great player, but you guys call him “Silverback”, claim he gets held on every play…where are the fans of other teams that have incredibly talented pass rushers making the same claim? Surely opposing defenses aren’t singling ONLY Harrison out to be held more than other pass rushers, right?
Other elite players get held a lot too but Steeler fans aren’t going to complain on their behalf. I agree too that Harrison is not in the same skill category as someone like Dwight Freeney. There’s a reason it took so long for him to become a starter. The fact is he suits the scheme and it suits him. He doesn’t get held every play, that’s hyperbole from others trying to make it all out to be Steeler fans whingeing about nothing. He does get held a lot though, specifically when he gets around the lineman and they clothesline him. That’s the situation that occurs 5-10 times in a lot of games which fans have been complaining about. The league has agreed that those should be called and they have been calling more of them.
It’s not every game either. The Ravens slide extra protection over or put in a sixth lineman to deal with Harrison. The Browns, for all their woes, have a LT who can handle James Harrison without any help. No complaints there but our secondary needs all the help it can get and we see disastrous results when our guys can’t get to the QB. If they’re blocked, fine, we have to suck it up but when they’re held it’s frustrating because that kind of pressure is what the pass defense revolves around.
He’s called Silverback because of his strength and bad temper by the way. The nickname really caught on when he body slammed the nut who ran on the field in Cleveland a few seasons back. I think that was the same year he leaped over a player on an int return. I don’t think anyone at the time foresaw Defensive Player of the Year in his future.
With all duee respect to Harrison, who does get held a lot, Dan Dierdorf is a moron.
Dierdorf was not just a former player, but was an offensive lineman for 13 years, as well as being a Hall of Famer. He probably knows a little bit about holding.
No.
He was the NFL defensive player of the year last year. Steelers fans aren’t the voters for that honor.
Please provide evidence for any Steeler fan claiming that Harrison gets held on every play.
They’re not. He’s singling himself out by routinely busting around the guys trying to block him.
Considering that the Steelers have lost 6 games by a total of 21 points, with 6 points being their largest loss margin, I think they can beat anyone. It sounds silly to say, but this team could conceivably be undefeated. If they don’t make the playoffs, it will be the most disappointing Steeler season ever. And if they do make the playoffs, they have as good a shot as going all the way as any other team. I guarantee that San Diego, New England or Cincinnati will not want to be the 3 seed if the Steelers are the 6 seed.
Dude, pass whatever you’re on over here.
James Harrison sucks. I can’t do a search for him without finding discussions of Colt’s offensive players.
I’m afraid our ability to intimidate opponents is nothing but a pipe dream at the moment. The Bengals could have lost all their close games too but they didn’t; they’re sitting on top because they deserve to be there whether we like it or not. We can’t win a Super Bowl playing 55 minutes per game like we have been.
The claim he gets held “on every play” is obvious hyperbole to make fun of some of you guys that keep bringing up Harrison being held, which to me is kinda the point of my initial question/uninformed observation. But just look through this thread…its mentioned several times, and not in jest, either. Its a very common complaint which makes me question whether some Steeler fans (not just you guys, I lurk on Steelernation, etc…as an interested Bengals fan) even know what holding is.
Phooey, you mentioned Freeney, which is maybe an unfair comparison since he’s a DE. Perhaps using another top pass rusher at the OLB position like Dumervil is a better comparison. Does Dumervil get held on every play? Do Broncos fans claim that he does? He’s got 5 more sacks than Harrison right now and plays on a worse (well, traditionally anyway) defense than him.
Anyway, there isn’t much point in this mini-rant, and maybe I’m way off base, but I’ve finally reached the point where I had seen the Harrison meme enough I thought I’d spout off at the mouth a little.
No harm no foul, eh?
I for one as a fan of Cincinnati would welcome playing the Steelers again. This season has been a wonderful opportunity for the Bengals to exorcise some of the “demons” that Cincinnati had been plagued by (never being undefeated in division play before, never planting a 100 yard rusher on Baltimore, shoulda coulda woulda, etc), and beating the Steelers three times in a single season would send me into paroxysms of orgasmic joy.
If you agree with the premise that a team that is leading or tied at any point in the 4th quarter has a good chance of winning that game, then the Steelers could be undefeated. I agree that they didn’t deserve to win most of those games since their defense couldn’t hold down the opposition. But there aren’t any teams in the NFL that are significantly better than the Steelers. They’ve performed quite well against the “elite” teams they’ve played: Minnesota, San Diego, Denver. Even the 2 losses to the Bengals were toss-ups.
If Polamalu is healthy, and they can iron out the stupid mistakes they’ve made throughout the first 12 games of the season, they could win it all again. The talent is there. The problem is that this year the mistakes are there too. There’s still a chance, but it’s hard to iron out those mistakes. Getting Polamalu back will help tremendously, but we might have dug ourselves too deep a hole at this point.
It is baffling to me how important Troy is to the defense (and that we haven’t compensated yet). I don’t think it’s coincidence. I’ll post the stat again: 5-0 with Troy (for a full game). 1-6 without him. Amazing.
My not-very-scientific reading of NFL scorelines suggests that 90% of NFL games come down to one or two plays - so every team could easily be undefeated, or at least 14-2.
Elvis Dumervil and James Harrison are very similar pass rushers. One might be faster, one might be stronger but they are similarly built and face the same issues. To suggest we don’t know what holding is is way off base. The team sent tape to the league to support the argument. We had Marvel Smith for a long time as our LT, you can bet we know holding when we see it. If you watch the clips of Harrison being held (I think some are still posted at Postgameheroes) you can see that Harrison’s feet are beyond the Tackle. The only thing preventing him from moving on to the QB is the Tackle’s arm around his neck. It’s not the traditional holding by grabbing the guy’s jersey by reaching outside your body but it’s still holding. The league has admitted those calls should be made and also started calling Tackles for not lining up on the line of scrimmage. Many were cheating back to get a jump on the outside rushers. Steeler Tackles have been known to do that as well so it’s a double-edged sword having it called more closely but right is right. Pass rushers get held, that goes with the territory. In his case there were too many blatant ones not being called. I don’t think there was a conspiracy against James Harrison just a need for officials to get used to watching for a different type of holding now that short guys like him and Dumervil are standing up these tall linemen and forcing them to try and adjust to a different style of rusher.
Jackknifed, the Steelers couldn’t hold on against the 5-7 Bears, the 3-9 Chiefs, and the 4-8 Raiders, who have the worst offense in the league. Face it, the Steelers just aren’t very good this year.
While I agree that Popadopalus is extremely important to your defense, from the few games I’ve seen the Steelers play, his presence alone wouldn’t have erased the mistakes the Steelers have been making in other areas, like special teams, bad oline play, dropped passes, Ben holding onto the ball too long, inconsistent rushing game, etc.
I think you are reading too much into that stat.
No, but his presence would have removed some opportunities for mistakes to be made. Polamalu had 7 picks last season, and his presence on the field played a part in countless sacks (better coverage) and third down stops (better tackling).
I brought this up again because Dan Dierdorf asserted during the game that Harrison is held more than any other player in the league, and called out an occasion during the game that he was held without drawing a flag. Are you suggesting that Dierdorf is a Steelers fan who doesn’t know what holding is?