Miller: Offensive Synergy Keys Big Road Win
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (93-7 THE FAN) -- Entering Sunday, the prevailing storyline was how Tom Coughlin and Mike Tomlin would each put the game in the hands of their Super Bowl champion quarterbacks, but according to tight end Heath Miller, one hand fed the other in a huge 24-20 Steeler victory at MetLife Stadium.
"They've got probably the best front four in the league," Miller said of the Giants' defense, which took a 14-7 lead in the second quarter when Michael Boley returned a Ben Roethlisberger fumble 70 yards. "They get after the passer better than anybody. When you can do that with four guys, it makes you have a pretty good pass defense. It was a key for us to be able to run."
That's just what the Steelers did, despite injuries to Rashard Mendenhall and a resurgent Jonathan Dwyer. Isaac Redman sliced and diced his way to 147 yards on 26 carries, and his short touchdown run in the fourth quarter capped a textbook Roethlisberger comeback drive.
"We felt good about the running game coming in. Our confidence has been building these past few weeks," he told 93.7 The Fan's Jeff Hathhorn. "We thought, based on what we've seen, we'd be able to run the ball on them, or at least that was our hope."
Suddenly, as a result, the Steelers of present day continue to look more and more like the Steelers of yesterday. While the defense continued to frustrate Eli Manning as he had not been frustrated in some time, some key plays by Redman preserved the final margin.
"When you're able to establish a running game, the whole offense can feed off that. We picked our times to make plays in the passing game, guys stepped up, and it was a good team win."
Fittingly, the Steelers (5-3), forced not to travel till Sunday morning due to Hurricane Sandy, get an extra day of rest before their next game, a Monday night contest with the struggling Kansas City Chiefs (1-7) at Heinz Field.
