With Isaac Redman filling in for Rashard Mendenhall and Jonathan Dwyer and the Pittsburgh Steelers still getting the job done on the ground, Ben Roethlisberger took a moment to credit his team's offensive line.
The Steelers' rushing attack struggled early with Mendenhall out with a knee injury, but has looked great in the games since Mendenhall went down again with a sore Achilles. First Dwyer ran for 107 and 122 yards in back-to-back outings before injuring his groin. Then, with the team down to its third-string running back as a starter, the Steelers won on the ground with Redman registering a career high 147 yards in Pittsburgh's 24-20 win over the New York Giants.
Although Dwyer and Redman deserve credit for filling in and bouncing off hits to fight for yards, Roethlisberger tipped his hat to the guys in the trenches. From Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
"A lot of that credit has to go to the linemen,’’ Ben Roethlisberger said. "They don’t care who’s back there running the ball, they’re going to open up holes. [Isaac Redman] had a bunch of second opportunities, spinning off of things, bouncing plays.’’
The line wasn't as good at protecting Roethlsiberger as they were opening holes for Dwyer - they allowed four sacks for a loss of 25 yards on 30 attempts - but their strong performance allowing the team to run despite injuries deserves praise.