JAMES HARRISON
Outside Linebacker
Sacks and takeaways long have been the hallmarks of the Steelers defense, and pressure on the passer had a lot to do with that unit's contribution to the team's decisive win over the Bengals at Heinz Field.
The Steelers sacked Andy Dalton three times, pressured him five times and intercepted backup Bruce Gradkowski once. James Harrison keyed the pass rush with his second three-sack game in a calendar month, and he also contributed six tackles for a defense that limited the Bengals to 232 total net yards. With that performance, Harrison raised his season total to eight sacks, and he is second on the team to LaMarr Woodley, who has nine.
Harrison is the Steelers Digest Player of the Week.
Also considered were Antonio Brown, who caught two passes for 67 yards, returned a punt 60 yards for a touchdown and ran a reverse for 9 more; Mike Wallace, who caught only three passes but two of them were good for touchdowns; Rashard Mendenhall, who rushed for 60 yards on 16 carries and scored two touchdowns; Ben Roethlisberger, whose 117.3 passer rating marked the fourth time this season he has cracked triple-digits in that statistic; James Farrior, who had six tackles and a pressure; Brett Keisel, who had four tackles and a pressure; Jeremy Kapinos, who averaged 54.2 yards on five punts; and Curtis Brown, who helped Kapinos finish with a net average of 43.4 with three special teams tackles.
