Ravens force franchise record 7 turnovers, thump Steelers 35-7
Baltimore 35 – Pittsburgh 7 The Baltimore Ravens set a franchise record with seven turnovers and Joe Flacco threw three touchdowns, leading the Ravens to a 35-7 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday afternoon. The 28 point win was the largest victory against the Steelers in Ravens team history. Baltimore physically pounded Pittsburgh on both sides of the ball and were off to the races from the first play of the game. On the first snap from play, Ray Rice started things off with a 36 yard run off tackle and the run set the tone for the game and Joe Flacco capped off the opening drive with a 27 yard touchdown pass to Anquan Boldin who beat Bryant
Polamalu, Harrison to play vs Eagles; McFadden & Butler among 7 players declared out
Tomlin Presser Quick Hits — Emmanuel Sanders, Cortez Allen, Crezdon Butler, Bryant McFadden, Ike Taylor, Chris Kemoeatu and Mario Harvey have all been ruled out for Thursday’s game vs the Philadelphia Eagles. Sanders, Allen, Harvey, McFadden and Kemoeatu will all miss their second straight game. Tomlin said that the Steelers are looking to get McFadden right (hamstring/quad), before letting him take the next step. Tomlin indicated that Chris Kemoeatu had a good practice on Monday but hasn’t practice enough to play on Thursday. — Meanwhile, Troy Polamalu and James Harrison will both play. — The starters will play around 25 snaps, Tomlin said. — Keenan Lewis and William Gay will get the start at cornerback. — Tony Hills will get
Baron Batch expects to bounce back in the long run from torn ACL
Rookie Baron Batch had his NFL dreams for this season taking away from him when he tore his ACL near the end of Wednesday’s practce on the turf practice field. Batch who emerged as the star of training camp and was a lock to make the team barring a meltdown in the preseason, wrote a moving message on his blog last night. “Friday I was supposed to play my first NFL game,” Batch wrote. “That won’t happen. Today {Wednesday} I tore my ACL. I’m not sure why I’m writing about this right now except for the fact that God put it on my heart to do so. I probably should be devastated at the fact I wont play my rookie
Plaxico Burress signs with Jets
The Plaxico Burress sweepstakes are over. The 33 year old wideout has signed a one year deal with the New York Jets. The deal is worth $3.017 million, fully guaranteed, according to ESPN.com. Burress was en route to San Francisco this morning for a visit. The Eagles, Steelers were also among the serious suitors Updated: According to a source close to the situation, the Steelers were not given an opportunity to match or come close to the Jets offer. Burress top choices were the Philadelphia Eagles who were in serious talks as of late last night and the New York Jets who beat the Eagles to punch, landing Burress early this morning. Burress was drawn to Pittsburgh but financials wasn’t
Latest Buzz on the Plaxico Burress Sweepstakes
Burress considering all teams The so-called “Plaxwatch” this afternoon brought back memories of Jaromir Jagr with some local media members jumping the gun via twitter that they believed a deal with Pittsburgh was pretty much a done deal as Burress was meeting with Kevin Colbert and Omar Khan in Colbert’s second floor office where players normally sign contracts. That ended up not being the case and even calling Pittsburgh the front runners right now is a bit of a reach at this point. The Burress situation though is emerging as somewhat unpredictable, just like the Jagr saga, as conflicting info and reports have emerged for example, whether the Giants are in or out, and vice versa for the Jets. Here’s
Chicago Bears sign Matt Spaeth
The Chicago Bears have signed tight end Matt Spaeth, according to Michael Lombardi of the NFLnetwork. Spaeth could play a more pivotal role in Chicago with the Bears shopping Greg Olsen. The Steelers go into camp with 2 tight ends on their active roster from last season, Heath Miller and David Johnson.
Steelers Morning Buzz: Players arrive at facility; Buzz on 15 UDFA’s signed
Players arriving at facility Linebacker James Harrison was the first player to arrive at the Steelers Southside facility this morning. That shouldn’t surprise anyone. Emmanuel Sanders is also in the facility today and the Steelers are anxious to evaluate his injured foot that required two procedures this off-season. The Steelers conditioning test is scheduled for Thursday afternoon after the Steelers are scheduled to report before 3:00 p.m. The first practice is Friday afternoon and the first pads practice is scheduled for Sunday. Lead Steelers beat writer Dale Grdnic will have wall to wall coverage of camp starting on Thursday. 15 UDFA’s Sign The Pittsburgh Steelers signed 15 undrafted free agents today. The headliners include Wisconsin running back John Clay, Marshall
Wait on Players: Details of New NFL CBA that has been approved by owners
The NFL has voted to approve a new CBA and the ball is in the players court who tonight will hold a conference call at 8:00 p.m. Based off NFLPA re certifying (which is no lock) and players approving deal (also not a lock) here is tentative schedule from the league: July 23: Clubs/players may begin to renegotiate contracts, sign draft picks and their own UFA’s, RFA’s and Franchise Players. Waivers begin for new league year, team’s can begin releasing players. July 24: Starting at 2:00 p.m., clubs may begin to sign undrafted rookie free agents July 27: Free Agency begins, teams have to be under salary cap, rule of 51 applies. Expand rosters to 90-man limit. July 27: Training
NFL – NFLPA Joint Statement on Progress
The discussions this week have been constructive and progress has been made on a wide range of issues. Our legal and financial teams will continue to work through the weekend. We will continue to respect the confidentiality orders of Chief Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan and will therefore refrain from commenting on specific issues or aspects of the negotiations. We will provide additional information as developments in this process continue.
Harrison calls Mendenhall & Roethlisberger “great teammates” in released statement
Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison released a statement this evening, calling Ben Roethlisberger and Rashard Mendenhall great players and great teammates. “I did make comments about my teammates when I was talking about the emotional Super Bowl loss, but the handful of words that were used and heavily publicized yesterday were pulled out of a long conversation and the context was lost, ” Harrison said in the statement via NFL reporter Josina Anderson. “Obviously, I would never say that it was all Ben’s or Rashard’s fault that we lost the Super Bowl. That would be ridiculous. Both Ben and Rashard are great players and great teammates. Clearly the entire team bears responsibility for the loss, me included. It was a