Sunday, January 30, 2011
Assocated Press
GREEN BAY, WIS.
Linebacker Desmond Bishop says the Packers began preparing for Ben Roethlisberger by watching video of how not to bring down the Steelers’ big quarterback.
The lowlight package put together by Green Bay defensive coordinator Dom Capers featured other teams, but it also could have included the Packers as they work toward their matchup with Roethlisberger and Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl on Feb. 6.
“I’m sure it could have lasted longer,” Bishop said of the video. “A lot of guys are going for his pump fakes or not wrapping up fully when they have him.
“It’s just a mental or a subliminal note that when you get your opportunity to get him, you got to hit, you got to wrap up and bring all your technique and all your weight with you, because he’s definitely a big guy to bring down.”
That’s just the mental aspect, the Packers also remember the physical toll in last year’s matchup.
Green Bay sacked Roethlisberger five times, but missed several other opportunities as Big Ben threw for a career-best 503 yards and three touchdowns in a wild 37-36 victory.
“We had five sacks, but, man, we could have had him down 10 times. He’s tough to tackle,” defensive end Ryan Pickett said. “He’s a good quarterback. And he breaks more tackles than any running back I’ve seen.”
The timely video review was meant to remind the Packers that there are no easy ways to bring a 6-foot-5, 241-pound person to the ground.
That’s why Roethlisberger has been compared to a fullback, a running back and a lineman by the Packers defense this week. Then again, it’s unlikely players at those other positions would be able to absorb the contact Roethlisberger and zip a deep pass downfield seconds later.
“He has the arm to step up, roll to his right, and still make the 60-plus throw,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “One of our objectives is to make sure when we have the opportunity to get him on the ground.”
Players and coaches say there is a technique for tackling the Steelers quarterback — hit him between his chest and knees, then wrap up and hold on until he goes down or the whistle blows.
“You see quarterbacks who sometimes go down easily, and you can bring him down. But he’s one of those guys who will fight and gets out of a lot of sacks, and the sacks that he does give up, he’s still standing,” linebacker Clay Matthews said. “We’ve got to stay alive, really get after him, and kind of collapse the pocket on him.”