Coach Dick LeBeau AFC Championship Week - Ingles

January 20, 2011

Re: More pressure on the quarterback:

You always need a little more pressure on the quarterback. I don’t think we had any sacks the last game, no we had one for zero yards. I think more important than that we didn’t get any turnovers in that game at all. We have to turn the ball over a little, get pressure on the ball.

Does down and distance affect bringing pressure?

I don’t think so. It was a one-play game and that’s probably what it will be this Sunday.

Re: Ike Taylor:

Ike is having a great season, great. Ike’s been playing great ball steadily for however how many years you want to talk about. As a cornerback, maybe you have a play here or a play there, every corner does, this is my seventh year back, he’s played solid every year.

Re: Relationship with your defensive players:

I know that I have got some really good players. I coach and they play. They make me look like a pretty good coach sometimes. A lot of us have been together through some ups and downs, but mostly I coach and they play.

Re: How they honored you at the Hall of Fame:

They have consistently. They are the best PR department I’ve got. They got me in. It was great. It’s very humbling to be honest with you. It’s the type of thing that makes you think you’ve made the right career choice at least when the guys you are working with can treat you like that. It’s a very special thing and it’s a lifetime memory. It’s something I will never forget.

Re: Applying pressure when the Jets like to get rid of the football quickly:

You have to come every play even if you are worried about coverage. Everybody has to go every down. People get rid of the ball fast against us. That’s just a weekly situation that we face. There is a rumor going around that we like to pressure. I don’t know where they got that, but I still think we tied for the lead in the league in sacks. Our guys do a good job of just hanging with it. They just keep coming. You never know when the opportunity is going to be there when he can’t throw it quickly. Or if he does throw it quickly it’s probably going to be picked. Those are the situations you have to take advantage of. We don’t really adjust. Everybody goes into the game against us figuring they are going to get rid of the ball quickly.

Re: Braylon Edwards:

I think he was a great player in Cleveland. He has always been a great player. It’s a plus for us, having played him every season since he came into the league. We know how good he is. Maybe some other teams don’t. He has got a great size advantage on anybody on him. He’s got plenty of speed and great athleticism. He is a great receiver. Santonio was here. We know him and we know how good he is. They got a slot receiver in the last couple of games that has played pretty well. That team has a lot of good players. And their tight end [Dustin Keller] may be the best receiver they have. I said maybe, so they have four-or-five guys that can do the job. That’s why they are in this game.

Re: Dustin Keller not catching as many touchdowns as of late:

Touchdowns are like interceptions. Sometimes you get them, sometimes you don’t. But if you look at that guy throughout the season, he’s been a steady producer for them. The plays that they design and where the ball goes, they think he is one of their best receivers. They are looking for that guy a lot. He’s a very good player. Touchdowns, sometimes you get five in a row. Sometimes it’s about how many catches you have. And he’s got plenty.

Re: Rush defense now compared to the ’08 team:

Somebody said this was the best rushing numbers in the history of this franchise. We are going to be happy with that. I think they had some pretty good defenses here in the 1970’s. That’s a little bit like the question on the touchdowns. Everybody plays hard on every down. Sometimes situations in games they don’t run. Sometimes the play that they run hit us in the right spot. But to put up the numbers like our guys did in a 16-game season, they had to play darn-good run defense. We are going to be happy with that and at the same time not taking anything for granted. This is one of the best rushing teams in the league and we are going to have to play very well to hold them down running the ball. They are excellent runners.

Re: Legacy of this franchise and how they continue to bring in good players:

I think our front office has done a great job with Coach Tomlin drafting to fit what we do. That goes right back to Kevin Greene and Greg Lloyd and those guys. And of course the ‘70’s and those linebackers, they are all in the hall of fame. I think some of these others will end up in there also. Sometimes that is handed down really from one generation of players to another. I definitely think this group of defenders has been affected by earlier groups by how hard they play and how they run to the ball. That’s just Steelers’ football. Really it’s reflecting back to the guys that played here before these guys.

How much longer will you coach?

I have a standard retort to that. Hell, I am not even the oldest coach in the state of Pennsylvania. There’s a guy up there at Penn State that’s 10 years older than me. I feel like the baby. First of all someone has to want you to coach. We have been blessed from that standpoint. We will see how that goes. I don’t think these guys had too bad of a year defensively. We still have some defense to play. If somebody wants me to work, I think maybe we can still get them in-and-out of the huddle a couple times. But I am not looking too far down the road. As a friend once said, “We’re not buying any green bananas baby.”