James Harrison News

Originally published November 6, 2009 at 12:46 p.m., updated November 6, 2009 at 2:09 p.m. PITTSBURGH a ' The more coach Mike Tomlin keeps talking about it, the more agitated his players get.

For the record: Pittsburgh is 5-2, Denver 6-1. Last game: Pittsburgh is coming off a bye week.

For his first NFL start, Tyler Polumbus gets to take on James Harrison, Lawrence Timmons and the mighty 3-4 Pittsburgh Steelers defense.

Steelers safety Ryan Clark doesn't want his career to vanish in thin air. Clark became almost deathly ill after playing in Denver's mile-high altitude two years ago, losing his spleen and gall bladder plus 30 pounds due to medical complications that ended his season.

Three times the Minnesota Vikings were ready to take the lead and possibly put away the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Steelers linebacker James Harrison was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Month for October.

Quarterback Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots looks to pass during the first quarter of the game against the Buffalo Bills on September 14, 2009 at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts.

Steelers outside linebacker James Harrison today was named AFC Defensive Player of the Month for October.

The early season slide is over. Troy Polamalu is back from a four-week injury layoff.

Three times the Minnesota Vikings were ready to take the lead and possibly put away the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Three times the Minnesota Vikings were ready to take the lead and possibly put away the Pittsburgh Steelers.

At first glance, the Pittsburgh Steelers seemed to earn a passing grade in their first game without defensive end Aaron Smith, but coach Mike Tomlin said it was more like an incomplete.

Picks from the Post-Gazette's pigskin prognosticator. Dulac's mark: Last week: 9-5 Season record: 58-32 Minnesota Vikings at Steelers , 1 p.m., Sunday The Skinny: Brett Favre has not played in Pittsburgh since he was 29, which seems like a long time ago.

Part of any coach's job is to take some hits for the organization. As such, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin might as well have worn a helmet and shoulder pads to his weekly news conference Tuesday.

It takes Travis Kirschke a little longer to lift his 6-foot-3, 298-pound frame out of bed on Mondays after a game than it did, say, when he was 25 - 10 years and an NFL lifetime ago.

When your offense produces such futile numbers from the quarterback position like it did last week, something has to be done.

Maybe Dick LeBeau reached a breaking point. Or maybe the venerable defensive coordinator figured if his players were going to fall victim to another late rally, they were at least going to do things his way, which is to say the Steelers' way.

The Cleveland Browns have compiled a laundry list of gaffes and poor personnel decisions since returning to the National Football League in 1999, not to mention employing five head coaches in that time.

So what does Steelers linebacker James Harrison do for an encore after earning NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2008, a year in which he posted a club-record 16 sacks and led the NFL with seven forced fumbles? He begins this season with six sacks in five games, which is tied for fourth in the NFL and puts him on pace for 19.

This was the Browns-Steelers rivalry: Hall of Famers Jim Brown and John Henry Johnson trading 100-yard games.