Harrison turns in game of his life
PITTSBURGH— Meet James Harrison, Baltimore's Monday nightmare.
The Steelers right outside linebacker ended the competitive portion of his team's 38-7 win over the Ravens incredibly early — and almost single-handedly — Monday night.
"I made a couple of plays early and that stuff can snowball," Harrison said. "It can go the other way like that when you're having a bad game.
"Well, I was having a pretty good game.
Correction. He was having a
career game.Harrison put together three solo tackles, 2½ sacks, forced two fumbles, recovered one and intercepted a pass — in the first half alone."The guy was all over the place,"receiver Santonio Holmes said. "Making special teams tackles, forcing fumbles, getting sacks — we were having a blast just watching him."Harrison sacked Steve McNair and forced a fumble at the same time early in the first quarter, giving the Steelers possession at the Baltimore 20-yard line with 8:50 left in the period. The play set up his team's first touchdown.Later in the quarter, Harrison drilled Ravens punt returner Ed Reed, causing the ball to pop straight up in the air and into the arms of the Steelers' Lawrence Timmons.The Steelers had possession at Baltimore's 28 and scored their second touchdown three plays later.Early in the second quarter, Harrison sacked McNair and forced another fumble. Running back Willis McGahee recovered for Baltimore and tried gaining yardage before Harrison nailed him for a 10-yard loss inside the Ravens 5-yard line.After a Baltimore punt, the Steelers took possession at midfield and had a 28-0 lead six plays later.Game, set, match.When the night was over, Harrison had tallied eight solo tackles, one assist, 3½ sacks and the aforementioned turnovers."Yeah, this was my best game,"he said. "Nothing else even comes close. In high school, I rushed for 302 yards and forced a fumble, I remember, but this game beats that."And it came against the Ravens, an organization that once cut him in training camp."That made it a little more special,"Harrison admitted.Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said Harrison's performance will likely look even better on film."He had a spectacular game,"Tomlin said. "It will speak for itself. The tape is something we all walk, talk and breathe. The tape builds resumes, and James Harrison got it on tape tonight."Even when he made a mistake Monday night, Harrison came out on the positive side."I came rushing inside when I was supposed to be picking up a receiver," he said, smiling. "I wound up sacking the quarterback instead. When it's going good, it's going good."While Tomlin hasn't been coaching in the NFLvery long, he admitted he had never seen a linebacker have a game like Harrison had Monday."Nope. I would have remembered it," the coach said. "The man was everywhere. He played a whale of a football game and we needed it."The Steelers released former All-Pro Joey Porter, a member of the franchise's 75th anniversary team, during the offseason with the idea Harrison could fill his shoes.Even before Monday's game, Harrison had not disappointed. He ranked third on the team with 39 tackles overall, trailing only James Farrior and Ike Taylor, and his 33 solo tackles were only three behind Taylor for the team lead.Harrison now leads the Steelers with 41 solo stops."I'm hoping this is just a start for me,"Harrison said. "We'll wait and see. Getting the opportunity to showcase whatever it is I can do on "Monday Night Football," on a national broadcast — this was pretty cool."
