By Teresa Varley
Steelers.com
Not many would argue that linebacker James Harrison's stats were impressive from Sunday's 38-17 win over the Houston Texans at Heinz Field, unless of course you are James Harrison.
"It was all right," said Harrison of his performance.
That is quite the understatement. Harrison had three sacks, two quarterback hurries, a forced fumble, six solo tackles and two assists.
"I don't look at all of that," said Harrison. "Sacks are good. I am working for sacks. It was an okay game. I don't look at stats. I don't look at sports. The most sports I look at are when I come in here and watch ESPN, other than that I am home watching cartoons."
With the way he performed on Sunday, those poor cartoon characters wouldn't stand a chance.
Harrison is a fiery linebacker, a no-nonsense guy who lets his play do the talking on the field and doesn't like to sit back and enjoy the glow of a win for even a minute.
"We were over with it after the game was over with," said Harrison of the Texans game. "We are looking at Cleveland now. It's one game. We are playing Cleveland next."
Competition is something that Harrison thrives on. Whether it's from that week's opponent or among his teammates, he loves it. That might be the only reason he ever peeks at sack numbers, to make sure he is getting more than fellow outside linebacker LaMarr Woodley.
"It's going to be a competition like that, even if it's just a friendly competition we want to go out there and do the best that we can," said Harrison. "Both of us playing the same position, just on opposite sides of the ball, you want to try to out do the other person. It is just the nature of competition."
Woodley had an impressive opening game as well, with a sack, interception and fumble recovery. It is plays like that, and the other ones made by the defense, that fires them up.
"The whole defense feeds off of anybody's big plays," said Harrison. "That's just the way that we play."
