When LaMarr Woodley heard the comments about the Steelers defense being old following a loss to the Ravens, it didn't bother him. After all it certainly wasn't the first time he heard that said.
"They have been calling this defense old since I was in college and they are still calling them old now," said Woodley. "In this sport when is a defense at the right age? When has that ever been the case? It's always they are too old, or too young. There is never a just right in this league.
"Pittsburgh is a team that has always had veteran players and we always seem to prove everybody wrong by getting back to the Super Bowl."
After a 24-0 shutout of the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, Woodley is hoping to quiet the "old" comments at least for now.
"We wanted to show everybody the Pittsburgh Steelers are not an old team," said Woodley. "We are going to be out here competing each and every day and throughout the year to get back to the Super Bowl.
"We are not going to let one game define our season. I think that is what we showed by not allowing Seattle to put any points on the board. We changed everything from what we did that first game, we didn't allow them to run the ball on us, we didn't allow them to get big plays and we didn't allow them to put points on the board. Everybody did their job and that is what made us so successful in that game."
Injuries forced two changes on the Steelers offensive line from the Baltimore game to the Seattle game, with Marcus Gilbert filling in at left tackle for Willie Colon who is out for the season, and Ramon Foster starting at left guard for Chris Kemoeatu, out this past week with a knee injury.
Despite the changes, the Steelers tallied 124 yards rushing and Gilbert earned praise for his first NFL start.
"I thought he played well," said Foster. "He played fast and hard. That is what we were looking for from him. He showed a lot in camp and we knew he was capable of being a good player like he played in this game."
Overall, though, Foster agreed with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger who said post-game that the offense left points on the field against the Seahawks.
On the first drive of the game the Steelers had a first-and-goal, but Rashard Mendenhall was stopped for no gain and Roethlisberger sacked for a seven-yard loss. Roethlisberger scrambled for seven yards on third down, but on fourth and one from the one-yard line Mendenhall was again stopped for no gain, turning the ball over on downs.
In the second quarter the Steelers also weren't able to punch it in, settling for a field goal after getting the ball to the two-yard line.
"We definitely left some points out there," said Foster. "It was one of those things. Their defense made some good plays, their safeties hit the holes the way they are supposed to when they see the back running. It's one of those things as an o-line we have to make sure we cover them up front and make a gap for Rashard and the running backs to get a touchdown in those situations."
