Shazier: 'I was feeling it'

Shazier: 'I was feeling it'

Teresa Varley
Steelers.com

LB Ryan Shazier had one of those games against the Bengals.

Before the Steelers and Bengals even kicked off in what would be an epic 60-minute battle in the Wild Card playoff game, linebacker Ryan Shazier had a feeling.

No, he didn’t know what the outcome was going to be, but he just had that feeling that he was going to have one of those days, a day he will be able to look back on 10 years from now and remember with pride.

He just felt it. He felt something good was going to happen.

“I was feeling it,” said Shazier. “I was telling some of the guys before the game that this is going to be a great game, I am feeling great. I knew I could do something like that when the opportunity came. I just have to take advantage of it more often.”

What Shazier did was have 13 tackles and two forced fumbles, including knocking the ball away from Bengals running back Jeremy Hill in the final two minutes. Ross Cockrell recovered and Shazier’s play translated into the Steelers game-winning field goal drive.

“When you are feeling good, you almost feel invincible,” said Shazier. “You can’t really feel that way though, because you know you have to stay on top of it. I was just trying to get the offense back the ball, do my part to help.

“It was crazy. The Bengals defense made a great play. We then knew if we gave the offense a chance they would do something. We did and they handled the rest.”

Shazier said he initially tried to pick the ball up himself, hoping to ‘scoop and score,’ but mishandled it and was happy Cockrell recovered.

“It felt great,” said Shazier. “It felt great when the ball started coming out. It felt like things were coming our way. I was trying to do everything I can to help this team get a win. I wasn’t ready to go home yet. I felt like nobody was. We just wanted to give the offense a chance.”

Shazier, who credited the defense with playing as a unit the entire game and that’s what led to the success, also said maintaining their focus was a key.

“We understood how big the moment was and what could happen,” said Shazier. “We all just went out there and gave it everything we had, laid it all on the line. Nobody was ready to go home.”

http://www.steelers.com/news/article-1/Shazier-I-was-feeling-it/69c2d4c2-ab5c-4352-8303-1832cbd69a40

Hope he's feeling it for a lot more games in the future. Great Game Shazier!

As for the rest of you, anybody who didn't commit personal fouls that put their opponents in chip-shot field goal territory for the win, give yourself a pat on the back.

I'm seeing why they were so high on this guy. He's fast and just has a nose for the ball. Great game Ryan. Stay healthy.

his speed is like having an extra safety, the amount of ground he can cover is insane for a LB.

Ryan Shazier Leads Young Steelers Defenders In Big Playoff Win

When Ryan Shazier played the 49ers in the second week of the season, he had a monster game, finishing with 15 tackles, a sack, and a forced fumble, and it seemed as though he was taking off, reaching the potential that the Pittsburgh Steelers saw in him when they made him their first-round draft pick in 2014.

But he suffered a shoulder injury in that game and missed the next four, and it took him some time and a lot of trial and error before he looked to be playing his way back into form, recording 20 tackles in total over the course of the last two games of the season, along with a half-sack, and he recorded his first interception the game before.

Last night, in the Steelers’ Wildcard opener against the Bengals, Shazier seemed to be everywhere, both early and late, having himself a big game, and perhaps the second-best game of his career after that Week Two stomping of San Francisco.

The inside linebacker finished the game with 13 tackles, including nine solo, deflecting two or three passes and nearly intercepting one. He put a crushing his on Giovani Bernard on a late third-quarter third-and-nine play that produced a fumble that he himself recovered.

Six out of eight of Shazier’s tackles were classified as run stops, failing to gain the expected successful yardage on the play based on down and distance.

The Bengals’ penultimate offensive play of the game, other than a desperation heave with six seconds left, was a six-yard run as they tried to run out the clock, but Shazier ripped the ball out, forcing his second fumble of the game, which the Steelers recovered, going on to score the winning field goal.

After Pittsburgh drove down the field to score, Shazier, fittingly, was the one to bat down the final pass. He smartly swatted the ball directly downward, making sure that it hit the ground as fast as possible to secure the game, rather than trying to intercept the pass.

One of the areas of the game in which he has struggled through most of his young career has been in coverage, but he has been a much better player in that department over the closing stretch of the regular season, and he continued to look improved in coverage last night, nearly single-handedly forcing a four-and-out on the drive in which the Bengals ultimately took the lead.

It was a very positive development that Shazier, and other young players on defense, stepped up their game to match the intensity of the playoffs, which will hopefully bode well for the Steelers as they look to advance to the AFC Championship game for the first time since 2010.

While they ultimately gave up the lead late, they still limited a potent offense to 16 points, and produced a number of three-and-out drives throughout the game, and Shazier was undoubtedly one of the key figures in that effort, exploiting his speed to keep the Bengals’ offense honest.

http://www.steelersdepot.com/2016/01/ryan-shazier-leads-young-steelers-defenders-in-big-playoff-win/

I'm really starting to like this guy. Now that he is staying healthy he is really looking good out there! next season this steelers d line and pass rush will probably be one of the best in the league. Dupree is going to be great, Shazier is already great. Looks like Jones might be a bust. Can we please address the secondary this year in the draft? No midget corners please. I'd like to see Grant get in on the action next season. Maybe we could dump Blake and slide Boykin In there. Cockrell is an extremely smart player, had that big fumble recovery last night. He needs to stay. It was cool that Blake had a pick last night and had a decent game.... But no. But yeah shazier rules. He is so quick for an ILB, he's going to do big things.

I'm amazed that Shazier didn't injure himself on the Bernard tackle. Every time he is in heavy contact I cringe that he isn't going to finish the game. Kid was on fire and he responded and the right time. Great performance.

......so did everyone he laid a hit on.  Awesome game.

But, maybe we should have taken CJ Mosely instead.      

Shazier breakout game comes at right time for Steelers

By Mark Kaboly
Sunday, Jan. 10, 2016

Ben Roethlisberger created a stir this week when he publicly called out Martavis Bryant for needing to be tougher, especially during playoff time.

It worked as Bryant made a spectacular touchdown catch during the Steelers' 18-16 wild-card playoff win Saturday over the Bengals.

Rewind a month before that, and Keith Butler did the same thing with a talented yet underachieving player on the defensive side of the ball: Ryan Shazier.

“If you are waiting to feel good before you play, you are never going to play,” Butler said then about the oft-injured former first-round pick.

Shazier must've felt good during Saturday's game. After, he likely felt even better.

Shazier had a breakout performance against the Bengals that helped propel the Steelers into Sunday's division-round playoff game against top-seeded Denver (12-4) at Sports Authority Field.

Shazier had 13 tackles, two tackles for losses, a quarterback hit and two important forced fumbles. And — get this — the injury-prone Shazier played all 74 defensive snaps for a defense that kept the Bengals out of the end zone for three quarters.

That's exactly what the Steelers envisioned when they drafted Shazier 15th overall 2014.

“That's the play we need from him,” defensive end Stephon Tuitt said. “We knew he was capable of doing that, too. It was a matter of time before he broke out. No matter when it happened, it happened. We are glad he made it happen in game like that.”

Shazier has had flashes of greatness before, most notably in Week 2 against the 49ers when he had a career-high 15 tackles and a sack in a little more than three quarters.

But he never has been able to stay healthy long enough to consistently be a dominant force.

Some of that has been bad luck, and some of it, according to Butler, was the inability to play through injuries.

“I don't think he listens to any of that, or at least he shouldn't,” safety Mike Mitchell said. “He has been playing outstanding when he is out there, and he just needs to focus on being out there.”

Shazier impressed the coaches enough that they took away the defensive play calling from Lawrence Timmons and gave it to Shazier.

However, since the Steelers drafted Shazier, he has been on the injury report 19 times.

Shazier missed seven games his rookie year with knee and ankle problems. This year, a knee and shoulder injury sidelined him. In both instances, Shazier was out longer than anticipated.

This year, when Shazier injured his shoulder against the 49ers, he missed the next four games without much explanation from anybody, including coach Mike Tomlin.

Shazier hasn't missed a game since returning Week 7 in Kansas City. He sat a portion of the Seattle game with a concussion but returned the next week.

Saturday was validation for Shazier.

“It felt good because I feel healthy,” Shazier said. “There have been a lot of ups and downs for this team this year. It felt good to go out there and have fun and do the things we know we can do. It was definitely a relief because I could help out my team the way I know I could. I was just doing what those guys were asking me to do.”

Shazier forced a fumble of Gio Bernard with the Bengals driving late in the third quarter. And, of course, he made the season-saving forced fumble of Jeremy Hill with a little more than a minute left in what seemed like a hopeless effort for the Steelers.

“It was probably the play of the game for us,” Mitchell said.

The Steelers kicked the winning field goal nine plays later for their first playoff win in five years.

“Seeing what he did (Saturday night) was great,” linebacker James Harrison said. “We had to have a play and get a turnover, and he ball searched. It was probably his best game stat-wise he's had.”

http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/9772289-74/shazier-game-steelers#ixzz3x0SBoUvq
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook

Shazier's is the next jersey I'm buying. He literally saved our season with that forced fumble. I think he's responded to criticisms against him in a big way. He's toughened up, and is playing Steeler football.

IowaSteeler927 wrote:

Shazier's is the next jersey I'm buying. He literally saved our season with that forced fumble. I think he's responded to criticisms against him in a big way. He's toughened up, and is playing Steeler football.

I couldn't agree more! I have supported Shazier since day one and I hope he continues to shut the haters up just like Polamalu did after his first season.

Best tackler I seen since Joe Montana

FrancoLambert wrote:

......so did everyone he laid a hit on.  Awesome game.

But, maybe we should have taken CJ Mosely instead.      

CJ Whosely, now?

Shazier might be the future defensive captain, he seems to have "it" and he has toughened up a lot this season. Big hits , big plays.

I love Shazier and what he brings to this team. He is a special player, it's almost as if he's taking the place of Troy Polamalu for us in terms of splash plays, defensive speed, and high energy.

What's so impressive to me about the Hill forced fumble is that you can bet your ass Jeremy Hill was thinking that whole run, "Hold on as tight as you can, hold on as tight as you can" and despite that man giving all his effort to secure the ball, Shazier was still able to strip it. It was perfect execution.

Shazier is the X-Factor on defense going forward.

Buddha Bus wrote:

FrancoLambert wrote:

......so did everyone he laid a hit on.  Awesome game.

But, maybe we should have taken CJ Mosely instead.      

CJ Whosely, now?

This year it was C.J. Losely.

FrancoLambert wrote:

Buddha Bus wrote:

FrancoLambert wrote:

......so did everyone he laid a hit on.  Awesome game.

But, maybe we should have taken CJ Mosely instead.      

CJ Whosely, now?

This year it was C.J. Losely.

Yeah, too bad we didn't get him and Eddie Lacey instead of the 2 jabronies we got.

Shazier hasn't even hit his ceiling yet, he can add weight, get a little bit stronger, and be scary good.

IowaSteeler927 wrote:

Shazier hasn't even hit his ceiling yet, he can add weight, get a little bit stronger, and be scary good.

True but I think he's ok size wise, I wouldn't want him to lose any speed since that's the trait that makes him potentially a great player. His closing speed we're already starting to see, generates turnovers and drive killers. In the past 4 weeks or so, shazier was making a lot of 3rd down stops short of the sticks, huge tackles, and those were tackles that Timmons or any of our lb's wouldn't be able to make. He's going to be a special player if he stays healthy

Fire Arians wrote:

IowaSteeler927 wrote:

Shazier hasn't even hit his ceiling yet, he can add weight, get a little bit stronger, and be scary good.

True but I think he's ok size wise, I wouldn't want him to lose any speed since that's the trait that makes him potentially a great player. His closing speed we're already starting to see, generates turnovers and drive killers. In the past 4 weeks or so, shazier was making a lot of 3rd down stops short of the sticks, huge tackles, and  those were tackles that Timmons or any of our lb's wouldn't be able to make. He's going to be a special player if he stays healthy

agreed. At this point his weight is fine. Besides, putting on weight will just break his ankles

He plays a different position but he just may if he can stay healthy be sort of like Troy was the past decade. That player that every offensive coordinator has to account for. It's kind of funny and I don't mean to come off insulting Ryan's body hair condition but it's kind of funny to go from the guy with tons of hair (Troy) to a guy with no hair (Ryan) I'm really happy to see this guy developing. I'm really starting to see what the plan is for the defense and I like it. I wish we didn't give up so many yards but we're creating turnovers and sacks again which really goes a long way. Another guy I really like is Stephon Tuitt, he plays great with Cam on the other side. Tuitt/Heyward are what I hoped that Cam and Ziggy Hood would be.

I'd like to see him put on a little more muscle. Not a lot by any means, his speed is obviously his greatest attribute but I see him get bullied around sometimes, and lost in the wash more often than I'd like. Needs a little bit more strength so he doesn't get bullied around quite as much.

The guy who made it all possible. I remember thinking "Dear god, the defense has to make a move or we're going home. Fumble please"

I've never seen such an amazing game. The tide turned so fast, and seeing us shut Burfict up after running into the tunnel, man was it great.

And of course the tears of random Bengal lady and the team hiding theirs. Haha. I'm still pissed at the injuries but it is what is is.

Shazier has big things ahead of him at this rate.