Puttin' on the blitz

Ben Roethlisberger probably makes ATM transactions that are more nerve-wracking and complex than Pittsburgh's first drive Sunday afternoon against the Bears.

Blessed with limitless time to throw, Roethlisberger hit 8 of 9 passes for 84 yards as the Steelers zoomed 92 yards for a touchdown.

"They kind of got us on our heels right from the start," said Hunter Hillenmeyer, making his first start at middle linebacker since 2004 thanks to Brian Urlacher's season-ending wrist injury

"Things weren't working. We were tired. A lot of guys had hands on their hips on that first drive."

Once the Bears figured they needed to start putting their hands on Roethlisberger's hips, back and neck - and schemed the ways to do it - the game gradually turned into one that could be won.

The Bears limited Pittsburgh to 1 touchdown (and 2 critical missed field goals) over the final 50 minutes to sneak away with a 17-14 victory at Soldier Field.

Defensive end Alex Brown's pressure forced a Roethlisberger interception in the second quarter, then Brown produced 2 crucial sacks in the second half.

Lance Briggs, Anthony Adams and Adewale Ogunleye added quarterback hits as the Bears blitzed on most of Pittsburgh's second-half snaps.

"Whenever you start getting pressure on a quarterback, that timing starts to get messed up," Briggs said. "That's one thing that we have to continue to do throughout the year.

"He had time to throw in that first half. The second half, we had him moving his feet and messing up that timing. And that gives us a chance."

Roethlisberger's statistics bear out Briggs' theory. He completed 14 of 18 passes for 135 yards and no sacks in the first half, but went 9 of 17 for 86 yards and 2 sacks in the second half.

Briggs and Hillenmeyer repeatedly moved up to the line during Roethlisberger's cadence (as did nickelback Danieal Manning) and dared the Steelers to figure out who might be coming.

"It was a little bit of cat-and-mouse," Hillenmeyer said. "We'd do one thing and then they'd adjust their offensive line to pick that up, so then we'd switch to something else. There was five or six rounds of that over the course of the game.

"Our coaches did a great job of picking up on how they were trying to block us and making adjustments to try to get guys free or get guys on the back (side)."

"If you can catch them, then you can get a big play," said Brown, who declined to reveal how severely he injured his left ankle late in the game.

"Maybe get a rusher 1-on-1 with one of their tackles or one of their guards and you can get a big play out of it.

"We were able to make enough plays to win today."