Burress Takes Blame For Second-Half Pick
CLEVELAND (93-7 THE FAN) -- The return of Plaxico Burress to the Pittsburgh Steelers turned heads this week, but so did his "new" team's eight turnovers in a stunning upset loss, and Burress accepted responsibility for the one that led to the game-winning score.
With seven minutes and change remaining in the third quarter, Sheldon Brown stepped in front of him for an interception at the 31-yard line in Pittsburgh territory, which led to a critical touchdown run by Trent Richardson.
"He kind of just sat there. I probably should have made an adjustment on the fly, but I just wanted to stick with the route and not confuse the quarterback, and he didn't get off his spot," Burress explained later. "But with that said, I can come out of the break a little sharper, and not let him grab me to get under, so the onus is on me."
The Steelers hadn't turned the ball over that many times since another infamous loss to the Browns--a 51-0 bloodbath in the 1989 opener at Three Rivers Stadium.
"These are the kind of games that you look at, as a team, and it kind of gets your attention," Burress said. "You can't have seven or eight turnovers in a game, and expect to beat anybody. I don't care if it's Pop Warner, or high school. You're not giving yourself a chance to win that game."
How did it feel to be back in black and gold?
"I felt pretty good. Going into this week, I'll get more into the playbook, and the changes at the line of scrimmage. The more in-depth I can get, the more success I have in practice, then I can help this team more."
Burress elaborated more on his return to the Steelers, including details on the speech he gave to his teammates on the bench early in the fourth quarter:
Podcast
The Steelers (6-5) will try to brighten their fading playoff hopes in next Sunday's rematch with the Ravens (9-2) in Baltimore at 4:15 on KDKA-TV.
