Steelers head coach Bill Cowher
(On starting fast on the road) "[Starting fast] takes the crowd out of it. Also playing smart, not turning the football over and no forced penalties. You try and take away the big plays. If you can do that, then the crowd never gets into it. You talk about playing on the road and starting fast and playing smart. If you feed off the crowd, it becomes us against them, us against the world type of thing."
(On Strong Safety Troy Polamalu) "He is just a unique guy because he really can cover like a corner and he hits like a safety and he's got outstanding instincts. He's got a great feel for the game. He is as instinctive a football player as I have been around. He understands what offenses are trying to do and you can talk to him a little bit about some of the things. You watch him and he delays at certain times and he has fun playing the game."
Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger
(on the 40-yard pass to Cedrick Wilson in the fourth quarter) "Well that was one of those things where I was looking left the whole way and we had three receivers over there and I tried to fake one to Antwaan [Randle El] right away and didn't feel confident and didn't want to force it and so I saw the opportunity to go to my right and went right and that's when the receivers take over. Hines [Ward] comes across, Antwaan comes across, and at the last minute I think about running it, getting the first down, which I should have done, but then I see Cedrick is going deep and it occurred to me those guys are working hard, I was working hard with them all season and we really just tried to put things together."
(on starting the game today) "I want to go out and help this team. I feel like I'm better on the field then I am on the sideline so whatever I can do to help this team, I'm gonna do. I feel comfortable with Tommy [Maddox] out there, but if I can play, I'm going to play."
(on Hines Ward) "It felt good out there with him today. On the first touchdown, I gave a little pump fake and he popped out, made a great catch and took it in for the touchdown. On the second touchdown, I put it up. I trust him to come down with it in those situations and he did."
Steelers WR Cedrick Wilson
(on QB Ben Roethlisberger's scrambling ability) "The defense knows that they have to stay aware (of Roethlisberger's running ability), and as receivers, we know we've got to stay alive, because he's looking to throw the football."
(on the Steelers' offensive success in the first 2 games of the season) "It's the game planning. The offensive staff is doing a good job of preparing us, and we're doing a good job of going out there and making plays."
(On his 40-yard catch) "I love to make plays. That's why I'm here. When I'm out on the field, I'm thinking that I'm going to make every play."
Steelers LB Joey Porter
(on the Steelers' pressure defense) "The pressure's going to continuously come. That's not going to stop. We'll make you one-dimensional, where you have to pass the ball, and we know you're going to pass the ball. That makes us even more dangerous than we were in the beginning."
(on David Carr's intentional grounding and delay of game penalties) "All that stuff is negative yardage and loss of down, so whatever we can do to get the quarterback stressed out, that's our game plan."
(on his performance pressuring Carr) "I feel like I let him get out of my hands a few times. I remember just having him in my sights and diving and missing him. I feel like I missed him two or three times, but we still came away with a good day."
(on the Steelers' defensive philosophy) "We keep it simple; we just go out there and play the way we play."
(on the Steelers' 10 sacks in the last 2 games) "We've had a lot of sacks, but it's still early. It's barely week two. We'll see what happens next week."
(on the big play of the game) "Clark's play kept our momentum going and kept the crowd out of it."
(on Polamalu) "I tell people he is one of those players people will talk about long after he is gone."
Steelers LB James Farrior
(on Polamalu guys taken leadership roles on the team) "We have guys playing outstanding defense, like Farrior and Clark. We have leaders all across our defense. So you don't know who is gonna step up each week."
Steelers LB Clark Haggins
(on how the defense played) "Of course, we started off quick. We ended the game with eight sacks and one turnover, but we started quick. That was the game plan coming in."
(on how he played) "I played pretty well. I think there is always something to improve on."
Steelers SS Troy Polamalu
(on his play today) "There are still a lot of things I need to work on. I felt a little gassed out there today so I need to do a better job of conditioning. I feel blessed that I have been put in this situation with coach (Dick) LeBeau."
(on teams preparing for him and the blitz package) "Time will tell. They will prepare for our blitz packages whether I am involved or not. I played all over the field today. Sometimes I might have to back off and give teams a different look."
(on confusing Texans quarterback David Carr) "I think he may have been (confused) a little. He could never get comfortable in there because we gave him so many looks."
Steelers RB Willie Parker
(on the running game opening up the passing game) "We came in with a game plan and we were able to execute it. We thought the run game would open up play action. The offense played really well today. We were able to do pretty much what we wanted offensively."
(on being the starting running back) "It feels good. I am fortunate enough to be in a good situation. I just need to go out and contribute from week to week and things will work out."
Steelers WR Hines Ward
(On if the heat affected the play)*"Coach Cowher warned us early to make sure we got hydrated. Our guys did a good job of that. A couple of guys came out early to get some IVs. We came out from the get go, we initiated, we took their fans out of it." *
(On if the offense could have done more damage) "We felt good about our match up against their secondary. For us, we are still trying to get on the same page as Ben (Roethlisberger). We continue to grow and grow. Guys are getting settled in their own position. The ball is getting spread around, and everyone is happy. Our identity…we are still trying to find it. We are still a run team but when it comes time to make a big play, we have confidence that all three of our guys can make a big play."
