The Pittsburgh Steelers will be without intimidating sack artist James Harrison when they come to town for their Monday night game against the 49ers.The NFL's ruling of a one-game suspension for Harrison was upheld after Harrison appealed, the league announced Friday morning.The appeal was heard Wednesday by former NFL assistant coach Ted Cottrell, a finalist for the 49ers head-coaching position in 2003. Cottrell and Art Shell, the officers jointly appointed and compensated by the NFL and NFLPA to decide appeals of on-field player discipline, are assigned appeals on a rotating basis.
Harrison, an eight-year veteran, is second on the Steelers with eight sacks. Since 2008, Harrison has recorded 44.5 sacks.He has also been disciplined five times for illegal hits on quarterbacks the past three seasons, according to the NFL. Harrison was penalized for a helmet-to-helmet hit against Cleveland quarterback Colt McCoy in the Steelers' game last week, resulting in the one-game suspension without pay.REWIND: Harrison says hit on McCoy not worthy of fine
Harrison may not practice this week or be at the Steelers practice facility or stadium for any other activities during the suspension. He will be reinstated on December 20.The Steelers played four games without Harrison earlier this season after he underwent surgery to repair a fractured orbital socket. The Steelers went 4-0 in those games. Coach Mike Tomlin, speaking earlier this week to reporters who cover the 49ers, said the Steelers' defense does not change without Harrison on the field.RELATED: Q&A with Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin
"Schematically, of course, it won't look very different at all," Tomlin said. "Of course, this isn't the first time we played without James. And this isn't even the first time we played without James this year. Obviously, James is a good player and provides special plays for us, but ultimately the standard will remain the same, and we have some guys who are capable of doing the job and playing to the standard."
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