Ben Schmitt stories

Mike Tomlin’s abrupt departure from his postgame press conference Monday generated all kinds of speculation of his future with the Pittsburgh Steelers. If you didn’t already know, the Steelers lost the wild-card round game 31-17 to the Buffalo Bills. The coach’s quick exit opened the door for online creativity. The...

“Be deliberate.” Those words served as a theme in the Tribune-Review’s participation over the past six months in an experimental Diversity Equity Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) cohort with the American Press Institute and other Pittsburgh news outlets. Our mission in joining the program was to create various goals for increasing...

The Pittsburgh Steelers are not headed to the playoffs. But their AFC North rival Cleveland Browns had nothing to do with ruining any postseason dreams. Both teams head into the offseason trending in different directions after the Browns’ 28-14 loss Sunday at Acrisure Stadium. The Steelers began the season with...

How did this happen? A few weeks ago, the Steelers’ playoff chances were said to be 1% or something astronomical like that. Now, they’re 8-8 with a pulse. The Steelers somehow came into M&T Bank Stadium, executed a game-winning drive with a rookie quarterback and defeated the Baltimore Ravens 16-13....

Immaculate this was not. A struggling quarterback. No points in the second half. Dimming playoff hopes. We’re talking about the Las Vegas, who came into Pittsburgh’s Acrisure Stadium during the 50th anniversary celebration of the Immaculate Reception and lost to the Steelers 13-10. Quarterback Derek Carr orchestrated a touchdown drive...

The Pittsburgh Steelers run the South — the NFC South. With a fairly convincing 24-16 victory over the Carolina Panthers Sunday afternoon, the Steelers completed a sweep of the worst football division in the NFL. Seriously. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lead the division with a 6-8 record. The Panthers are...

The Baltimore Ravens came into Acrisure Stadium Sunday and ran right over their heated rival. After four consecutive losses to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Ravens righted the ship with third-string quarterback Anthony Brown and a punishing running game. Final score: 16-14. Steelers backup quarterback Mitch Trubisky made it much easier...

Playoffs? Playoffs? Neither of these teams appear to be headed to the postseason, but the Steelers delivered a big blow to the Atlanta Falcons’ chances on Sunday in a 19-16 defeat at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The NFC South is so brutal that the Falcons probably still might find their way into...

Monday Night Football. Home game. And your team just lost to the likes of Kenny Pickett and Benny Snell. Things are rough this season for Pittsburgh Steelers fans. They’re worse in Indianapolis. A 24-17 loss and blown second half lead can’t be going over well. Here’s what they’re saying in...

This time around, Joe Cool did his thing. Harassed and hounded by Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt in Week 1, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow meticulously picked apart the Steelers’ secondary through the day Sunday en rote to a 37-30 win at Acrisure Stadium. Watt still had his moments Sunday, but...

Not so easy in the Big Easy. The New Orleans Saints rolled into Pittsburgh with quarterback Andy Dalton and rolled up a mere 10 points. They were shutout in the second half. We thought things were rough in Pittsburgh. The Saints reside in a division with a .500 team in...

Is tanking the rest of the season really an option for the Pittsburgh Steelers? Will coach Mike Tomlin string together a few wins and sabotage the opportunity of a high draft pick draft? The bye week came in the form of a beautiful November Sunday and the opportunity to clean...

Kenny Pickett wilted under the prime-time Miami lights. Members of the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins team were honored during Sunday night’s game, celebrating 50 years of bragging rights. After that, the Dolphins and Pittsburgh Steelers couldn’t muster a point in the second half. Pickett, the rookie quarterback for the Steelers,...

Wedding plans, anyone? Krafty. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were huge road favorites over Pittsburgh and a depleted secondary. Quarterback Tom Brady, arguably the best to ever play the game, skipped the Bucs’ walk-through practice and meetings Saturday morning to party at the wedding of his old buddy, Patriots owner Robert...

Not much to say in Buffalo. The Bills are looking to a premier matchup next week with the Kansas City Chiefs. The Steelers? A mere speed bump. If that. “Bring on coach Andy Reid and his keep-defenses-guessing play-calling,” wrote Ryan O’Halloran of the Buffalo News. “Can we please, please, please...

Surrounded by amped-up Kenny Pickett fans, opposing quarterback Zach Wilson was undaunted. The Pittsburgh Steelers home crowd spent the afternoon chanting “Ken-ny, Ken-ny.” Wilson snagged the glory away from Pickett and his hyped fans. The New York Jets quarterback marched his team down the field for a game-winning drive that...

There would be no last-minute collapse this time in Cleveland. The Browns’ backup quarterback greatly outplayed Pittsburgh’s starter. The running game dictated play, gashing the Steelers defense. Coming off an epic collapse against the New York Jets on Sunday, Cleveland made it look easy in all facets of the game...

They haven’t been thrilled about inept offensive performances in New England either. Last week, after the Patriots lost to Miami Dolphins 20-7, the headlines demanded coach Bill Belichick find a way to fix the offense. “Life without Tom Brady was never going to be easy, but the Patriots at least...

Bungled. “Boink.” Bungled again. The Cincinnati Bengals had several chances to survive a horrible start, in which quarterback Joe Burrow played catch with Steelers defenders in tossing four interceptions. Still, apparently long snappers are important. The Bengals lost theirs, and a stellar kicking game turned putrid. A blocked extra point...

Pittsburgh-based infectious disease expert Dr. Amesh Adalja has been front and center on national news programs, in newspaper articles and on radio shows since the coronavirus pandemic began. Adalja, who is a critical care, infectious disease and emergency medicine physician, has been treating patients at his hometown Butler Memorial Hospital...

Allegheny County reported 27 additional cases of the coronavirus Saturday, bringing the total number of cases countywide to 1,897. No new deaths were reported, leaving the total at 151. There were also no new deaths on Friday. The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 163 Allegheny County deaths, several more than...

Dr. Amesh Adalja, a Pittsburgh-based infectious disease expert and a fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, has been answering our questions throughout the coronavirus pandemic. We asked him six more on Sunday. Adalja, who has published papers on pandemic preparedness in the New England Journal of Medicine, stresses...