Joe Rutter stories, Page 46
Steelers FS Minkah Fitzpatrick named to AP 1st-team All-Pro list for 3rd time in career
Minkah Fitzpatrick continues to pull in the hardware. The Pittsburgh Steelers free safety was named to the AP All-Pro first team Friday for the third time in his NFL career. Fitzpatrick also made the first-team list in the 2019 and 2020 seasons. He was the only Steelers player to earn...
5 ways the Steelers can build around Kenny Pickett, return to postseason in 2023
The easiest way for the Pittsburgh Steelers to return to the playoffs in 2023 is to take an approach coach Mike Tomlin didn’t use this season. He needs to have his established starting quarterback under center from the first snap of the opener. He didn’t take that route with Kenny...
Steelers win 7 of final 9 games but still fall short of postseason
Emotions were mixed inside the Pittsburgh Steelers’ locker room Sunday. The elation of winning a fourth consecutive game was tempered by the reality that the Steelers’ season won’t be extended into the playoffs. Despite a 28-14 victory against the Cleveland Browns that improved the Steelers’ record to 9-8, they fell...
Steelers keep their end of bargain, but Dolphins’ win will keep them out of playoffs
Just when it looked as if the Pittsburgh Steelers might shuffle off to Buffalo for the most unlikely of playoff appearances, they had their hopes gutted Sunday with the ferocity of Lucy yanking a football away from Charlie Brown. The Steelers held up their end of the bargain with a...
Steelers will head to Buffalo for wild-card round if they get AFC’s No. 7 seed
The Pittsburgh Steelers don’t know yet whether they will earn the No. 7 seed in the AFC playoffs. They do know where they will be playing if they get there. The Steelers will travel to Buffalo and face the Bills if everything breaks their way Sunday. Based on Kansas City’s...
Steelers hope Kenny Pickett’s growth carries into season finale against Browns
Coach Mike Tomlin said the Pittsburgh Steelers offense, and by extension rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett, grew up during that last-minute touchdown drive against the Las Vegas Raiders on Christmas Eve. If that’s the case, then Tomlin was hardly surprised when Pickett led the offense to another last-minute touchdown the following...
Steelers again try to buck long odds, earn improbable playoff berth
The odds of the Pittsburgh Steelers making the playoffs a month ago were so infinitesimal that the sportsbooks would have laughed off such a wager. A loss to the Baltimore Ravens had dropped the Steelers’ record to 5-8 and left no margin for error. The Steelers needed to win their...
Myles Jack impressed Steelers didn’t sound ‘fire alarms’ after 2-6 start, credits Mike Tomlin for turnaround
Before Myles Jack joined the Pittsburgh Steelers this year, he was probably best known around these parts for helping the Jacksonville Jaguars to an upset win in the 2017 AFC divisional playoffs. His interception in the first quarter led to a touchdown that helped the Jaguars take a 14-point lead...
OLB Alex Highsmith added to Steelers’ injury report with ankle issue
Outside linebacker Alex Highsmith is the newest addition to the Pittsburgh Steelers injury report, as he was limited in practice Thursday with an ankle injury. Highsmith is tied for eighth in the NFL with 12 sacks. Four starters did not practice for the third day in a row: free safety...
Steelers balance return to football normalcy while Damar Hamlin injury weighs on players’ minds
Cameron Heyward was at Cincinnati’s Paycor Stadium five years ago when Ryan Shazier’s NFL career ended with a spinal cord injury that left the Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker temporarily paralyzed. Heyward and his teammates — a handful remain on the roster from that 2017 season — had to regroup and return...
Steelers CB Levi Wallace thinking of ‘really good dude,’ former Bills teammate Damar Hamlin
Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Levi Wallace spent one of his four seasons with the Buffalo Bills occupying the same position room as Damar Hamlin. That was in 2021 when Hamlin was a sixth-round draft pick out of Pitt. Wallace was in his final season in Buffalo, but in Hamlin he saw...
NFL has medical personnel prepared for emergency situation such as Damar Hamlin cardiac arrest
There was no shortage of medical personnel on hand Monday night when Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed after going into cardiac arrest in the first quarter of a game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium. Hamlin, a McKees Rocks native who attended Central Catholic and Pitt before entering...
Mike Tomlin reflects on ‘love and respect’ for former Central Catholic, Pitt star Damar Hamlin
Calling it a “really personal thing” because of their Pittsburgh ties, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin spoke about his “respect and love” for Damar Hamlin, the former Central Catholic and Pitt star who is in critical condition after going into cardiac arrest during an NFL game Monday night. Hamlin, 24, was...
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin knows making the playoffs won’t come easy
By winning three in a row and six of their past eight games, the Pittsburgh Steelers are in position to compete for a playoff spot on the final weekend of the regular season. Of course, they haven’t clinched one — and might not even with a win Sunday — because...
After being ‘humbled’ before bye, Steelers regroup in 2nd half of season
Staring at a 2-6 record heading into their bye week, the Pittsburgh Steelers were well on their way to the first losing season since 2003 and, of course, in Mike Tomlin’s 16 years as head coach. It wasn’t a matter of whether the Steelers would be getting a top-10 pick...
5 things we learned: Chance for 1,000-yard season shows how far Steelers’ Najee Harris has come
Five things we learned from Steelers 16, Ravens 13: 1. Finishing kick Rushing for 1,000 yards isn’t the feat it used to be considering that it boils down to an average of 58 yards per game over an expanded 17-game season. In 2021, the first year of the 17-game schedule,...
Steelers’ playoff hopes still kicking after dramatic victory over Ravens
BALTIMORE — All of the pieces are in place for the Pittsburgh Steelers to play a meaningful game on the final weekend of the regular season. After getting the requisite help outside M&T Bank Stadium, the Steelers kept their once infinitesimal playoff hopes chugging into Week 18 with their third...
Robert Spillane stepping up to stop the run in middle of Steelers defense
With Myles Jack bothered by a groin injury and the Pittsburgh Steelers seeking an inside linebacker to stay on the field for every defensive snap the past two weeks, they did not turn to Devin Bush, the No. 10 overall pick in the 2019 draft. Instead, they turned to another...
2022 Year in Review: Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement, Franco Harris’ death among top stories in Pittsburgh sports
For the Pittsburgh Steelers, the year began with a victory lap of sorts and one final playoff appearance for Ben Roethlisberger. It ended with the Steelers breaking in a new quarterback and reeling from the sudden loss of one of the franchise’s all-time great players. Before he retired, Roethlisberger guided...
Determined Cam Heyward played at his best in 4th quarter of Steelers’ win vs. Raiders
If Cameron Heyward looked like he was a man on a mission Saturday night in the fourth quarter against the Las Vegas Raiders, it’s because, well, he was. On a night when the Pittsburgh Steelers were honoring the late Franco Harris by retiring his jersey number, Heyward wouldn’t accept anything...
Steelers’ Ahkello Witherspoon resumes practicing after being designated to return from IR list
A chance to stay alive in the playoff race could be at stake, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are heading on the road to face their bitter AFC North rival. It matters little to cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon. They could be playing the Atlanta Falcons again for all he is concerned. “All...
QB Kenny Pickett looking to finish drives in Steelers’ rematch with Ravens
When the Pittsburgh Steelers faced the Baltimore Ravens in Week 14, quarterback Kenny Pickett spent the last three quarters in concussion protocol while a series of interceptions and missed opportunities contributed to a 16-14 loss. The Steelers scored touchdowns in two of four red-zone opportunities, with one of Mitch Trubisky’s...
Steelers’ Cameron Heyward named AFC Defensive Player of Week for 3rd time in his career
Snubbed from the Pro Bowl after a run of five consecutive seasons earning the honor, Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Cameron Heyward stated his case last week that he should have been included for a sixth time. Heyward was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week on Wednesday for his performance...
Mike Tomlin sees intangible qualities become tangible for Steelers rookie QB Kenny Pickett
For the second time in five games, rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett directed a fourth-quarter comeback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. When he led a 10-play, 76-yard drive Saturday that ended with a 14-yard touchdown pass to George Pickens with 46 seconds left in a 13-10 victory against Las Vegas, it was...
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin focused on Ravens, not potential playoff scenarios
Entering Week 17 of the NFL season, the Pittsburgh Steelers remain mathematically alive for a wild-card berth in the AFC playoffs, a concept that three weeks ago seemed about as unlikely as snow in July. Back-to-back wins have moved the Steelers within one game of .500, leaving them with a...
