Joe Rutter stories, Page 53
Steelers’ ground game shows promise but room to grow
For stretches of the first half Thursday, the Pittsburgh Steelers were utilizing an offensive approach that looked like it had been ripped from the Bill Cowher era. The Steelers were running the ball extensively — and effectively — while building a halftime lead against the Cleveland Browns. Najee Harris and...
Run defense issues resurface for Steelers in loss to Browns
Watching the Pittsburgh Steelers try to defend the run has been like trying to absorb Niagara Falls with a paper towel. No matter how often the Steelers try to sop up the leaks, the water keeps gushing through like a tidal wave. It happened again Thursday night in a 29-17...
5 things we learned: Steelers offense continues to spend most of 4th quarter on the sideline
Five things we learned from Browns 29, Steelers 17: 1. Offense sidelined When Ben Roethlisberger was making all of those fourth-quarter comebacks last season, the Steelers were a top-10 team in terms of possessing the ball in the final 15 minutes. They ranked ninth and had the ball more than...
Steelers peter out, can’t stop Browns in defeat
CLEVELAND – For 30 minutes, a Pittsburgh Steelers offense that had a space reserved on the back of a milk carton was missing no more. Cries for Kenny Pickett were silenced as Mitch Trubisky directed two touchdown drives to give the Steelers a lead on the road against an AFC...
Usual suspects dress for Steelers-Browns game
CLEVELAND — Playing their second game in five days, the Pittsburgh Steelers are making no changes to their game day roster. The Steelers enter their game against the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium at full strength with the exception of outside linebacker T.J. Watt, who will miss his second game...
Browns’ Jacoby Brissett provides Steelers different challenge than Baker Mayfield
When the Pittsburgh Steelers face the Cleveland Browns on Thursday night, they won’t have Baker Mayfield to put on the ground anymore. In the two games between the AFC North rivals last year, the Steelers sacked Mayfield 13 times, including a whopping nine in the penultimate game of the regular...
Steelers’ run defense ready for challenge presented by Browns running back tandem
Mike Tomlin calls the Nick Chubb-Kareem Hunt pairing on the Cleveland Browns the “most complete tandem” in the NFL, with little separation between the two running backs. “They’re not 1 and 2,” Tomlin said, “They’re 1 and 1a.” Chubb, in search of a fourth consecutive 1,000-yard season, already is nearly...
George Pickens is open for business, yet Steelers aren’t getting him the ballVideo
George Pickens is like virtually every young, highly drafted NFL wide receiver. He wants the ball, and he believes he is open enough to get it on just about every passing play. The Pittsburgh Steelers’ second-round pick, though, hasn’t gotten it frequently through the first two weeks of his NFL...
Steelers caught short-handed on Gunner Olszewski’s muffed punt return
It wasn’t bad enough that Gunner Olszewski muffed a punt that resulted in a critical turnover Sunday in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 17-14 loss to the New England Patriots. The Steelers also had only 10 players on the punt return unit on the field at the time of Olszewski’s gaffe. Coach...
Mike Tomlin not ready to panic over slow start by Steelers offense
The sting of a 17-14 loss still fresh in his mind, coach Mike Tomlin on Monday vowed to stay the course with his foundering offense as the Pittsburgh Steelers prepare to face the Cleveland Browns in three days. The Steelers have produced two offensive touchdowns in nine quarters, fans at...
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin previews Thursday night matchup at Browns
The Pittsburgh Steelers are eager to put Sunday’s loss to New England in the rearview mirror, and they will need to do so quickly in the midst of a short week of preparation. The Steelers will play the Cleveland Browns at 8:15 p.m. Thursday at FirstEnergy Stadium. The Browns (1-1)...
5 things we learned: Steelers’ loss stands apart from others in AFC North
5 things we learned from Patriots 17, Steelers 14: 1. Northern exposure One consolation for the Steelers as they head into a new work week: they still occupy first place in the AFC North. Another is, that unlike two other division rivals, they didn’t blow a big lead in the...
Steelers held without a sack in first game without injured OLB T.J. Watt
Mike Tomlin knew it was impossible to try to replace T.J. Watt in the Pittsburgh Steelers defense. In some aspects Sunday, he didn’t even try. Minus the NFL defensive player of the year, the Steelers ran some defensive formations that didn’t include a second outside linebacker in their 17-14 loss...
Sluggish Steelers drop home opener to Patriots
The Pittsburgh Steelers discovered Sunday that fourth-quarter comebacks aren’t as easy to pull off without a future Hall of Fame quarterback running the offense. Playing their first home game since Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement, the Steelers were unable to muster any late-game heroics under Mitch Trubisky and dropped a 17-14 decision...
Newly acquired Steelers linebacker David Anenih inactive against Patriots
With the exception of outside linebacker T.J Watt, the Pittsburgh Steelers will go with the same group Sunday against the New England Patriots that took the field in the season opener at Cincinnati. The list of players in the inactives list for the home opener is virtually the same as...
Understudy no more, Alex Highsmith will take lead at outside linebacker in T.J. Watt’s absence
Alex Highsmith is used to being the sidekick to T.J. Watt among the Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker group — the Robin to Watt’s Batman persona. The role suited Highsmith last year, his first as an NFL starter, and he took advantage of the attention paid to the NFL’s reigning Defensive...
Maulet makes up for small stature with big plays for Steelers defense
Arthur Maulet provided the Pittsburgh Steelers with one last chance to win their season opener at Cincinnati with his strip sack late in overtime Sunday at Paycor Stadium. The sack that caused a fumble and resulted in a 7-yard loss that knocked the Bengals out of field goal range set...
Steelers notebook: Najee Harris vows to play in Week 2 despite foot injury
When Najee Harris injured his foot early in training camp, he missed about four weeks of practices and preseason games. Harris left the Pittsburgh Steelers’ opener at Cincinnati late in the fourth quarter because of a foot injury and didn’t return. Neither he nor coach Mike Tomlin expect the injury...
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin optimistic T.J. Watt’s injury isn’t season-endingVideo
When T.J. Watt walked off the field with 16 seconds to play in the fourth quarter Sunday and pointed to his left pectoral muscle, the Pittsburgh Steelers suspected they might be without the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year for a significant amount of time. That might still be the...
Steelers brace to play on without injured star T.J. Watt
Entering the second week of the season, the Pittsburgh Steelers are preparing to play without NFL Defensive Player of the Year T.J. Watt for an extended period of time. The questions are: How long will that extended period cover, and what is the severity of the pectoral injury that sent...
5 things learned about Steelers: Matt Canada’s offense takes shape against Bengals
Five things we learned from Steelers 23, Bengals 20: 1. Motion sensors The mobility that Mitch Trubisky was supposed to bring to the Steelers offense — a trait that Ben Roethlisberger lacked in his final seasons — was on display in the opener. So was the constant motion and moving...
Just like his predecessor, Mitch Trubisky orchestrates Steelers’ game-winning drive
CINCINNATI — The Ben Roethlisberger era may be over, but the wild finishes endure for the Pittsburgh Steelers. In their first game since Roethlisberger’s retirement following an 18-year career, the Steelers overcame a tying touchdown pass in the final seconds of regulation to beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 23-20, in overtime...
Steelers beat Bengals in OT with Chris Boswell 53-yarder
CINCINNATI — It was a game that had more twists and turns than a dime store romance novel and an ending that qualified for Ripley’s Believe It or Not. For more than 57 minutes Sunday, the Pittsburgh Steelers played with a lead on the road against the defending AFC champions....
Steelers QB Mitch Trubisky is replacing a future Hall of Famer, but he knows he has the most important people already in his corner
Just do what you do. Those five words will appear on Mitch Trubisky’s phone Sunday morning, sometime before he takes the field for his regular-season debut as Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback. Trubisky will receive several text messages before the 1 p.m. game against the Cincinnati Bengals. His two brothers, his sister,...
Steelers ready to trot out seasoned cornerback group for opener at Cincinnati
When the Pittsburgh Steelers last faced the Cincinnati Bengals, their cornerback room was in a state of flux. Veteran Joe Haden was out with a Lisfranc injury. Cameron Sutton was in his first year starting at the other outside spot. Undrafted free agent James Pierre replaced Haden as a starter,...
