Tim Benz stories, Page 22

The Pittsburgh Steelers are taking particular joy in making the playoffs at Jacksonville’s expense. A pair of former Steelers were at the center of Tennessee’s upset of the Jaguars. The Penguins are hoping to bounce back from Saturday’s disappointment when they travel to Philadelphia on Monday night. The Robert Morris...

Who predicted this for the Steelers coming into 2023-24? After beating a skeleton crew from the Baltimore Ravens, 17-10, in Saturday’s regular-season finale, the Steelers ended the year 5-1 in the AFC North. If the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, all four AFC North teams will finish...

It’s certainly possible that the Pittsburgh Steelers could get the help they need this weekend to qualify for the NFL playoffs. I’m just longing for the days when they didn’t always need it. Hey, don’t get me wrong. I like the Beatles and Joe Cocker as much as the next...

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens is unhappy with the Pro Bowl. Again. The Baltimore Ravens are getting a big name in reserve for their offensive backfield. The Penguins don’t have much time to recover from their wild Thursday night affair in Boston. Plus, we take a look at the...

For the 9-7 Pittsburgh Steelers to qualify for the playoffs, the most direct path is to beat the 13-3 Baltimore Ravens on Saturday, then have the Jacksonville Jaguars (9-7) lose/tie in Tennessee (5-11) on Sunday afternoon or the Buffalo Bills (10-6) lose in Miami (11-5) on Sunday night. There are...

For the Pittsburgh Penguins, this will be a different challenge. Different. Certainly not less daunting. But, different. Since Christmas, Pittsburgh’s perpetually up-and-down hockey team has played four games. Three of them came against opponents they are chasing in the Metropolitan Division standings as they flail away in an attempt to...

It was a very contentious week when it comes to Pittsburgh Steelers coverage. Everybody had opinions about what went down with Kenny Pickett’s healthy scratch heading into Seattle. And all of them were very heated. We touch on many of them and more in this week’s “U mad, bro?” I...

Thursday’s “First Call” features an unknown future for Pittsburgh Steelers defensive captain Cameron Heyward and an injury report on one of the games that impacts the Steelers’ playoff hopes. Plus, Tyreek Hill’s agent provides an update on the scary house fire at his client’s home. And Travis Kelce has some...

As their Atlantic 10 Conference schedule begins at 7 p.m. Wednesday night at UMass, the Duquesne basketball team should feel like it is on familiar ground. And in an appropriate spot. The Dukes made it through the two-month pre-conference schedule at 9-3. Their only losses came on the road at...

Wednesday’s “First Call” has some unfortunate details about the officiating crew for Saturday’s Steelers-Ravens game. One former Pittsburgh Steeler is looking for work, while another one is on a new roster. The Penguins are helping out Cameron Heyward. Marc-Andre Fleury is still working to catch Patrick Roy. And a former...

A dust-up has been swirling around the allegations that Kenny Pickett refused to be a backup quarterback Sunday for the Pittsburgh Steelers in Seattle. Pickett addressed that storyline Tuesday and denied it. Something else he said is the bigger story, though. “There was no talk of me being a backup...

As Mark Madden wrote last week here at TribLive, 2023 wasn’t a good year in Pittsburgh sports. He couldn’t even do a “best of Pittsburgh sports” column for the year because there was no “best.” But at least the Penguins and Steelers are finishing strong. The Steelers have won two...

The Steelers ended 2023 in style, winning in Seattle for the first time since 1983. The victory keeps the Steelers’ playoff hopes alive going into the final week of the season. Plus, the franchise extends its streak of seasons at .500 or better to 20 with a 30-23 decision over...

The final “First Call” of 2023 gives us some AFC North trash talk from Browns fans toward the Pittsburgh Steelers. Cameron Heyward shares his thoughts on Joe Flacco’s success in Cleveland. Hines Ward is done as an XFL head coach. Devin Bush discusses the prospect of playing the Steelers. And...

There are a lot of confusing AFC playoff scenarios afoot this weekend, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are involved in many of them. For the Steelers, a few things are clear. They can’t clinch anything with a win in Seattle on Sunday. And they can’t be eliminated strictly by losing to...

NFL parity is nearing historic levels. As you could probably guess, the league is basking in it. Here is a social media post from NFL senior vice president of football and international communications Michael Signora. 24 teams are still in contention for a trip to the Super Bowl, which ties...

It’s not often a goaltender’s shutout gets lost in the mix during a hockey game. But given how the Penguins’ 7-0 romp over the New York Islanders took place Wednesday, you can see how Tristan Jarry’s name may have been buried a bit in the headlines. • The Penguins managed...

According to Steelers fans in my email, I completely messed up by forgetting to wish for something I sorely needed at Christmas: a pair of Black and Gold pom-poms. Because based on the tone of some of the interactions I got this week, you’d prefer I cheerlead instead of giving...

Thursday’s “First Call” has some unfortunate news for Steelers Super Bowl heroes James Harrison and Hines Ward. There are some key injury updates for the Seahawks as they prepare to play the Steelers on Sunday. Ex-Steeler Devin Bush could start against his old club. Mason Rudolph appears to take a...

When the Pittsburgh Penguins hit Thanksgiving, they were 9-9-0, and no one was feeling great about it. Now, coming out of Christmas, the Pens have won 15 games and lost 17 (15-13-4). The sentiment about the team is pretty much the same. The club’s 34 points are the second-lowest total...

After a few days off for Christmas, “First Call” is back with a stuffed stocking of Pittsburgh Steelers tidbits. The Seattle Seahawks are getting good news on the injury front in advance of their game against the Steelers on Sunday. However, a Steelers’ AFC rival may not be so lucky...

There is no tactical reason for Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin to announce his starting quarterback this early in advance of Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks. So he didn’t. Not completely, anyway. All Tomlin said of his QB situation Tuesday is that the team is adopting the same stance...

With Christmas on Monday, we decided to post this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast in the immediate aftermath of Saturday’s 34-11 Steelers win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Mark Madden of 105.9 The X and TribLive wants to make one thing abundantly clear. There is no controversy surrounding what the Steelers should...

Apparently the Pittsburgh Steelers (8-7) were tired of giving out lumps of coal to their fans during the Christmas season. After losing three in a row to the Cardinals, Patriots and Colts, the club felt it was time to shower all the good little boys and girls at Acrisure Stadium...

In our final “First Call” before Christmas weekend, Pittsburgh Steelers corner Joey Porter Jr. didn’t have a lot of holiday cheer after hearing Tyler Boyd’s comments this week. Bill Cowher has some advice for the Steelers offense. We look at the full slate of games that impact the AFC wild-card...