Steelers/NFL category, Page 325
The case for – and against – each of the Steelers’ 19 potential free agents coming back
Though the organization could figure out a way to stay largely status quo, there is potential that the coming months could prove to be among the most transformative offseasons for the Pittsburgh Steelers in recent decades. Plenty of major decisions need to be made, not the least of which related...
First Call: Chase Claypool jabs Browns after Steelers’ loss, Sidney Crosby talks long range future
There’s more inopportune trash talk from a Steelers player about the Cleveland Browns. Penguins captain Sidney Crosby is thinking long-term about his future. A few former Steelers may be in the mix for the Philadelphia Eagles head coaching job. And former Penn State coach Bill O’Brien is getting a new...
Steelers loss to Browns: Worst postseason start in Pittsburgh sports history? Yes. But it has company.
In my 20 years of covering Pittsburgh sports and 46 years of following them as a fan, I’ve never seen a Pittsburgh team get off to a worse start in a postseason game than the Steelers did in the postseason loss to the Browns Sunday night. They got down 28-0...
Ben Roethlisberger’s contract situation will test Steelers’ ability to work salary cap magic
Like much of the success on the football field, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offseason will depend on the quarterback. Whether Ben Roethlisberger returns for an 18th season will be the biggest issue the Steelers face as they begin plotting a course for 2021. Beyond the franchise’s quarterback’s declining play down the...
Steelers close team facility because of player’s positive covid-19 test
A day after their season ended with a 48-37 upset loss to the Cleveland Browns in an AFC wild-card game, the Pittsburgh Steelers closed UPMC Rooney Sports Complex because of covid-19 concerns. “We have sent home our coaching staff, players and other staff members out of caution after we had...
5 things we learned: Late-season nosedive becoming a trend for Steelers
Five things we learned from Browns 48, Steelers 37: 1. Slip sliding away Once a team known for strong finishes, the Steelers experienced a late-season collapse for the third season in a row. In 2018, it was four losses in a five-game stretch that resulted in the Steelers missing the...
Madden Monday: Mike Tomlin was ‘outcoached by someone who wasn’t even there’
During that agonizing 28-0 first quarter of Sunday night’s Steelers playoff loss to the Cleveland Browns, a forlorn fan sent me this tweet. Starting to feel nostalgic for all those years when we simply failed to make it to the playoffs.— Rob (@WildernessRob) January 11, 2021 Sir, I hate to...
First Call: Deshaun Watson wanted Omar Khan in Houston, Lions trying to lure Kevin Colbert
Sunday night was “last call” for the Pittsburgh Steelers. But that doesn’t mean we stop doing “First Call” at “Breakfast With Benz.” Apparently, Steelers executive Omar Khan was closer to getting that Houston Texans general manager job than we thought. The Detroit Lions are still trying to bring back current...
Tim Benz: ‘Airing of Grievances’ after Steelers suffer humiliating playoff defeat to Cleveland
It was just the latest in a long list of games that the Steelers couldn’t possibly lose, which inevitably they lost. To Washington and the Cincinnati Bengals this year. To the New York Jets last year. To the Oakland Raiders and Denver Broncos back in 2018. To Ryan Mallett and...
Emotional Ben Roethlisberger sat on bench long after Steelers’ loss; was it his last game?
Long after the Cleveland Browns joyously left the Heinz Field playing surface and almost all of his Pittsburgh Steelers teammates had sulked their way into the locker room, Ben Roethlisberger sat on a heated bench on the sideline. His longest-tenured teammate, Maurkice Pouncey, eventually joined him. NBC cameras caught what...
19 Steelers set for unrestricted free agency, including up to 10 starters
The 2021 Pittsburgh Steelers who take the field together for the first time figure to look plenty different than the ones that ended the 2020 season Sunday night. Nineteen players are scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency in the spring, plus tight end Vance McDonald has a team option that...
JuJu Smith-Schuster says he doesn’t regret ‘Browns is the Browns’ comment
The Browns might be the Browns, but they’re going on to the divisional round. And they aren’t forgetting what one of the Pittsburgh Steelers said about them. But even after his season ended by way of a loss to Cleveland, JuJu Smith-Schuster didn’t take back his “The Browns is the...
Turnover-prone Steelers bounced from playoffs by big-play Browns
It wasn’t supposed to end this way. Not after they won a franchise-record 11 consecutive games to start the season. Not against a team making its first playoff appearance in 18 years. Not to the Cleveland Browns, who hadn’t won any game at Heinz Field since 2003, and didn’t have...
Despite speculation, QB Josh Dobbs among Steelers inactives for playoff opener
The Pittsburgh Steelers played coy with it all week. But in the end, they stuck with what they’ve done all regular season long. No. 3 quarterback Josh Dobbs was among six players inactive and not in uniform for Sunday night’s wild-card playoff game against the Cleveland Browns. Dobbs had not...
Empty or mostly-empty NFL stadiums don’t mean a lack of playoff intensity on the field
The 2020 NFL season’s playoffs are underway, and like just about everything else attached to 2020, it is a unique postseason unlike any before it. And what, arguably, is the most jarring aspect of NFL games played during a pandemic is an abundance of empty seats where there typically would...
Steelers activate Matt Feiler, Robert Spillane, elevate TE Kevin Rader from practice squad
The Steelers activated two players from injured reserve, as expected, and elevated tight end Kevin Rader from the practice squad a day ahead of their AFC wild-card game against the Cleveland Browns. Guard Matt Feiler and inside linebacker Robert Spillane were activated to the 53-man roster Saturday. They returned to...
Four Downs: Browns’ depleted pass defense a good matchup for Steelers
1. Air raid Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback (and Ohio native) Ben Roethlisberger is 24-2-1 in his career against the Cleveland Browns, including 13-0 at Heinz Field. There is reason to believe he can add to that total during Sunday night’s playoff game, based on some of the statistics surrounding the Cleveland...
Browns get back 3 players off covid list to face Steelers
CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns flew to Pittsburgh for the playoffs with some reinforcements — and missing some regulars. Top cornerback Denzel Ward stayed in Cleveland as he recovers from covid-19, leaving a massive hole in the Browns’ secondary as they get ready to face Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Odds of wild-card victory heavily stacked in Steelers favor
Last week, against the Steelers’ JV, Cleveland was in a no-win situation…but had to win. This week, with the Browns ravaged by covid and injury, the Steelers are in a no-win situation…but have to win. As of Friday, the Browns had eight players on the covid list and seven players...
Veteran Steelers players aren’t taking return trip to NFL playoffs for granted
Cameron Heyward thought he would have a Super Bowl ring by now. At worst, an appearance. After all, when he was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round of the 2011 draft, the former Ohio State defensive lineman went to a team a few months removed from playing...
Steelers defense will have its hands full with Browns RBs Chubb, Hunt
According to pro-football-reference.com, Nick Chubb finished tied for fourth in the NFL in broken tackles this season with 21. There is no truth to the rumor half of those came during last week’s 47-yard touchdown run against the Pittsburgh Steelers. One of the players who missed a shot to bring...
Free agent-to-be Cameron Sutton shows value starting at outside CB for Steelers in playoffs
Pro Football Focus keeps track of the spots on the field where players line up on a snap-by-snap basis. For Cameron Sutton, the list is lengthy. Fitting for a player who has filled so many roles for the Pittsburgh Steelers in recent years. Sutton is in line to make his...
Chris Boswell, Vince Williams, all other injured Steelers players cleared to play Sunday
Talk about good timing. For the first time since September, the Pittsburgh Steelers ended a practice week with a clean injury report. According to Friday’s league-mandated release, none of the players on the active roster will be prevented from playing in Sunday’s scheduled playoff opener because of injury. Receiver JuJu...
Amazing 2003 comeback remembered as Steelers renew playoff rivalry with Browns
Check out my Triblive story on the greatest playoff comeback in Steelers history. It just happened to be against the Browns. pic.twitter.com/3EGJCMgUpX— Paul Guggenheimer (@PGuggenheimer) January 10, 2021 The play was called “Green 40.” On Jan. 5, 2003, the Pittsburgh Steelers were trailing the visiting Cleveland Browns by five points...
U.S. Customs officers seize 60 fake Steelers Super Bowl rings ahead of playoff game
U.S. Customs officers seized 60 fake Steelers Super Bowl rings last month that, if authentic, would have been worth nearly $100,000, a spokesman for the department said. Customs and Border Protection officers seized the packages, which arrived from China, between Dec. 9 and 23, according Steve Sapp, a spokesman for...
