Steelers/NFL category, Page 334
Steelers trying to rebound from 2nd-worst rushing performance of Mike Tomlin era
The last time the Pittsburgh Steelers ventured into Buffalo, Le’Veon Bell set the franchise single-game rushing record with 236 yards on a snowy December day at Bills Stadium. When the Steelers return to western New York on Sunday night for the first time since that 2016 game, they will be...
Armed with $9.75 million contract, Derek Watt remains bit part in Steelers offense
The Pittsburgh Steelers in March made Derek Watt the NFL’s third-highest-paid fullback by average annual salary. So far in his first season with the team, they aren’t using him like a $9.75 million man. Watt has played just 48 offensive snaps this season, including only 24 over the past four...
Steelers’ Steve Nelson practices fully; Chris Boswell, Joe Haden, Robert Spillane do not
Cornerback Steve Nelson practiced fully Wednesday, indicating he is on track to return to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ lineup. But kicker Chris Boswell, linebacker Robert Spillane and cornerback Joe Haden each missed practice. Nelson missed Monday’s game against Washington because of a knee injury. Boswell did not play in that game...
Steelers get RB James Conner back from reserve/covid-19 list
The Pittsburgh Steelers will have their starting running back available Sunday when they play the Buffalo Bills in a pivotal AFC matchup. James Conner was activated from the reserve/covid-19 list Wednesday after missing games against Baltimore and Washington. He leads the Steelers with 645 yards rushing in 10 games. Center...
Mark Madden: Steelers need more from running game to be legit contender
The Steelers have to run the ball more and better. They’re not forced to be one-dimensional. They do so voluntarily. It makes them predictable and easy to defend. If the Steelers feel they can’t run, they better figure out how to. Perhaps revisit how they did it earlier this season....
First Call: National host mocks Steelers loss, strange gambling odds for Steelers-Bills
A national television host is wallowing in the Steelers’ defeat Monday night. But Steelers fans remain optimistic. That’s how we start “First Call” Wednesday. Plus, we look at some strange gambling odds on the Steelers-Bills game. And we find out how the Washington head coach is reacting to his team’s...
Tim Benz: Steelers ‘popcorn’ problem exists with passing game too
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin dusted off one of his favorite “Tomlinisms” to describe his offense’s anemic run game. “The bottom line is popcorn,” Tomlin said Tuesday, just a few hours removed from his team’s first loss of the season. Tomlin often busts out the “popcorn” phrase when he wants...
Former NFL referee claims officials had ‘complete administrative breakdown’ during Steelers loss
Steelers fans who are angry about how the first half of the Monday evening game ended have every right to be. So does head coach Mike Tomlin. That’s the opinion of former NFL referee Gene Steratore. The Western Pa. native is now an officiating analyst for CBS. He called the...
Steelers’ Mike Tomlin threatens benchings if receivers’ drops continue
Dropped passes can be a subjective metric to calculate in the NFL. What one stat-tracking website views as a drop could be considered an uncatchable pass by other services. ESPN Stats and Info, for instance, calculates the Pittsburgh Steelers with an NFL-high 31 drops this season, 10 more than any...
Mike Tomlin calls Steelers failures in short-yardage situations ‘catastrophic’ to 23-17 loss
Having some time to reflect on his team’s 23-17 loss to Washington a day earlier, Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin came to one conclusion. “I live by the coaching creed, ‘If you can’t get a yard, you don’t deserve to win,’” Tomlin said Tuesday at his weekly press conference. The...
Catch the ball or face benching, Mike Tomlin tells Steelers’ receiversVideo
After watching his eligible targets drop ball after ball in the past two games, Mike Tomlin delivered an ultimatum Tuesday to the Pittsburgh Steelers pass catchers. “They can catch the ball or they can get replaced by those who will catch it,” Tomlin said a day after the Steelers offense...
5 things we learned: Short-yardage failures on display for Steelers in loss to Washington
Five things we learned from Washington Football Team 23, Steelers 17: 1. Short stops Be it issues with the play calls or the execution of what is sent in over the headset, the Steelers were beset by failures in short-yardage situations, and those mistakes correlated to the first defeat of...
First Call: Bill Cowher, JuJu to the Jets? Washington, Miami, Cleveland celebrate Steelers loss
The Steelers lost their first game of the year Monday night. They got awfully mouthy about the result in the Washington locker room. And in Miami. And in Cleveland. Oh, and Bill Cowher and JuJu Smith-Schuster may both wind up in New York with the Jets. So there’s that, too....
Steelers notes: T.J. Watt takes over NFL sack lead, Jerald Hawkins a thrown-to ‘eligible’
With a takedown of Alex Smith during the final minute of the first half of Monday’s 23-17 loss to the Washington Football Team, Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt took over sole possession of the NFL lead in sacks. Watt has 12, one more than the Los Angeles Rams’ Aaron...
Steelers played end of game without both starting outside CBs; Robert Spillane also injured
The Pittsburgh Steelers started Monday’s game without one of their starting outside cornerbacks. They ended it without the other, too. Joe Haden was being evaluated for a concussion as the 23-17 loss to the Washington Football Team was finishing. He left the game after making a tackle on Peyton Barber...
Steelers’ Matthew Wright perfect on kicks in NFL debut, but not trusted with late FG
Matthew Wright had himself a respectable night in his NFL debut. But did his lack of experience lead to a lack of confidence in him from coaches that helped contribute to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ first loss this season? Added to the active roster earlier in the day to replace an...
Tim Benz: ‘Airing of Grievances’ after Steelers suffer first loss of 2020. Offensive imbalance, defensive fade
Most realists thought the Steelers would lose eventually. But I don’t think most expected their undefeated season to end against Washington at home. But it did Monday evening in a 23-17 loss. And for all the reasons we felt things starting to wobble. Mounting injuries. An imbalanced offense. A defense...
Steelers’ perfect season ended by Washington
An undefeated season no longer is in the cards, and a playoff berth will have to wait another week for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Armed with a 14-point lead in the first half, the Steelers came unglued in the second, and any chance of matching the 1972 Dolphins was vanquished with...
Starting CB Steve Nelson among inactives for Steelers game against Washington
Cornerback Steve Nelson is among six players the Pittsburgh Steelers placed on the inactive list Monday for their game against Washington. Nelson will miss just the second game in his two seasons with the Steelers. He had an MRI taken on his knee last week and did not practice in...
Steelers activate OT Jerald Hawkins, promote PK Matthew Wright from practice squad
Matthew Wright will make an unlikely NFL debut Monday night for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Signed to the practice squad just a week ago, Wright was promoted to the active roster Monday, meaning he will replace an injured Chris Boswell as the Steelers’ placekicker against Washington. Boswell was added to the...
First Call: Steelers ‘overrated’? Then other NFL ‘elites’ have some explaining to do. Hockey talk, as well.
Think the Steelers are overrated? Well, what does that say for the rest of the NFL’s elite? How much are you willing to spend on a hockey card? What are you willing to bet on the College Football Playoff? And what local kid is making good in the hockey world...
Madden Monday: Prediction! Steelers go 16-0 and lose their first playoff game
In this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast, Mark Madden of 105.9 The X looks into his crystal ball. He has seen the future. And Steelers fans will love the first part of what he has to say. The second part? Not so much. “I have a vision they will go 16-0,”...
Tim Benz: Steelers unbeaten status starting to feel very shaky
For an 11-0 team, the Pittsburgh Steelers don’t have a lot to be happy about of late. And they seem to be acutely aware of that. To steal a line from Mike Tomlin, the only thing perfect about this group is its record. Over the past month, everything else has...
Decade after ‘Young money crew,’ do Steelers have WR corps that trumps it?
With the Pittsburgh Steelers on their way to a 12-4 season in 2011, their leading receiver famously let the media in on the nickname the corps had dubbed itself. “The Young Money Crew” included Mike “Fast Money” Wallace, Emmanuel “Easy Money” Sanders, Antonio “Cash Money” Brown and Hines “Old Money”...
Sacks streak record within Steelers’ grasp when they play Washington
What the Pittsburgh Steelers hope to accomplish Monday doesn’t carry the historical significance of, say, Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak. It won’t go into the sports pantheon of memorable milestones alongside UCLA’s 88 consecutive wins, Cal Ripken’s 2,632 consecutive games played or the Boston Celtics’ run of eight NBA championships...
