Steelers/NFL category, Page 395
U mad, bro? Readers trash NFL overtime, JuJu Smith-Schuster, James Conner, Tom Brady. But mostly Tim Benz.
Most of the heat in this week’s “U mad, bro?” comes down on me because of my thoughts on Tom Brady and NFL overtime. Well, me and Brady himself. And JuJu Smith-Schuster. And James Conner. And Mike Tomlin. Ok. Maybe it’s not all me. Anyway, let’s see who the readers...
Steelers add prolific former University of Buffalo WR to offseason roster
The Pittsburgh Steelers continued to bolster their offseason roster, adding a big and productive former college wide receiver Wednesday. Anthony Johnson was signed to a reserve/future deal. The 6-foot-2, 209-pound Johnson had 133 catches for 2,367 yards and 25 touchdowns in two seasons at the University of Buffalo. He was...
Super Steelers defensive coach George Perles dies at 85
The coordinator for one of the greatest defenses in NFL history, George Perles, died Tuesday. Perles was 85 and living in East Lansing, Mich., when he died from complications of Parkinson’s Disease. Perles served on Chuck Noll’s Pittsburgh Steelers staff for 11 years, the greatest decadelong span in team history....
Steelers free-agent-to-be Tyler Matakevich hopes value earns him new contract
Tyler Matakevich was at his locker the day after the Pittsburgh Steelers’ season ended last week. About a quarter of the team was gathered within a few feet of him whooping it up around a finger-soccer game set up on a pool table, and Matakevich scanned the group reflectively. “All...
VideoChart: Winningest NFL head coaches in Super Bowl eraVideo
Who are the winningest NFL head coaches in the Super Bowl era? Are Steelers coaches Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin on the list? Here’s a VideoChart of the coaches with the most regular-season wins from 1966 to 2020. Want to see more animated stats? Check out all of...
Tim Benz: There’s no perfect NFL overtime fix. So stop complaining.Video
Another round of NFL postseason games. Another round of overtime results. Another round of whining from people who think the tiebreaking system is unfair. In other words, whining from New Orleans. Or people who bet on New Orleans. OK, maybe Buffalo, too. This is becoming an annual event, much like...
Steelers sign former Pitt running back Darrin HallVideo
For the third time in the past 10 weeks, former Pitt star Darrin Hall signed a contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers. A 1,000-yard rusher for the Panthers in 2018, Hall signed a reserve/future deal Tuesday. Hall twice over the second half of this past season had short stints on the...
Ex-Ohio State QB J.T. Barrett keeps chasing NFL dream with Steelers
J.T. Barrett was one of football’s biggest stars on Saturdays. For four years, he started at quarterback for one of college football’s marquee programs, winning a national championship and playing in other major bowl games for Ohio State. But accounting for 147 touchdowns and 12,000 yards of offense in the...
Tim Benz: Even Steelers fans would forget hatred of Tom Brady if he lands in PittsburghVideo
It’s the opposite of what any Steelers fan wants to envision. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is working out over the next two months. He looks down at his surgically repaired elbow and says, “This thing ain’t healing right. I’m not close. It’s getting worse. Not better. I’m not going to be...
Mark Madden: Patriots dynasty is over unless Tom Brady returns with a couple star players
After nearly two full decades, the New England dynasty is over. (Probably.) That’s the good news. But the Pittsburgh Steelers never got a signature playoff win against that dynasty. That’s the bad news. That’s why Steelers fans shouldn’t gloat about New England’s elimination by Tennessee in Saturday’s wild-card playoff round...
Tim Benz, Mark Madden talk Penguins trade options, NFL playoff weekendVideo
With football season in Pittsburgh now over, the focus turns full tilt to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Tim Benz and Mark Madden look over potential trade candidates to replace the injured Jake Guentzel. Among them: New York Rangers’ Chris Kreider, Tyler Toffoli from the Los Angeles Kings, and Florida Panthers’ Mike...
First Call: Browns favorite to sign Tom Brady if he leaves Patriots; Antonio Brown wants in, too
This can’t happen. Can it? Tom Brady is about to become a free agent. After nearly two decades of dominance, he could leave the New England Patriots. Hey, Michael Jordan was a Washington Wizard. Joe Montana became a Kansas City Chief. And Babe Ruth ended his career with the Boston...
Steelers’ Mike Hilton has (slightly) more leverage this offseason as restricted free agent
Mike Hilton politely made it clear last season he wanted a multiyear contract. The Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback did not get one, but after another solid season, he finds himself in a similar spot. Hilton again is not assured of getting a multiyear extension. However it plays out, Hilton said he...
Tim Benz: Don’t kid yourself. Steelers never could’ve done what Titans did to PatriotsVideo
Yeah. It crossed my mind, too. Watching the New England Patriots crumble at home against the Tennessee Titans in the first round of the AFC playoffs. Could this have been the year? What if the Steelers didn’t fall apart down the stretch and had managed to scratch their way past...
John Steigerwald: Patriots QB Tom Brady looked his age without Rob Gronkowski, Antonio Brown
The Patriots’ party appears to be over. They won’t be going to the Super Bowl this year, and they won’t even be going to the AFC championship game, which you might have thought was on their schedule since they had been to eight consecutive. They’ve also reached the Super Bowl...
Analysis: Chris Boswell’s bounce-back season encouraging sign for Steelers special teams
The width between NFL goal posts is 18 feet, 6 inches. If that distance looked smaller than a parking space to Chris Boswell in 2018, it had to look wider than the Allegheny River last season. The biggest special teams question mark for the Pittsburgh Steelers heading into the season,...
Analysis: Steelers offense needs more than a healthy Ben Roethlisberger in 2020
The worst fears for the Pittsburgh Steelers offense were realized in the second week of the season when quarterback Ben Roethlisberger exited at halftime against the Seattle Seahawks and never played another down. With his departure, the Steelers went from possessing one of the top passing offenses in 2018 to...
2020 could play out in many ways for young Steelers OL Chuks Okorafor
Chuks Okorafor laughed. It was a question for which he had no answer. What is the Pittsburgh Steelers’ coaching staff’s plans for him for the 2020 season? “I have no idea yet where I stand in terms of whatever,” the young offensive lineman said the day after the season ended...
Prosecutors back off felony claim against Patriots owner Robert Kraft
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Lawyers for the state of Florida have backed down from a recent claim that New England Patriots football team owner Robert Kraft committed a felony prostitution offense a year ago. In a court filing Thursday night, Florida prosecutors revised their position in an appeal concerning video...
Steelers’ Minkah Fitzpatrick, Cameron Heyward, T.J. Watt voted 1st-team All-Pro
The Pittsburgh Steelers defense was one of the best in the NFL this season. On Friday, the league’s highest individual accolades suggested as much. Three Steelers were named first-team All-Pro by the Associated Press: Edge rusher T.J. Watt, interior lineman Cameron Heyward and safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. The Steelers were the...
Steelers 2019 offense among most impotent for franchise over past half-century
We knew the Pittsburgh Steelers offense this past season was bad. But how bad? One of the worst since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger. Without Antonio Brown (traded), Le’Veon Bell (free agency) and Ben Roethlisberger (injury in Week 2), the Steelers finished 30th in the NFL in yards (276.8 per game)...
Mark Madden: Randy Fichtner should not be Steelers’ sacrificial lamb
Before it started, the Steelers’ season had promise. Then Ben Roethlisberger got hurt. Then the Steelers were 1-4. Then they were 8-5. Then the Steelers collapsed and missed the playoffs. The 2019 campaign was very literally up and down, then up, then down again. Should you be disappointed the Steelers...
Javon Hargrave wants to return to Steelers, seems resigned to fact he probably won’tVideo
At one point during what was a reflective Sunday for Javon Hargrave, the defensive lineman slipped up while speaking to media in the M&T Bank Stadium visitors locker room. Asked about the Pittsburgh Steelers’ outlook for 2020, Hargrave’s initial choice of pronoun spoke volumes — so much so Hargrave seemed...
Former Steelers Troy Polamalu, Alan Faneca among 15 Hall of Fame finalists
Troy Polamalu is one vote away from making the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. The former Pittsburgh Steelers safety was among 15 players named a finalist for the Hall of Fame on Thursday. Polamalu spent 12 seasons with the Steelers, making the Pro Bowl...
Analysis: Future is bright for play-making Steelers defense
It seemed like a curious decision at the time. On Sept. 16, the day it was announced quarterback Ben Roethlisberger would be out for the season because of an elbow injury, the Pittsburgh Steelers made a bold move. However, it wasn’t to address Roethlisberger’s injury and fortify the most important...
