First Call: Hall of Famer hopes his team signs Antonio Brown, former Penguins step up

Monday’s “First Call” features a Hall of Famer who is making a pitch to sign Antonio Brown. A few NFL.com lists aren’t very flattering of the Steelers. And a pair of former Penguins had some key contributions in NHL wins Sunday.

A.B. in L.A.

Isaac Bruce knows receivers.

He was one. On a Hall of Fame level.

But does he really know Antonio Brown? His quotes suggest not.

Because the former Rams star thinks the franchise should sign Mr. Big Chest and bring him to Los Angeles.

Should the @RamsNFL consider Antonio Brown? #Rams @ProFootballHOF wide receiver @IsaacBruce80 believes @AB84 would take LA to a different level.

Full Zach Gelb Show on @CBSSportsRadio chat: https://t.co/gvurAy73Zq pic.twitter.com/UN3wlF0iRM

— Zach Gelb (@ZachGelb) August 14, 2020

“I mean, you’re talking about one of the premier wide receivers from the past decade that we have. A guy that was very productive, I think a guy that has started to make the 180-degree turn that’s required to be a part of a team — which I feel he wants to be,” Bruce told CBS Sports Radio’s Zach Gelb Friday.

Yeah. I’m pretty sure the Raiders and Patriots thought the same thing.

“A guy that caliber, I don’t think you need to work him out because he’s a hard worker, great work ethic, he’s very productive like I mentioned, and I think he’ll challenge the people in his room and take the Rams to a different level,” Bruce continued.

Here we go again, another guy confusing Brown’s work ethic — which is genuinely impressive — with his level of maturity.

Which is shockingly low.

Let’s see how great of a balance Brown maintains the first time Cooper Kupp or Robert Woods get a red zone target he thinks he deserves.

Or, let’s see if his helmet fits in the first place.

As a reminder, Brown is eligible to play again in the NFL after Week 8.

Off the radar — Part I

The seemingly endless progression of NFL.com lists and rankings continue as training camps get under way in full.

Two of the most recent ones aren’t exactly kind to the Steelers.

But I also can’t suggest that they are too far off from being accurate either.

The first one outlined the best triplets in the NFL. The best passer, pass catcher and running back trio per team.

The Steelers package of Ben Roethlisberger, JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Conner finished 17th in the rankings. That’s down six spots from the start of 2019.

Given Roethlisberger’s injury-addled 2019 and the regressions of Conner and Smith-Schuster, that actually seems pretty fair to me.

Especially when, as writer Ali Bhanpuri points out, Roethlisberger’s injury and performance in 2018 leave many questions coming into 2020.

“I moved Big Ben up and down the QB rankings too many times to count. When he’s right, the 38-year-old is elite. But when he’s off — especially on downfield passes — he’s a liability. The future Hall of Famer is still far better than the Steelers’ alternatives, but I’m not sure he’s still capable of taking a solid supporting cast and making it great. Based on his ranking above, though, you can see I’m not completely counting him out just yet.”

I would’ve put the New Orleans Saints group of Drew Brees, Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara first. But Bhanpuri has them second behind the Kansas City Chiefs’ threesome.

Hey, I Iove Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce as much as the next guy. But c’mon. Clyde Edwards-Helaire?

Sure, he’s a promising running back. But the LSU product is just a rookie. That’s a little much, isn’t it?

Off the radar — Part II

The second list was from Bucky Brooks who came up with his top 5 general manager-head coach tandems.

Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert aren’t on it. If longevity matters — they’ve been together since 2007 — they should be.

In that time, those two have never been in charge of a losing season. And they have gone to two Super Bowls together and three AFC Championship games.

But Brooks is right. More recent history shows that under the stewardship of Tomlin and Colbert the Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since 2016.

Just to kick you in the teeth a little more, the Baltimore Ravens duo of Eric DeCosta and John Harbaugh is rated first.

Pretty passing

A pair of former Penguins had some nifty passes to set up key goals for their teams during the NHL conference quarterfinals.

Olli Maatta got down deep below the goal line and had this gem to Drake Caggiula for the Chicago Blackhawks against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Cue Chelsea Dagger!

Watch live: https://t.co/mfQ1ZBTGTC pic.twitter.com/oIstmSmkOx

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) August 16, 2020

That made the score 1-0 Chicago. The Blackhawks went on to win 3-1. Maatta had Chicago’s lone goal in Saturday’s 2-1 loss and has five points in eight games. The Golden Knights still lead the series 3-1.

Meanwhile, the New York Islanders are up 3-0 on the Washington Capitals. That was thanks to Mathew Barzal’s overtime game winner.

Mathew Barzal scored 4:28 into overtime to power the @NYIslanders to a 3-0 lead in their First Round series. #NHLStats #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/tQsIGjKSt1

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) August 16, 2020

It was former Penguin Derick Brassard triggering the offense with that long sling of a pass out of his own zone. The assist was Brassard’s first point of the series and third of the playoffs.