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First Call: Steelers are favorites to sign J.J. Watt; celebrating Jaromir Jagr's birthday | TribLIVE.com
Penguins/NHL

First Call: Steelers are favorites to sign J.J. Watt; celebrating Jaromir Jagr's birthday

Tim Benz
Tim Benz
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AP
Pittsburgh Penguins captain Jaromir Jagr acknowledges the crowd after the Penguins’ 5-4 comeback victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Nov 11, 1999 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh. Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt walks on the field before an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Houston on Dec. 27, 2020.

Monday’s “First Call” looks at who is chasing the Steelers to sign J.J. Watt on the gambling odds boards. A grim assessments of the Steelers by a pair of national outlets. We celebrate Jaromir Jagr’s birthday. Plus a Marc Andre-Fleury shutout.

No. 49 for No. 68

Jaromir Jagr’s birthday is Monday. The former Penguins legend is turning 49. Yet he played all the way through the 2020 season for the Czech team he owns, HC Kladno. It was his 30th professional season in hockey.

In honor of Jagr, let’s take a look back at his first goal in 1991.

Pretty good work by Kevin Stevens getting the puck into the zone and maintaining possession, right?

Then we should flashback to the tribute video the Penguins did for him at PPG Paints Arena when he was with the Florida Panthers.

And how about that time Jagr willed the Penguins to victory in the first round of the playoffs against the New Jersey Devils in 1999? That was during the team’s debt crisis and his groin injury. It may have been his crowning moment.

But for one play? For one goal? This one against the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 1 of the 1992 Stanley Cup Final has to take the cake.

And this Sports Channel video during that postseason was a gem, too.

The mullet. The shirt. The car. Priceless. Plus, we must note that WDVE’s playlist has stayed remarkably consistent.

So, Jaromir, in your native tongue, “Všechno nejlepší k narozeninám. A mnoho dalších.”

And before anyone scampers to Google Translate, that simply says, “Happy Birthday. And many more.”

That’s not me sending Jagr a coded message begging him to return as a power play specialist …

… even though I might have been thinking it.

What are the odds on Watt?

Yes, T.J. Watt is already openly recruiting his brother J.J. to join him — and fellow brother Derek — with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

That’s because the Houston Texans just granted J.J. his release.

It appears T.J.’s courtship is swaying the money at the sportsbooks. The Steelers are 3/2 favorites to land the former Texans All-Pro according to BetOnline.ag.

The Steelers are followed by the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 2/1. Then the Baltimore Ravens and Green Bay Packers are next at 6/1, with the Dallas Cowboys rounding out the top five at 9/1.

According to Ed Werder of ESPN, the Steelers have already inquired about Watt. He says the Bills, Browns and Titans have as well. Sports Illustrated reports that Green Bay has already expressed interest, too.

This is more likely

Last Monday, I wrote a coarse rebuttal of ESPN.com’s suggestion that the Steelers are just “one year away” from Super Bowl contention.

I think CBS Sports is closer to the mark, as they listed the Steelers among their five teams most likely to “fall off a cliff” in 2020. That seems more accurate to me.

Here’s part of their explanation why.

“Pittsburgh couldn’t run the ball effectively and its receivers dropped passes at an alarming rate. This was an issue all season, not just in December and January. The Steelers didn’t even try to run the ball late last season, nor could they throw the ball deep because Ben Roethlisberger was 38 and coming off elbow surgery. Let’s not forget Roethlisberger lost his mobility and is relegated to being a pocket quarterback. Roethlisberger is coming back at 39 and the Steelers still can’t run the ball — not to mention JuJu Smith-Schuster is likely leaving in free agency and Pittsburgh is a projected $30 million over the salary cap.

Roethlisberger has to restructure his contract and the Steelers have to find a way to improve this roster to give their franchise quarterback one last chance at a Super Bowl. Here’s the problem: Baltimore and Cleveland are in the AFC North and only getting better and Pittsburgh plays a first-place schedule. The Steelers look destined for third in the AFC North and a rebuild starting in 2022.”

Yup. That covers most of the bases.

One thing I’d add to that overview is the franchise has a defense that puts up great regular-season numbers for the first three months of the year, but, as the season wears on, it tends to — dare I say — “fall off a cliff.”

The Saints, Seahawks, Bears and Patriots were also listed.

Big Ben’s big dip

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger deserved to be in the MVP discussion during the first half of the NFL season.

He looked like a guy who should consider retirement in the second half of it.

That’s not just the assessment of this disgruntled Steelers opinion maker. Look at NFL.com’s year-end quarterback rankings. Four of their writers combined rankings to come up with a final mark of 20th in the league for Big Ben. That’s out of 59 total starters.

As you can read in the entry for Roethlisberger, the crew tries to give him a bit of a break by noting the absurd number of drops from Steelers receivers and the total absence of a run game complement.

But Roethlisberger’s own problems manifested, too. That’s how he wound up barely in front of the likes of Ryan Fitzpatrick, Jared Goff and Jalen Hurts.

By the way, poor Ben DiNucci. The Pine-Richland product was rated dead last at 59th after only three games with the Dallas Cowboys.

C’mon! That’s piling on!

Flower lookin’ fine

Marc-Andre Fleury’s solid start to 2021 continues.

The former Penguins goalie pitched a 1-0 shutout for the Vegas Golden Knights Sunday against the Colorado Avalanche.

That victory improves Fleury’s record to 7-1-0 this year. He stopped all 30 shots he saw from the Avs. It raises his save percentage to .945, and it lowers his goals against average to 1.38. That’s Fleury’s second shutout of the season and the 63rd of his career.

I’m not sure if he had any saves as good as this one from his victory against the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night, though.

Nevertheless, another stellar performance. So. About those trade rumors …

Yeah. Who am I kidding? Vegas would be nuts to give up Fleury at this point.

Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.

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Categories: Penguins/NHL | Sports | Steelers/NFL | Breakfast With Benz
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