Steeler Nation let out a collective shriek yesterday when word came out that yet another wide receiver may leave the Pittsburgh Steelers in free agancy.  While Mike Wallace’s departure to the Bank of Miami was no surprise, no one expected to hear that Emmanuel Sanders, now #2 on the wide receiver depth chart, was visiting other teams.

Will Antonio Brown be the only Bugati Boy left in 2013? (www.tumblr.com)

But that was the breaking news yesterday morning, as restricted free agent (RFA) Sanders visited the New England Patriots.  Although they had replaced WR Wes Welker (who left for the Broncos) with Rams WR Danny Amendola, apparently they were still shopping.

What does this mean? » Continue reading “Is Emmanuel Sanders Leaving the Pittsburgh Steelers?”

We interrupt “As The Locker Room Turns” to bring you the Salary Cap Shuffle.  In what has become a yearly tradition this time of year, the Pittsburgh Steelers are hard at work restructuring contracts in order to create space under the salary cap.

First up in the Salary Cap Shuffle was Lawrence Timmons. By restructuring Timmons’ deal, the Steelers managed to free up $5 million towards the salary cap.

Antonio Brown, in perhaps a sign of his willingness to bring togetherness and the spirit and meaning of kumbaya to the Steelers locker room, restructured his deal.

Not to be left out, Ben Roethlisberger restructured his deal, freeing up about $6 million. Big Ben’s restructured contract now has the Steelers near the $122 million salary cap. The Steelers may not be finished in the Salary Cap Shuffle, as it is rumored that LaMarr Woodley may restructure his deal as well.

And Now Back To “As The Locker Room Turns”

Speaking of Big Ben not wanting to be left out of things, the quarterback offered his two cents on the state of the locker room.

“Obviously, last year was frustrating for all of us, and when you’re frustrated and the season doesn’t go the way you want it to and things don’t go the way you want them to, things are said. I know all too well, after the Dallas game I was frustrated and said some things.

“The important thing to know is, there are no issues in our locker room. There are no issues with LaMarr. There are no issues on our team.

“The big thing for us is to move forward. Last year was last year, it was 8-8. We’re not happy about it. There are frustrations, but you know what? We’re done with it. We’re moving forward and we’re moving into this year … with whoever’s here, we’re looking to move forward. And we know Woodley’s going to be here and we know Woodley’s going to be ready to go as we all are going to be.”

It seems to me that Big Ben is just as tired of “As The Locker Room Turns” as I am. Hopefully that will be the final chapter in this soap opera.

How do you know it’s been a slow off season thus far? Steeler Nation is still facing all kinds of hullabaloo over anonymous comments regarding LaMarr Woodley’s level of fitness. Ryan Clark has had his say on the matter. Antonio Brown has even commented on the matter.

Brown said: “For guys to throw a guy like LaMarr Woodley, a Pro Bowl player, under the bus just shows you the men we had in our locker room. And it’s something that we want to get corrected for 2013 …

“It you are going to speak out about something, be a man and claim it. But don’t go in the newspaper speaking out about our Pro Bowl linebacker and not mentioning your name. Then other guys supporting it … it goes to show you that we wasn’t a team in 2012. So some of the things we got to iron out and we’re looking to get those things corrected.”

And now former Steeler Hines Ward wades into the discussion on the state of the Steelers locker room.

“When you lose so much leadership in the locker room, that’s when things present itself like that,” Ward said. “Guys start finger-pointing, calling out other guys. That is not the Steeler way. We’ve always had a rule: We are a band of brothers. We’ve always collectively kept everything in house. … But there was no finger-pointing and calling each other out. That’s a total disarray, a locker room in disarray.”

Ward has a point, although it may be lost in the sour-grapes overtones of his remarks. Like this year, the Steelers faced age and salary cap issues in the off season. Team leaders like Ward, James Farrior, and Aaron Smith were cut as a result. It seems that losing the long-standing offensive (Ward) and defensive (Farrior) in one off season may have been too much for this team to handle.

» Continue reading “Pittsburgh Steelers News Blitz: The “Yes, We Are Still Talking About The Locker Room” Edition”

Now that the 2012 season is in the books for the Pittsburgh Steelers, it’s time to look ahead to 2013.  While other teams, including two AFC North foes, are gearing up for the playoffs, the Steelers can only think what might have been.

Quarterbacks

While the Steelers are fortunate to have a franchise quarterback in Ben Roethlisberger, it’s time to take take a serious look for a serviceable back-up or two. Both Byron Leftwich and Charlie Batch are free agents this offseason.

» Continue reading “Steelers: Looking Ahead To 2013″

Dallas Cowboys 27 Pittsburgh Steelers 24, OT

Fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals.

That was the difference in this very winable game for the Steelers.

The bend-but-don’t-break defense broke, thanks to poor tackling. A key fumble on special teams by Antonio Brown, flipped momentum and enabled the Cowboys to tie up the game in the fourth quarter. The offense could not capitalize on a fumble recovered by the defense. Ben Roethlisberger was only 24 for 40 in the game, with several passes off-target, including the interception in overtime that set up the game-winning field goal for the Cowboys.

At least Mike Wallace had a decent enough game.

» Continue reading “Fundamentals Doom Steelers”

San Diego Chargers 34 Pittsburgh Steelers 24

Ben Roethlisberger was back under center for the Steelers, but that really didn’t matter as the entire team decided against showing up for this game.

The Steelers’ many miscues set up plenty of opportunities for Philip Rivers and the Chargers, who took advantage of these opportunities. Where do I even begin?

• Back-to-back offsides penalties by Troy Polamalu and James Harrison gave the Chargers a first down and set up a 51-yard Nick Novak field goal for the first score of the game.
• Antonio Brown attempted to recover a lateral in the end zone instead of taking the safety.
• Big Ben throws an interception deep in his own territory, that sets up the final score for the Chargers.
• The defense’s general inability to stop the Chargers on third down.
• Special teams penalties. Again.

» Continue reading “Multiple Mistakes Doom Steelers Against Chargers”

December is here, and that means two things: I really should start my Christmas shopping, and I can’t start my Christmas shopping because the Steelers are making their final push for the playoffs.  Coming off a huge upset win in Baltimore against their division rival the Ravens with 3rd string QB Charlie Batch, the team received excellent news when HC Mike Tomlin announced on Thursday that Ben Roethlisberger would resume his role as starting QB when the San Diego Chargers come to Heinz Field for the week 14 matchup.

The 4-8 Chargers season is all but over, having lost 7 of the last 8 games.  Just this week President Dean Spanos was doing damage control when it was reported that he had already decided to fire HC Norv Turner and GM AJ Smith at the season’s end…although he never directly said it wasn’t true.  The Chargers are 0-14 when playing at Heinz Field, and it’s likely the Steelers will make it 0-15.  Then again, we all know the Steelers have a tendency to let weaker teams hang around and struggle to put the game away early. » Continue reading “Steelers Eve: San Diego Chargers at Pittsburgh Steelers”

You’d have to be living under a rock to be unaware of the countless injuries the Pittsburgh Steelers have sustained this season, and Week 12 was no exception.  Several more players went down in the slugfest vs the Cleveland Browns, resulting in a mind-boggling shift of players on the active roster and practice squad.  Check it out:

1. RT Marcus Gilbert, hoping to return from an ankle injury, suffered a setback and was placed on IR.
2. Rookie T Mike Adams, the 2012 2nd round draft pick who has been filling in for Gilbert, suffered an ankle injury and will reportedly miss “significant time”.
3. Rookie Kelvin Beachum will likely start in place of Adams, whom he relieved during the Browns game.  It will be his first NFL start.
4. 2012 1st round draft pick RG David DeCastro, who sustained a knee injury during preseason, was activated from the “IR with designation to return” list.  It is unclear if he will start, as Ramon Foster has played well in his absence.
5. LG Willie Colon has been sidelined with a swollen knee and may sit this week again…rumor has it that if Colon can’t play, ProBowl center Maurkice Pouncey may slide into the guard position, leaving backup Doug Legursky to fill in at center.
6. Rookie G John Malecki continues to bounce between practice squad and active roster.  This week, he’ll again be on the list of 53.
7. WR Antonio Brown practiced well this week and is expected to make his return against the Ravens.  This is good news indeed.
8. With Brown returning, rookie WR David Gilreath was released to make room on the roster.  The Steelers would likely have signed Gilreath back to the practice squad, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers claimed him off waivers.
9. Other rookies that were released were lost to other teams as well: WR Toney Clemons was signed by the Jaguars and G Ryan Lee was signed by the Saints.
10. To fill out the practice squad, T Joe Long (brother of Dolphins 1st round pick Jake Long), G Justin Cheadle (no relation to the actor Don Cheadle),  and WR Bert Reed (not in any way connected to paper towel dispenser killer K Jeff Reed) were all added.
11. RB Jonathan Dwyer will get the start over Isaac Redman and Rashard Mendenhall, who sits at #3 on the depth chart after fumbling twice on 4 carries against the Browns as part of the turnover marathon.  I guess Dwyer’s fumble was the least offensive?
12. WR Mike Wallace got a mini-demotion and now shares the starting position with Emmanuel Sanders opposite Antonio Brown.  Sanders has performed well in AB’s absence.

1. LaMarr Woodley will sit out with an ankle injury, and Jason Worilds will again start opposite James Harrison.  Both Worilds and Harrison have been performing well recently.
2. QB Ben Roethlisberger if officially out vs the Ravens, and Charlie Batch will again get the start.  Byron Leftwich continues to recover from rib fractures.
3. WR Jerricho Cotchery is also trying to return to the field from his rib injury, but don’t expect him to play this week.  Plaxico Burress will fill his spot.
4. After playing a mere 1.25 games this year, safety Troy Polamalu may finally make his return this week.  The #1-ranked defense has been playing so well the past few weeks, I think a lot of fans have stopped missing him.
5. Safety Ryan Clark has managed to avoid even minor concussions since he started wearing his new, big (unfashionable in his opinion), kevlar reinforced helmet.  Looking good, Ryan.

I don’t know about you, but all this roster movement makes my head spin…I need to rest up for the big game Sunday.  Steelers vs Ravens is always huge, and never more so than this week.  Ravens will essentially clinch the division with a win.  If the Steelers can pull off the upset, who knows?

Cleveland Browns 20 Pittsburgh Steelers 14

This sums up the Steelers’ offensive effort in one simple image.

The Steelers were playing without Ben Roethlisberger and the rest of the offense decided to take the game off as well.

How else can you explain the million fumbleceptions given up by the offense?

With the third-string quarterback starting for the Steelers, the running game was going to be the primary focus. Unfortunately for the Steelers, the entire running back corp came down with a severe case of fumblitis. Rashard Mendenhall kicked things off in the Fumble Sweepstakes, but Isaac Redman, Jonathan Dwyer, and Chris Rainey also managed to fumble the ball.

Not to be outdone, Charlie Batch threw three interceptions.

It’s rather telling that the best looking Steelers throw on the afternoon came on a last-ditch lateral by Mike Wallace.

The defensive unit put forth another spectacular game in a wasted effort. Considering the sheer amount of turnovers and the field position advantage the Browns had, this game should not have been this close. Credit the Steelers’ defense for pushing the Browns out of field goal range.

» Continue reading “Steelers Fumble Game Away Against Browns”

Good news, everyone!

Good news everyone! 

Rashard Mendenhall and Ryan Clark are listed as probable for Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens. With the injury issues the Steelers have faced this season, “probable” is a magical word.

Mendenhall has seen limited playing time this season due to the knee injury he suffered at the end of last season as well as the Achilles injury he suffered against the Titans. Clark is coming off his second concussion in three weeks.

As expected, Ben Roethlisberger, Troy Polamalu, Antonio Brown, and Marcus Gilbert will be out for the Steelers. Roethlisberger will be out indefinitely with his shoulder/rib injury. Steel City Blitz contributor Melanie Friedlander discussed her take on Big Ben’s injury in her latest House Calls article.

» Continue reading “Mendenhall And Clark Probable For Sunday”