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Wide Receivers

Week 6 Recap: Getting What They Deserve

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Nobody panic. Antonio Brown caught seven passes to keep his reception streak record alive.

Under the Mike Tomlin regime, it’s only the truly important things that count!

In less important news, the Pittsburgh Steelers lost 31-10 to the Cleveland Browns. Actually, they didn’t so much “lose” as get their asses handed to them. After a sluggish first quarter where both teams seemed determined to out-suck each other, the Browns kicked it into gear and never looked back. It was by far the easiest win they’ve had this season and oh by the way it was their easiest win over the Steelers since a 49 point shellacking they gave us way back in 1989.

And you know what? Nothing that happened yesterday surprised me in the least.

The Steelers are a terrible team. Awful. Horrible. Pathetic. Insert whatever adjective you’d like.Read More »Week 6 Recap: Getting What They Deserve

Cotchery Headed To Carolina

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Wild Card Playoffs - Pittsburgh Steelers v Denver Broncos

Eight.

That’s the total number of receptions made by wide receivers not named Antonio Brown remaining on the Pittsburgh Steelers roster. Maybe – I stress the word maybe – they improved their defense this off-season. They for damn sure didn’t improve their offense. In fact, it’s hard to look at the current depth chart and argue it’s gotten anything but significantly worse.

Jerricho Cotchery is the latest to depart, reportedly agreeing to a two year $6 million deal with the Carolina Panthers. The Cotch Rocket had a career year in 2013,  catching 45 passes for 602 yards and a team leading 10 touchdowns. Unlike Mike Wallace and Emmanuel Sanders, the Black and Gold actually wanted to re-sign Cotchery, who provided a dependable veteran presence to the passing game. With the Steelers down to only $2 million in salary cap space – they have to wait until June 1st for nearly $8 million of LaMarr Woodley‘s money to clear – it appears Cotchery wasn’t willing to wait and see what the Steelers planned to offer.Read More »Cotchery Headed To Carolina

Steelers Sign Nose Tackle, Sanders Joins Broncos

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Cam Thomas

The Pittsburgh Steelers signed their second big free agent, coming to terms on a two year deal with former San Diego Chargers nose tackle Cam Thomas. And when I say “big,” I mean that literally in the case of the 6’3 330 pound man affectionately nicknamed Baby ‘Zilla. The acquisition of Thomas gives some clue as to how the Steelers are planning to rebuild a defensive line that performed quite terribly last season. It’s hard to imagine these moves leading to a run D worse than the one that got gashed with alarming ease last year.

Thomas was a fourth round pick out of North Carolina back in 2010. He started ten games last season for San Diego before losing his job over what is rumored to be the coaches’ dissatisfaction with his effort level. From what I’ve read on Chargers blogs, Thomas was frustrating to watch because in some games he looked like a world beater while in others he barely bothered to show up. If the Steelers can properly motivate him – and while Mike Tomlin is about as inspiring as a shrieking parakeet, Dick LeBeau has traditionally inspired fierce loyalty in his men – they could kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.Read More »Steelers Sign Nose Tackle, Sanders Joins Broncos

Wheaton Out, Foster Iffy Against Jets

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 Kelvin Beachum, Kendall Reyes

Now that the bye week is over, its time for the Pittsburgh Steelers to turn their attention to this Sunday’s game against the shockingly competitive New York Jets. With no Mike Tomlin press conference last week and a CBA mandated four day break from practice during the bye, there was precious little info out of Steeler camp about those potential line-up changes Tomlin promised. And we all know Tomlin wouldn’t promise something without intending to follow through.

The most change looks to be coming to the team’s beleaguered offense line. It’s amazing to think after blowing two second round picks on Marcus Gilbert and Mike Adams that the team is already resigned to tossing them in the garbage heap but that appears to be where things are headed. The bye may mean newly acquired LT Levi Brown isn’t completely up to speed in time for Sunday although we saw Fernando Velasco walk in off the street and start at center in a week’s time. Word is the Steelers are eager to throw Kelvin Beachum into the starting mix – he’s been sharing first team snaps at LT with Brown – which means he’ll start at LT if Brown isn’t ready or at RT if he is.Read More »Wheaton Out, Foster Iffy Against Jets

Start ‘Em Or Sit ‘Em, Steelers Edition

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Since head coach Mike Tomlin doesn’t think it’s “time to press the panic button,” I don’t expect to see significant changes to the line-up when the Pittsburgh Steelers meet the Chicago Bears on Sunday Night. To paraphrase Trib columnist Dejan Kovacevic, he seems content to keep banging his head against the wall. Too bad when Tomlin was busy looking up big fancy words to use incorrectly during his press conference, he didn’t bother taking a look at the definition of insanity.

in·san·i·ty [inˈsanitē/] – doing the same thing over and over but hoping for a different result

Maybe the Steeler don’t need to push the panic button. But they for damn sure need to make some changes. Every week, fantasy football gurus do some version of a Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em column where they list various players and describe why or why not you should start them on your team. In that spirit, I’ll list a handful of Steelers and explain why they should or shouldn’t see more playing time going forward.Read More »Start ‘Em Or Sit ‘Em, Steelers Edition

Week 2 Recap: Bungling Their Way To Victory

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“There’s a certain amount of misery with the position that we’re in. We’ll wear it. We don’t like it. We’ll wear it.” – Mike Tomlin

If the Pittsburgh Steelers 20-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals was an article of clothing, it’d be a pair of bowling shoes. Stinky ugly bowling shoes. Coach T was gracious about crediting Cincy for playing well during his post-game cliche-fest. All I’ll say is that if the Bengals are the class of the AFC North, then our division has quickly become the Big East of the NFL.

In my game preview, I mentioned this being the year quarterback Andy Dalton needed to take his game to the next level. The Ginger Rifle responded by playing a hideous game. Overthrows, underthrows, missing wide open receivers, Dalton did his best to keep the Steelers in the game. Unfortunately, the Black and Gold were in an even more charitable mood.Read More »Week 2 Recap: Bungling Their Way To Victory

Jones Injury Overshadows Steelers Third Preseason Loss

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Jones Tweet

Pop Quiz: What’s worse than an NFL preseason game?

Answer: An NFL preseason game that goes into overtime.

The Pittsburgh Steelers remained O for the preseason on Saturday, falling to the Kansas City Chiefs 26-20 in overtime. Seriously, overtime? They couldn’t just agree to shake hands and call it a tie? Screw the degenerate gamblers who bet on exhibition games.

While nobody wants to go winless at anything, one ray of sunshine coming out of Saturday’s performance was that it was much improved over the first two debacles. Considering the third preseason game is a dress rehearsal for the regular season with starters playing a full half (or more), that’s obviously a really good thing. The other positive development was that the Steelers emerged from the game more or less unscathed. Read More »Jones Injury Overshadows Steelers Third Preseason Loss

Steelers Second Preseason Game Worse Than The First

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Keep repeating: “It’s only the preseason. It’s only the preseason.”

The Pittsburgh Steelers played their second preseason game last night, losing to the Washington Redskins 24-13. The final score isn’t as important as how the team performed. In their first preseason game, the Black and Gold looked sloppy and undisciplined. If nothing else, I was hoping to see the team’s level of play improve across the board.

Talk about one step forward, two steps back. Where to begin with last night’s debacle?Read More »Steelers Second Preseason Game Worse Than The First

Plax, Spaeth Undergo Surgery

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Here come the injuries…

After a blissfully quiet start to training camp, the Pittsburgh Steelers have joined the NFL wide injury parade. In the aftermath of the team’s first preseason game on Saturday, ultra-secretive head coach Mike Tomlin revealed that tight end Matt Spaeth underwent surgery for his foot injury. Yesterday, wide receiver Plaxico Burress also went under the knife, undergoing surgery for the torn rotator cuff he suffered during practice.Read More »Plax, Spaeth Undergo Surgery

Thoughts On Steelers First Preseason Game

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The Pittsburgh Steelers fell to the New York Giants 18-13 in Saturday night’s preseason debut. I note the score because I love being on Twitter during these meaningless games and watching Steeler Nation freak out over such minute details. I guess such passion even for games featuring a bunch of guys who’ll be selling car insurance two weeks from now goes hand in hand with having the best fan base in all of football. Remember, people, the Detroit Lions went undefeated in the preseason before taking an O-fer the entire regular season.

With that in mind, there were some interesting storylines coming out of the game:Read More »Thoughts On Steelers First Preseason Game