The Steelers return to the practice field after a day off. They will practice from 115pm-315pm Eastern.
– The Mike Tomlin pres conference yesterday actually revealed a few interesting bits. First, Tomlin claims he made the play call on the 3rd and 5 that went nowhere. It was a run-pass option at the line and Ben Roethlisberger chose ‘run.’ The problem was execution as I wrote yesterday.
-Why do you have “one of the best offensive coordinators in football” if you are going to take the play call away from him in a crucial situation?
-The second piece from Tomlin’s presser was a follow-up to his comments from a Sunday pregame show. Tomlin doesn’t like the stereotype associated when a coach is called a “players’ coach.” His argument was that it seems to get labeled on black coaches and especially those who fail. I’ve got news for you Coach Tomlin… Bill Cowher was a players’ coach.
-Is Antonio Brown getting too full of himself? He put out pictures and stat lines of himself (probably had someone doing it but still…) right after the Steelers’ loss on Sunday. A game where he dropped a potential game-winning pass and earned an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. If we are going to chastise Maurkice Pouncey for selling t-shirts following the loss in Super Bowl XLV, then we need to go after Brown’s insensitivity too.
-We discussed Brown, Tomlin and much more last night on the SCB Steelers Fan Podcast sponsored by Body Tech Gym in North Hills Pittsburgh.
-The Jaguars lead the all-time series with the Steelers 11-10. Pittsburgh is just 4-7 in Jacksonville and they have not visited there since 2008.
-The Jags and Steelers used to have a very intense rivalry back in the 1990’s when both teams where in the old AFC Central Division. Here’s an example.
-Right now it looks like Ryan Shazier will miss a second straight week.
-Anyone remember Fred Taylor rushing for 234 yards against the Steelers back in 2000?
-Ben Roethlisberger is four completions away from 100 on the season.
-Antonio Brown needs 12 yards receiving to become the fourth Steeler to reach 4,000 yards within his first five seasons.
-Great note from Scott Kacsmar of Football Outsiders… The Steelers have given up 11 game-winning scores with :40 remaining since 2007. That dubious mark leads the league in that category.
Marc Uhlmann writes for and co-owns www.steelcityblitz.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteelDad and the website @SCBlitz. Check us out on Facebook at facebook.com/steelcityblitz and on Fancred.com. You can hear him weekly during the season on Trib-Live Radio Steelers Pre-Game
photo courtesy all22breakdown.com
