Good Wednesday to you Steelers’ Fans.
The Black and Gold will head West without the services of James Conner. He’s now sidelined with an ankle sprain that will keep him out at least this week if not longer. That means the Steelers will turn to the “committee” approach in the backfield. Based on recent weeks, it appears that rookie Jaylen Samuels will get the lion’s share of the carries. Veteran Stevan Ridley, who hasn’t touched the ball in several weeks, will likely spell him. Added to the 53-man roster Tuesday was Trey Edmunds. A spot opened up when Justin Hunter went on injured reserve. The Steelers have thrown the ball more than any other team this season but they’ll still need to be able to run the ball. I’m anticipating some different offensive sets from Randy Fichtner in an effort to pick up yards on the ground.
Speaking of Hunter, with him down and out now James Washington has to step up. It’s really that simple. The rookie has to be able to provide relief for Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster when necessary. The rookie learning curve has passed. It’s put up or shut up time.
Episode 109 of the SCB Steelers Podcast recorded last night. Check it out!
Tweet of the Day… What an amazing person Ryan Shazier is. Hard to believe it has been a year.
Today is a day to remember. Just a year ago my life changed forever. It was a scary moment for many people. I’m not going to lie, I was one of them. Ive learned this was an amazing… https://t.co/tTeBGm7d8o
— Ryan Shazier (@RyanShazier) December 5, 2018
The best thing the Steelers could for themselves and all of us is to go to Oakland and blow the Raiders out early and often. Sadly, the Steelers just don’t play well on the West Coast and it goes back to the Bill Cowher days. Ian wrote this excellent piece on the Steelers’ travel troubles.
A story that bears watching is this ‘Jerry Hughes vs the official’ episode from Sunday’s game. Hughes claims that NFL official Roy Ellison called him a “bitch” during the Bills’ game. Ellison has been placed on Administrative Leave as of right now but according to profootballtalk.com he was alleged to have used similar language towards a player in the past. Officials do in fact have to be held to a higher standard but even I admit these have limits. There are moments when officials might have to use certain language to calm a situation. I’m not sure calling a player a bitch fits in that category though.
I must admit I’m a bit surprised there haven’t been any disciplinary measures handed down to the crew from Sunday Night’s game.
If you count yourself as one of those who is saying “We should have given Bell what he wanted because Conner is out now” then please stop. If Bell had wanted to be here he would be and as I’ve said all along, I’d rather lose with guys who want to be here than win with guys who don’t.
Have a great day Steeler Nation!
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