Hey Steelers Fans. Welcome to Tuesday.
The Kickoff
I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend! I find it hard to believe that the 2026 NFL Season kicks off tomorrow. That’s right. Tomorrow. There was a time when the season kicking off on anything other than a Sunday was blasphemous. Those days are gone. Thursday had been the kickoff night for the last two decades but now it’s Wednesday. The defending champion Seattle Seahawks host the team they beat in Super Bowl LX, the New England Patriots. Then we have the Thursday nighter from Australia between the Rams and Niners before eventually getting around to Sunday. Pretty amazing how things have changed.
Tua
The Atlanta Falcons have announced that Tua Tagovailoa will start at QB Sunday. Cooper Rush will be his backup. I suspect the Steelers will load up the box and force Tua to make throws. They cannot let Bijan Robinson beat them on the ground plain and simple.
Will JPJ Play?
Based on what we saw at practice yesterday it looks like Joey Porter, Jr is in line to start Sunday. The cloud however still looms… With less than a week to go before the opener and the team’s policy of not negotiating during the season still in play, the ball is still technically in Porter,Jr’s court. He could choose to sit out but that gets him no closer to his want of a new deal. I believe the team would prefer to get something done but they aren’t going to overpay. That’s it in a nutshell.
NOTE: Overnight, Christian Gonzalez and the Pats agreed to a four-year extension worth $135 million with over $100 million guaranteed. That leaves JPJ as the only one now who hasn’t gotten an extension.
Goodell
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will be around at least another four seasons. While he’s taken a ton of shots from me during his tenure the truth is this; he is basically the minion of the 32 owners. He does what they want. That said, he will continue to be the target of my ire because so much of what has been done has changed the game for the worse in my opinion.
McCarthy Presser
Unlike Mike Tomlin, Mike McCarthy is doing his press conferences on Monday versus Tuesday. Here are some notes on his comments.
-The Steelers will not have season captains and instead will select captains for each game.
-The entire offense has been built around Aaron Rodgers and what he prefers.
-In regards to Joey Porter, Jr’s contract situation, he said “There’s definitely business conversations going on.”
-While he didn’t commit to him being the starter, McCarthy admitted that Dylan Cook has received the bulk of the snaps at right tackle.
-The entire team is pretty healthy ahead of the opener.
It All Makes Sense Now
As we all know, Aaron Rodgers is no stranger to ‘outside the box’ thinking. Whether it’s vaccinations, politics or darkness retreats, the future Hall of Famer has no problem sharing his thoughts. Enter D.K. Metcalf who apparently is quite the conspiracy theorist according to a new article by The Athletic. For starters, Metcalf believes that world leaders assemble in Antarctica every year for secret meetings. You can read the rest.
Podcast This Week
This Thursday at 10pmET is our annual ‘Season Preview’ Show. It’s filled with League-wide predictions and we do tons of Steelers “Over/Unders” as well. It’s always one of our best shows of the year! The SCB Steelers Podcast presented by DEK Roofing Inc.
Random Reads
Most of you know my stance on Replay reviews. I hate them. And we have another case in point from Ann Arbor this past weekend… How about that SMU-Florida State game last night? They had to actually coach without using the technology! I loved it… I do not know just how good of a coach Western Michigan’s Lance Taylor is but as a leader? He could not have handled that situation better against Michigan… LSU is the real deal but I also wonder just how bad Clemson is now… Kyle Shanahan changed his tune quickly. He was not happy about having to open in Australia but then quickly backtracked once he got there. I’m guessing he got a call from the league office… I’ll never understand the demand for NFL Power Rankings. They literally mean nothing…
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