Good Monday to you Steelers fans.
The AFC North, for the time being, is no longer just determined by the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers. The Cincinnati Bengals, who already came into Heinz Field and beat the Black and Gold, went into Baltimore and laid a serious whipping on the Ravens. For all of the talk about the drafting of Ja’Marr Chase being a mistake, don’t tell that to them. All he did was go over 200 yards receiving against Baltimore while his second year QB Joe Burrow threw for over 400 yards. If you want to argue that maybe John Harbaugh’s team isn’t as good as the 5-1 record indicated I would listen. They’ve needed spectacular performances from Lamar Jackson and some serious breaks to get to the top of the division. But their flaws were exposed yesterday by a young Bengals’ team who is hungry and who has avoided any serious injuries to this point as well. Laugh at the “Bungles” all you’d like my friends but they are the new kid on the block right now and there’s little evidence to deny that.
Speaking of the North
After their week 7 bye week, the Steelers find themselves looking up from the basement of the AFC North. With Cincy winning that means they and the Ravens are atop the division with 5-2 records. The Browns, who squeaked out a win over Denver Thursday night, moved to 4-3. Both the Ravens and Steelers are 0-1 in the division while the Bengals are 2-0. More importantly, both of those wins came on the road. If the Steelers are going to make a postseason run, it starts on Sunday in Cleveland.
Tweet of the Day… Boy is this ever true.
Reminiscing on the days when playing C*eveland was two free wins a year ? it’s so hard getting used to taking these people seriously
— jasmine (@jBSTEEL_) October 25, 2021
We’ve Got Bush
For those old enough to remember that line is from “Revenge of the Nerds” but I digress… There is much speculation as to why the Steelers are using Robert Spillane as their only linebacker in some third down specialty packages over Devin Bush and Joe Schobert. Defensive Coordinator Keith Butler, who typically lets the cat out of the bag more often than not, was more reserved than usual when asked about it last week. Much of it centers on stopping the run and few would deny that Spillane is a better run stopper than either Bush or Schobert. The question becomes how comfortable are Butler and Mike Tomlin with Spillane in coverage? Bush is in no man’s land here. He doesn’t cover as well as Schobert and doesn’t stop the run as well as Spillane. Based on the first six games I don’t believe Bush is all the way back from his injury. The burst isn’t there like it was prior to his ACL injury. With run-heavy Cleveland on the docket, Bush has to get better and getting off of blocks and getting to the ball period. Third down or passing situations are one thing, just being better overall is another.
Subscribers
If you noticed that you suddenly “disappeared from our subscriber list then allow me to apologize. I cleared out thousands of SPAM related accounts over the weekend and many may have been legitimate so I apologize for the inconvenience.
SteelDad Mailbag
Get your questions to me this week! Shoot me an email to contactscblitz@gmail.com with the subject “mailbag” and I’ll be sure to answer. Whether it’s the Steelers, the NFL or something random I guarantee I’ll have a reply!
Our Stuff!
As you know we have partnered with DC4Lcustomtees.com for our online store. Now we are excited to partner with them for the month of October. Sales of these Breast Cancer Awareness shirts and hoodies will go directly to Breast Cancer Research. That’s 100% of all sales. There are various color options as well. You’ll also notice we have one that might be a little too racy for some but in our polling we found a lot of people liked them so we are offering! Get yours today!
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