SCB Steelers Quick Hitters: The ‘No Apologies’ Edition

Good Victory Monday to You Steelers Fans,

Yes, it was ugly. Yes, the Steelers had no business winning that game yesterday. Yes the Steelers have the same problems now they had coming into the game. But no, there won’t be any apologies. The NFL isn’t about saying “sorry” when you win because those style points that ESPN and NFL Network want you to believe exist do not. Power rankings in the NFL are stupid. Yeah, I said “stupid.” Because that’s the most appropriate word. This is not high school or college football where style points matter. This is the National Football League where it doesn’t matter how you win, it matters that you win. I detailed the issues that still remain for this team last night and there are many, but any Steelers’ fan whining about a victory doesn’t get it. No one ever celebrates a loss so why would anyone ever be disappointed with a win? It makes little to no sense to me. I guarantee there isn’t one person in this organization apologizing for beating the Baltimore Ravens yesterday and there better not be either.

The BYE Week

Not every team handles the BYE week the same way in terms of when players get time off but in case you were wondering here’s how the Steelers will approach it. They will be in the facility today to meet, watch film and get treatment. Mike Tomlin will hold his weekly presser tomorrow followed by practice on Wednesday. The players will then get at least Thursday through Sunday off before returning a week from today to prepare for the LA Rams. Before you blow a gasket and say “Why are these guys getting time off when they aren’t playing very well?!?!” then I would point you towards the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Did He or Didn’t He?

One of the big questions from yesterday is whether Kenny Pickett changed out of the given play to the play that ultimately was the TD pass to George Pickens. It is clear, without hesitation, that Pickett steps up in the pocket before the snap and yells something up and down the line. You can visibly see Chuks Okorafor raise out of his stance and look behind him to hear Pickett. One of three things occurred here. One, Pickett changed the play. Two, he was sliding the protection. Three, he was simply doing a ‘dummy’ call to make Baltimore think he was changing the play. Both he and Pickens said what transpired was the play called. The main reasons why this is a talking point is because of the reaction of Matt Canada. When Pickens scored the entire box went into pandemonium with the exception of Canada who sat there as stoic as an eagle looking across the plains. Was he stunned that Pickett changed the play? Was he already thinking about the two-point conversion? We’ll likely not ever know.

JPJ

You’ll find few people who aren’t ready to see more of Steelers’ rookie CB Joey Porter, Jr. That number got smaller after his timely end zone interception yesterday. But I want to put things into perspective here. Since the season began, Porter has been used primarily in dime package situations or when the corners were going to be man up. Yesterday’s usage of him was perfectly timed. It took advantage of his length and cover ability in a short field and it paid off. As to why he isn’t playing more we must understand there are many factors at play. Does he understand the entire defense? Are they 100% comfortable with him in run support? Is he struggling in zone coverage? These are all fair questions to ask. Personally, I can’t see him doing much worse than Levi Wallace but I’m not there every day so I can’t definitively say. I know this much; his time is coming.