SCB Steelers Quick Hitters: The ‘North Rises’ Edition

Good Monday to You Steelers Fans.

I will accept 100% responsibility for this. All three AFC North teams won on Sunday and blame myself. Last week in this very spot I suggested that it could be a good Sunday to gain some ground with our Black and Gold off. Baltimore, Cincinnati and Cleveland all faced tough games for myriad reasons but as the football gods can often do, they messed with us hard. The Ravens held off Tennessee in London a week after letting the Steelers steal one in Pittsburgh. In Cincy, the Bengals’ D rose to the occasion in stopping the Seattle Seahawks time and again inside the Red Zone while in Cleveland, the Browns knocked both Deebo Samuel and Christian McCaffery from the game and then survived a missed field goal to win. What’s the moral of this story? It’s that the AFC North in 2023 was never going to be easy. I still believe the Bengals will win the division when all is said than done but now the Steelers return to action for 12 straight weeks. It’ll start with a trip to LA to take on a much better Rams’ team than we anticipated.

Time to Accept It

The “Fire Matt Canada” signs and chants will likely continue right up through the end of the year but what we all need to accept is that the embattled Offensive Coordinator isn’t going anywhere. If he were, it would have happened by now.

Speaking of Play-Callers…

I always enjoy the BYE week because I get a little more opportunity to watch other teams. The one that stood out was Detroit. Their OC, Ben Johnson, doesn’t do anything overly special, but the one thing he does do is get people in positions to succeed. He gets the ball into the hands of guys who are already on the move and he doesn’t use them in areas where they aren’t strong. Mike McDaniel in Miami is very similar to this. Successful play-calling is made much easier when your offense can run the ball. Matt Canada would also “be better” with a consistent running attack (see the last nine games from 2022) but what these guys are doing is really fun to watch.

The Podcast

Make sure you catch up with the latest episode of the SCB Steelers Podcast presented by DEK Roofing Inc! Great info! Great opinions! Great times!

Trades?

Week eight is of course the trade deadline and while I have my issues with how early it is, you still have to wonder if the Steelers will be buyers or sellers. There’s no doubt that they could use help along the defensive line and in the secondary but how much are they willing to give up? Considering how some of the recent signings have fared, I’m not holding my breath for anything too exciting.

JPJ

Are you one of those who is clamoring for Joey Porter, Jr to get on the field more? I totally understand why but allow me to explain the one reason why he isn’t playing more. His tackling is not good. Yeah, I know… It can’t be much worse than Levi Wallace or Patrick Peterson! See, that’s the problem. For as poorly as those guys have been JPJ has been worse and that’s been in limited snaps. The Steelers knew he needed work in this department when they drafted him so I don’t think I’d sound any alarms just yet.