Good Friday to you Steelers fans.
I’m a firm believer that in the world of professional football, if you don’t win the Super Bowl, you haven’t had a successful season. While I go into every season hoping the Pittsburgh Steelers win the Super Bowl, I am also realistic too. My prediction for this year was 8-9. That remains a possibility as the Steelers sit at 7-8 with two games remaining. Regardless of how things play out, would any of you consider this a ‘successful season?’ If you paid any attention at all to this organization then you had to know this wasn’t a Super Bowl caliber team. A free agent or rookie QB at the helm… One of the youngest offenses in the NFL… A defense that had questions about whether they could stop the run… Those were just a few preseason things we knew but then the in-season stuff happened. T.J. Watt went down for the first half plus of the season… Matt Canada doubled down on his reputation as one of the worst offensive coordinators in football… Chase Claypool under-performed and was shipped out for a second round pick… The secondary struggled as the pass rushed suffered… But all of these things in mind, this team still has a long shot opportunity to make the postseason. Whether that happens or not doesn’t matter. The season has not been a success. That doesn’t mean however there haven’t been some successes. And it also doesn’t mean that there aren’t a boat load of changes that need to be made as well.
The Podcast
OK, OK, totally my fault that we didn’t record the show last night. I’m away from the Fortress of Steelertude and my current location doesn’t exactly have ‘quality internet service.’ Never fear however! We’ll record tonight!
Tweet of the Day… Hall of Famer Rick always has his hands on something awesome.
Scooped up some IMMACULATE #Steelers artwork this week! #HereWeGo #SteelersNation pic.twitter.com/qiYW2qViaG
— Rick Holman (@RHolmanII) December 29, 2022
Injury Report
STEELERS
DB Tre Norwood (Hamstring) – DNP
DL Larry Ogunjobi (Toe/Not Injury Related – Personal) – DNP
LB Myles Jack (Groin/Not Injury Related – Personal) – LP
WR Diontae Johnson (Hip) – LPRB Najee Harris (Not Injury Related – Personal) – FP
RB Najee Harris (Not Injury Related – Personal) – FP
S Terrell Edmunds (Hamstring/Not Injury Related – Personal) – FP
TE Pat Freiermuth (Not Injury Related – Personal) – FP
DT Cameron Heyward (Not Injury Related – Personal) – FP
RAVENS
DE Calais Campbell (Knee) – DNP
OL Trystan Colon (NIR – personal) – DNP
OLB Justin Houston (NIR – rest) – DNP
WR DeSean Jackson (Illness) – FP
QB Lamar Jackson (Knee) – DNP
T Morgan Moses (NIR – rest) – DNP
CB Marcus Peters (Calf) – DNP
OLB Jason Pierre-Paul (Illness) – FP
CB Kevon Seymour (Ankle) – FP
T Ronnie Stanley (NIR – rest) – LP
S Geno Stone (Hamstring) – DNP
G Kevin Zeitler (NIR – rest) – DNP
RB J.K. Dobbins (NIR – Rest) – DNP
WR Demarcus Robinson (NIR – Rest/Groin) – DNP
TE Nick Boyle (Illness) – DNP
Injury Thoughts… I guess my first question is how did the Ravens actually hold a practice on Thursday? Did they have anyone actually available? It’s that time of year however so it’s hard to really determine who is truly dinged up and who is just getting rest.
Lamar
It certainly isn’t looking all that promising for Lamar Jackson to play this week. For the Ravens, who are already in the postseason, I’d say they really need him to play this week or in the finale at Cincinnati. But since I’m a Steelers’ fan I really don’t care. Let’s go back to the earlier meeting when his replacement Tyler Huntley was knocked out of the game. That was a game the Steelers should have won plain and simple. Three Mitchell Trubisky interceptions were the nails in their coffin. Traditionally, the Steelers have played pretty well against Jackson so whether he plays or not shouldn’t make much of a difference. That said, if the Steelers can slow down the run and put the ball in the hands of whomever is playing QB for Baltimore then their chances of winning go up significantly.
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