Tim Benz Columns category, Page 48

There are two constants in Pittsburgh. The first is citywide angst whenever the Steelers go into a slump. The second is road construction. Let’s bring those two unavoidable eventualities together. Let’s say the Hot Metal Bridge near the Steelers’ facility needs repairs — again. Construction crews can make the decision...

It felt stupid, didn’t it? Tracking all those AFC games Sunday to see how they would impact the Steelers and the playoff standings. What a fruitless endeavor after how the Steelers performed in their last two games, losing both at home against teams (the Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots)...

Everything is bad with the Pittsburgh Steelers right now. Losing back-to-back home games against two-win teams (the Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots) has sapped any enthusiasm moving forward for the rest of the season. What’s even worse is that whenever the team is eventually eliminated from the playoffs —...

Duquesne sophomore point guard Kareem Rozier turned 19 right before Thanksgiving. But if you meet him, talk to him, or just see him run the Dukes on the floor, you might say to yourself, “Are we sure he isn’t 29? Or 39? And is he really running the point? Or...

Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t bat an eyelash at the Pittsburgh Steelers getting dusted at home by the New England Patriots. During the height of the Tom Brady-Bill Belichick years, that was a common occurrence. However, Brady is long gone and so is that era of Patriots football. They entered...

Two things seem pretty obvious heading into the latest edition of Steelers-Patriots on Thursday night at Acrisure Stadium: 1. There won’t be many points on the scoreboard at the end of the night. 2. No one is going to be confusing this game with any one of the classics involving...

The Pittsburgh Steelers just suffered one of the franchise’s worst losses ever at Acrisure Stadium. Diontae Johnson celebrated a meaningless touchdown. The Penguins look as old as we feared that they would. And Sports Illustrated is rewarding empty hype in college football. All we need now is the annual December...

Thursday’s “First Call” has a hopeful health update for Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris. T.J. Watt is getting lots of Pro Bowl votes and support from a fellow pass-rushing star in their battle against holding calls. We also recap a busy night of college basketball action, and Robert Morris’...

In Wednesday’s “First Call,” a Pittsburgh Steelers veteran is drawing a line in the sand in advance of the team’s game against New England on Thursday. Meanwhile, the Patriots will have to get over the loss of an important contributor to their already anemic offense. An upcoming opponent for the...

Kenny Pickett’s latest injury — on top of his overall lack of progress this year — is starting to make people wonder if the Steelers got it wrong in their first attempt to replace future Hall of Fame quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. The fact that Pickett is being replaced by Mitch...

Thursday night’s Pittsburgh Steelers game against the New England Patriots was setting up to be something completely different than what it has become. Prior to Sunday’s hideous home loss to the Arizona Cardinals, that game was lining up as the third consecutive win for the Steelers in the post-Matt Canada...

Tuesday’s “First Call” features Bill Belichick’s view of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ QB situation as his Patriots prepare to visit Acrisure Stadium on Thursday. We get a health update on a Patriots starter on offense. A former Steeler is unhappy with the team’s game-changing sequence at the Arizona goal line Sunday....

After the Pittsburgh Penguins’ latest loss, a 2-1 overtime defeat in Philadelphia on Monday night, a friend shot me a sarcastic text. “What happens first? Pens score a power play goal? Or Steelers score more than one touchdown in a game?” I sent a sincere reply. “Pirates win NLCS.” OK....

Simply put, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 24-10 loss to the Arizona Cardinals was horrible. Top to bottom. Mike Tomlin’s team played poorly at home against a lousy team and damaged their playoff hopes as a result. In this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast, Mark Madden of 105.9 The X and TribLive suggests...

Monday’s “First Call” captures James Conner’s successful return to Pittsburgh as his Cardinals upset the Steelers 24-10 on Sunday afternoon. Another former Steeler had a big game in the NFC South. And we look ahead to what could be an ugly game between the Patriots and Steelers on Thursday night....

Much has been made about how the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense improved in Week 1 under new offensive coordinator Eddie Faulkner and recently promoted play-caller Mike Sullivan. Getting the offense to over 400 yards for the first time in 58 games was a pleasant departure from the slog that unit had...

At 7-4, some are suggesting that the 2023 Pittsburgh Steelers are an overachieving surprise. That’s usually being done by way of advancing Mike Tomlin’s Coach of the Year candidacy. If you judge by the preseason NFL over-under win totals, I suppose you could make that argument. Like many sportsbooks at...

The Pittsburgh Steelers may miss a key member of the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. Lots of nuggets are coming out of the AFC North. The Penguins are getting set to face the Flyers. We check in on RMU hockey. And RIP Pittsburgh Maulers … again. Hollywood’s heel As the Steelers...

Wednesday’s “First Call” features Ben Roethlisberger’s Hall of Fame campaign for two former teammates. We also discover another star player who may miss a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Plus, we get a look at Sunday’s Steelers-Cardinals officiating crew. And we preview the college basketball night ahead for Duquesne and...

If it wasn’t for how the game started — or how the game ended in overtime — the Pittsburgh Penguins had a pretty good night in Nashville. Unfortunately, even though most nights can get a little blurry on Broadway, we can’t forget those two things happened, though. As a result,...

Coming out of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ first game post-Matt Canada, we’ve had to frequently remind ourselves that the offense still only scored 16 points in Cincinnati on Sunday. Although we should also probably keep in mind that it should have been 23 points en route to the win if Diontae...

For the past two years, complaints about the Pittsburgh Steelers offense under deposed coordinator Matt Canada from fans and media went something like this: • They don’t use the middle of the field enough. • Whenever he’s actually healthy, they don’t use tight end Pat Freiermuth enough. • They don’t...

Pittsburgh Steelers veteran Cameron Heyward is upset that word of the team’s locker room disagreement in Cleveland became public. We have an update on Myles Garrett’s injury. Josh Dobbs had a rough go of it on “Monday Night Football.” A former Steeler is out of a coaching job. And we...

Monday’s “First Call” takes a look at the Pittsburgh Steelers’ opponent next week. We also check in on injuries to two key Cleveland Browns and an important Cincinnati Bengal. Then we see how a former Steeler helped close out a win for the Ravens in Los Angeles. Bird’s eye view...