Steelers/NFL category, Page 242

Ben Roethlisberger is aware his words may ring hollow when he tells his younger Pittsburgh Steelers teammates not to count on playing in the postseason every year. “You never really know if you’re going to get a chance to get back,” Roethlisberger said this week as he prepared for the...

1. Something special As a double-digit underdog, conventional wisdom suggests one of the best routes for a Pittsburgh Steelers upset of the Kansas City Chiefs in Sunday’s AFC wild-card playoff game is via an advantage on special teams. Judging by the caliber of the Chiefs’ special-teams unit, though, don’t bet...

A little more than 24 hours in advance of a 4 p.m. Saturday deadline for activating JuJu Smith-Schuster to the roster in time for a playoff game Sunday, Pittsburgh Steelers teammates were eager to let it be known they were unwilling to unveil any inside information about if Smith-Schuster could...

Who said Heinz Field had seen the last of the Pittsburgh Steelers for the 2021 season? Two-and-a-half weeks after the Steelers’ regular-season home finale and longer than that since it’d been determined they had no chance of hosting a playoff game, the Steelers were back at their home stadium Friday....

The Pittsburgh Steelers have a relatively clean bill of health headed into the postseason. Outside of a questionable designation given to running back Najee Harris, all other players on the 53-man roster were deemed as able to play on the injury report Friday. Of those who had missed practice time...

Though it made him sore for a couple days, the platelet-rich plasma shot Najee Harris received helped heal his injured right elbow. Can it also play a role in injecting some life into the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense? The Steelers have a formidable opponent for Sunday’s AFC wild-card playoff game in...

For the second time in three seasons, Pittsburgh Steelers defensive teammates T.J. Watt and Cameron Heyward were named first-team AP All-Pro. Watt, the Steelers’ outside linebacker who tied the NFL season record for sacks with 22½, was a unanimous choice of 50 media members who regularly cover the league. The...

By now, you’ve probably heard a dozen reasons why the Kansas City Chiefs are going to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in Sunday night’s wild-card round playoff game. Unfortunately, I agree with just about all of them. If you play this game 100 times, the Chiefs probably win 95. But —...

Apparently, the postseason means open season on the Pittsburgh Steelers. Because everybody is taking pot shots. Meanwhile, ex-Steeler Melvin Ingram III is getting praise from his new Kansas City Chiefs teammates. And the Robert Morris women’s hockey team can add a third Olympian to its list of alumni. All that...

If JuJu Smith-Schuster’s return to practice Thursday for the Pittsburgh Steelers was unexpected to outsiders, imagine the reaction inside the locker room at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. Three months after undergoing supposed season-ending surgery on his right shoulder, Smith-Schuster was designated to return from injured reserve, leaving open the possibility...

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris missed practice for a second consecutive day Thursday because of an elbow injury suffered during last week’s game. Coach Mike Tomlin, though, said Harris is “scheduled to” practice Friday, the final session before Sunday’s AFC wild-card playoff game at the Kansas City Chiefs. “I...

Add wide receiver Diontae Johnson to the list of Pittsburgh Steelers players unhappy with the perceived lack of respect the team is getting heading into the AFC playoffs against the Kansas City Chiefs. But while quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has led the charge by playfully using it as a motivational tool,...

The two most veteran and tenured members of the Pittsburgh Steelers wide receivers corps returned to practice. Just as the Steelers began their workout Thursday afternoon, they announced JuJu Smith-Schuster had been cleared to practice for the first time since he suffered a shoulder injury early during an Oct. 10...

Since he got into coaching in 1990, Keith Butler estimated he never missed one of his team’s games until Sunday. A positive covid test and an inability to clear protocols in time led to Butler remaining in Pittsburgh while the Steelers traveled to Baltimore with their season hanging in the...

Thursday’s “First Call” shows us just how big of an underdog the Pittsburgh Steelers truly are this weekend in Kansas City. The Chiefs are getting healthier, too. Fire up the Marc-Andre Fleury trade rumors again. And an honor for a former Robert Morris Colonial. More truth than you thought? When...

It’s Pittsburgh Steelers playoff time for “U mad, bro?” Emotions are raw. The emails are snippy. The tweets are more contentious. And errors in judgment are more costly. Just ask Brandon Staley. Buckle up. This week is going to be a bumpy ride. In my column on Wednesday, I wrote...

Exactly how confident are fans of the Kansas City Chiefs as their team (12-5) prepares to host the Pittsburgh Steelers (9-7-1) in Sunday night’s AFC playoff game? Well, Soren Petro hosts a talk show in Kansas City on Sports Radio 810 WHB. He joined me for Thursday’s “Breakfast With Benz”...

Right guard Trai Turner has more playoff experience than the rest of the Pittsburgh Steelers starting offensive linemen combined. Only backup guard/tackle Joe Haeg can match Turner’s six games of playoff experience. Haeg earned a Super Bowl ring with Tampa Bay last year while Turner lost his Super Bowl appearance...

As coach Mike Tomlin had indicated the day prior, running back Najee Harris sat out Pittsburgh Steelers practice on Wednesday. Harris was limited during this past Sunday’s game in Baltimore because of an elbow injury. He played, though, during the fourth quarter and overtime, an indication that he can be...

Since the Pittsburgh Steelers lost by 26 points when they played the Kansas City Chiefs on Dec. 26, they won back-to-back games to scratch out the last spot in the AFC playoffs. Apparently those victories against Cleveland and Baltimore put them in the upper echelon of the conference. At least...

The last time the Pittsburgh Steelers entered the playoffs as the lowest-seeded team in the AFC, they won in the wild-card round in 2015. The time before that, Steelers won three in a row on the road and then earned a “One for the Thumb” ring by beating Seattle in...

These last two weeks have been like fantasyland for Yinzer Nation. Maybe the worst team of the Ben Roethlisberger era rode the quarterback’s scattered, almost random heroics to claim the AFC’s second-ever No. 7 playoff seed at the end of perhaps the most improbable Sunday in NFL history. It was...

Wednesday’s “First Call” has a tremendous video of Ben Roethlisberger watching the end of the nail-biting Sunday night game that sealed the Pittsburgh Steelers’ playoff berth. Chiefs coach Andy Reid talks about the upcoming rematch with the Black and Gold. He also signed a former Steeler. NFL television numbers are...