Steelers/NFL category, Page 424
Mark Madden: Steelers have wasted golden opportunity in AFC North
It took a little over 24 hours to truly sink in. But once Johnny Manziel Jr. stunk out the joint in Cleveland’s 31-3 loss at San Francisco Monday night, the Steelers found themselves staring straight down the barrel of wasted opportunity. The AFC North really does reek. The Steelers could...
Concussed QB Mason Rudolph returns to practice for Steelers
Three days after taking a vicious shot to the head that left him concussed, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph was on the practice field with his teammates. Devlin Hodges took the first-team reps Wednesday as the Steelers began on-field preparations for their game Sunday night at the Los Angeles Chargers,...
Tim Benz, Kevin Gorman discuss whether Steelers would trade Mike Tomlin
Kevin Gorman and I wrap up Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin’s press conference at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. Boy, there’s a lot of meat on the bone this week, even though the season appears to have slipped through Tomlin’s fingers. * If the Washington Redskins really want Tomlin as...
Tim Benz: If Devlin ‘Duck Dynasty’ Hodges starts for the Steelers, just let him flyVideo
My expectations weren’t high. But I allowed myself to be pleasantly surprised. Hey, I can do that. I witnessed the Pirates win three whole playoff games back in 2013, you know. With my own eyes! I had a micro-level response like that on Sunday. That’s when Devlin “Duck Dynasty” Hodges...
Kevin Gorman: Steelers coach Mike Tomlin doesn’t deal in hypotheticals, just the truthVideo
Mike Tomlin says he doesn’t deal in hypotheticals, so he wasn’t going to answer any questions about how the Pittsburgh Steelers have fared without Ben Roethlisberger this season or how they might fare without Mason Rudolph this week. The Steelers coach is masterful at maneuvering through minefields, avoiding answers with...
Steelers’ Mike Tomlin ‘not worried about’ Redskins coaching job
Mike Tomlin sidestepped a question Tuesday about Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder being interested in hiring him as the team’s next coach. Two national media outlets put the Pittsburgh Steelers coach atop Snyder’s wish list after he fired coach Jay Gruden on Monday after an 0-5 start. Tomlin is signed...
Steelers’ Mike Tomlin says Jaylen Samuels could miss a monthVideo
It looks like the Pittsburgh Steelers will have their Duck on the field Sunday night when they play the Los Angeles Chargers. What they won’t have is the leader of their wildcat. While quarterback Mason Rudolph’s availability remains in question because of a concussion, hybrid running back Jaylen Samuels will...
Tim Benz: What it would take for Steelers to trade Mike Tomlin to RedskinsVideo
I’d do this. Would the Pittsburgh Steelers? No. Would Mike Tomlin want it? Unlikely. He shouldn’t. At least if football stability itself dictates his decision. For other reasons? Well, only he would know that. Since both ESPN and CBSSports.com are fanning the flames on this topic, let’s take a look...
Kevin Gorman’s Who runs the North? Ravens in control of disaster of a divisionVideo
The Baltimore Ravens are the best team in the NFL’s worst division. Mostly by default. Seriously, the AFC North stinks something awful. That the Ravens needed overtime to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, who were down to playing an undrafted rookie quarterback from an FCS program, shows the depths to which...
Steelers defense debuts new hybrid packages against RavensVideo
Among many previously unseen wrinkles the Pittsburgh Steelers showed during their loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday were a pair of defensive subpackages: one with three inside linebackers and another that featured three safeties. “Before, it was just (nickel and ‘base’ defenses),” inside linebacker Tyler Matakevich said, referring to...
Steelers’ Johnny Holton: ‘I didn’t do good enough’ on returns
James Washington’s left arm was in a sling Monday afternoon as he walked through the locker room at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. About 24 hours earlier, he suffered an injury to the AC joint in his shoulder during the Pittsburgh Steelers’ overtime loss to the Baltimore Ravens. While there is...
Mason Rudolph returns to Steelers facility, remains in concussion protocol
Mason Rudolph strolled leisurely through the locker room Monday afternoon at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex and talked casually with his Pittsburgh Steelers teammates. Less than 24 hours earlier, Rudolph was prone on the Heinz Field grass, the victim of vicious shot to the chin by Baltimore Ravens safety Earl...
Tim Benz, Mark Madden debate hit on Steelers QB Mason Rudolph, JuJu Smith-Schuster’s fumbleVideo
The players who have stepped into Antonio Brown’s and Le’Veon Bell’s shoes have fumbled things away for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Tim Benz and Mark Madden discuss the fumbling tendencies of JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Conner in light of the Steelers’ loss to the Ravens on Sunday — and Smith-Schuster’s overtime...
Earl Thomas faces fine, but likely no suspension, for hit on Steelers QB Mason Rudolph
The flag was thrown late — about four minutes after the fact — following Earl Thomas’ hit that knocked Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph from the game Sunday at Heinz Field. Thomas was penalized 15 yards for roughing the passer after the Baltimore Ravens safety’s helmet connected with Rudolph’s chin...
Could Steelers’ Devlin Hodges become the next Gardner Minshew?Video
They were born five weeks and about a four-hour drive apart in the South. Each stands 6-foot-1, set records playing in an “Air Raid” offense and was far from a coveted prospect in last spring’s NFL Draft. And now, it appears Devlin Hodges is about to join Gardner Minshew as...
First Call: James Harrison defends hit on Mason Rudolph, calls himself a ‘Steeler to the core’
In Monday’s “First Call,” James Harrison weighs in on the Mason Rudolph hit. The medical cart fails at Heinz Field. Marc-Andre Fleury is up to his old tricks. I beg to differ In case you didn’t get a clean look at the hit that knocked out Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph,...
Tim Benz, Mark Madden break down Steelers’ loss to Ravens, Penguins’ start, Pitt’s big win
We have so much on the plate in this week’s “Madden Monday.” Most of it has to do the Pittsburgh Steelers’ latest loss, this time to the Baltimore Ravens. Baltimore won at Heinz Field Sunday by a final score of 26-23 in overtime, thanks to a game-winning field goal by...
Tim Benz: Mike Tomlin’s OT call in Steelers loss was logical but lacked common senseVideo
Mike Tomlin’s decision to kick off to begin overtime against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday made perfect sense. If you are willing to ignore common sense. Which I am not. In case you missed what happened, the Steelers won the coin flip to start overtime, tied with their AFC North...
5 things we learned in Steelers’ overtime loss to RavensVideo
Five things we learned from Ravens 26, Steelers 23, OT. ••• 1. Wildcat giveth, taketh away One week after the Steelers used the wildcat formation to help produce their first win of the season, they got disastrous results in the rare times they tried involving running back Jaylen Samuels on...
Tim Benz: Much airing of grievances as Steelers lose to RavensVideo
JuJu Smith-Schuster’s turnover cost the Steelers the game. His overtime fumble allowed the Baltimore Ravens to kick a field goal and win 26-23 Sunday at Heinz Field. That’s an obvious grievance. Mike Tomlin’s call to defer after winning the overtime coin toss worked. By his logic anyway. But that decision...
Steelers’ Tyson Alualu lines up at fullback for play vs. RavensVideo
The Pittsburgh Steelers ran one play with seven offensive linemen during Sunday’s overtime loss to the Baltimore Ravens. They also again used the wildcat offense, and they ran a reverse off it. Defensively, the Steelers showed off some new packages, including one that featured five linebackers on the field at...
Amid injuries and 1-4 record, Steelers defense returning to prominence
After allowing an average of 442 yards over the first three games, the Pittsburgh Steelers defense has permitted a total of 452 yards over the past two games combined. That’s been needed, what with the offense down to a third-string quarterback and the record at 1-4 after Sunday’s loss to...
Steelers credit Marlon Humphrey more than blame JuJu Smith-SchusterVideo
First, it was Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin beginning his postgame news conference by crediting Marlon Humphrey for his “big-time play.” Soon after, guard David DeCastro was among the Steelers players who noted Humphrey’s “good technique” on his forced fumble in overtime that set up the winning field goal in...
Kevin Gorman: Devlin Hodges the only feel-good story for Steelers in loss to RavensVideo
Devlin Hodges had dreamed of playing quarterback in the NFL since he was a kid and defied all odds to become the backup for the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent rookie. His dream came true only after a nightmarish scenario as Mason Rudolph was knocked out cold when...
Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: Ravens outlast Steelers to win weird game in OT
The Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens don’t hide their hatred for one another in their AFC North rivalry. In this one, there was nowhere to run or hide. The Steelers overcame the loss of their starting quarterback after Mason Rudolph suffered a scary concussion that left him knocked out cold,...
