First Call: ESPN projects Steelers to regress; Pirates' brutal upcoming stretch; remembering Len Dawson as a Steeler

In Thursday’s “First Call,” ESPN.com is setting the bar low for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2022. Tough times for the Pirates are about to continue. A trio of ex-Buccos pitchers are on the mound Thursday night.

And we remember Len Dawson as a Steeler as the NFL mourns his passing.

Stepping back?

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell picked the Steelers as one of five teams he thinks will regress in 2022.

The others were the Falcons, Packers, Titans and Raiders.

Here’s what Barnwell wrote.

“One of my favorite streaks in football is Mike Tomlin’s 15-year run of avoiding a losing record. The Steelers went .500 with Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges as their primary quarterbacks in 2019. The team’s reputation when it comes to drafting and developing talent requires no introduction. Tomlin is one of the best coaches in all of football. I take no joy in expecting the Steelers to break his streak in 2022, but this team has major questions on both sides of the ball.”

Part of Barnwell’s analysis is how fortunate the Steelers were to win close games against non-playoff teams a season ago. Like edging the injury-riddled Ravens with Tyler Huntley at the end of the season, beating a banged-up Baker Mayfield in Pittsburgh and benefiting from Jarvis Landry’s late fumble in Cleveland for a 15-10 win earlier in the season. Not to mention wins (or ties) against the likes of Chicago, Seattle, Denver and Detroit in games that were on a razor’s edge late.

I think Barnwell is right to point out those results. And I think the Steelers step back too. They were a nine-win team last year. I’m expecting eight wins at best this year.

Regression for the Packers and Titans doesn’t mean that much. They can both lose a few more games and still win their respective divisions. The Falcons stink. If they lose even more games than last year’s 10, who cares.

For the Steelers and Raiders, though, one extra loss could mean the difference between making the playoffs or missing them. For both franchises last year, quite memorably, that was certainly the case, all the way until overtime of the last game of the season.

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It’s not getting any better

Speaking of losing more, let’s talk about the Pirates.

After Wednesday’s 14-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves, the Pirates are now losers of five in a row and 11 of 13. At 47-77, their .379 winning percentage is better than only the Washington Nationals (.336) in the National League.

And it’s not going to get any easier.

That three-game series the Pirates just concluded against Atlanta was the first of six series in a row against teams over .500. Five of them are against clubs currently in a playoff spot. The Pirates won’t face another team out of the playoff mix until they play the Cincinnati Reds on Sept. 12. That’s 16 games from now.

The Braves are 78-48 after the sweep at PNC Park, a game and a half behind the New York Mets for first place in the National League East.

Up next, the Pirates are in Philadelphia for three games. The Phillies are 69-55, in the second NL wild-card spot, eight games behind Atlanta. They have won four of their past five games.

From Philly, the Pirates will fly out to Milwaukee. The Brewers are the only team in this stretch currently out of the playoffs. But, at 65-57, they trail the San Diego Padres for the final wild-card spot by 1 1/2 games.

After leaving Wisconsin, the Pirates will host the Mets, who have the second-best record in the National League (79-46). Then the Toronto Blue Jays come to town at 67-55. That’s good enough to be the second American League wild-card team. They’ve also scored 576 runs, the second-most in the American League.

Then the Cardinals visit the North Shore. They’ve won nine of 11 games and currently sit atop the National League Central at 71-53.

So things should be great over the next three weeks for Derek Shelton and company. Enjoy Thursday, Derek. Your team is off. So technically, it can’t lose.

A Pittsburgh connection

Many in NFL circles mourned the loss of former quarterback Len Dawson on Wednesday. He died at the age of 87.

Dawson was best remembered as a member of the Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs franchise. But Dawson got his NFL start in Pittsburgh, after being drafted out of Purdue by the Steelers in 1957.

But he only started one game and completed just six passes as a Steeler over three seasons. Then he went to Cleveland for two years and also struggled to find success and playing time.

Once he went to the Texans, it was a different story. Dawson was the AFL MVP in 1962 and won three titles in that league. After the merger, he was a Pro Bowler and Super Bowl MVP with K.C. in the early 1970s.

Dawson was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987.

Thursday trio

Three ex-Pirates pitchers start for their teams on Thursday.

Jameson Taillon puts his 11-4 record on the mound for the New York Yankees against the Oakland A’s. It’s been a struggle for Taillon lately. He has posted just two wins since the end of June.

Jordan Lyles pitches for the Orioles. He is 9-9 with a 4.61 ERA in Baltimore this year. He has just one loss in his last six outings. The right-hander faces Lance Lynn and the Chicago White Sox.

Then there’s Chris Archer. He’s 2-6 with a 4.06 ERA. His Minnesota Twins are in Houston. Archer has just one win since June 13.