The Steelers and Packers have one thing in common heading into their showdown Sunday. The Pirates will have plenty of company if they hit 100 losses. The ACC continues to muddle through 2021. And an ex-Steeler stood out on defense during “Monday Night Football.”
All that in Tuesday’s “First Call.”
Been there
The Steelers know a thing or two about wide receivers’ health issues.
Diontae Johnson missed last week’s loss to the Cincinnati Bengals with a knee injury. JuJu Smith-Schuster left the game with a rib injury.
Now next week’s opponent is in the same boat. Green Bay Packers pass catcher Marquez Valdes-Scantling injured a hamstring during Sunday night’s win over the San Francisco 49ers.
Via Packers Wire, head coach Matt LaFleur confirmed the injury Monday and said the Packers will do more testing Tuesday.
Valdes-Scantling caught three passes for 59 yards and a touchdown over 40 snaps. He set up a score with a 47-yard catch in the first quarter, and he caught a 12-yard touchdown on third down in the second half.
.@AaronRodgers12 with a dart to @MVS__11 ????
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) September 27, 2021
TOUCHDOWN! ???? #GBvsSF | #GoPackGo
???? NBC pic.twitter.com/djk8wxZuCi
But he missed the game-winning drive after leaving the field earlier in the fourth quarter.
Through three games, Valdes-Scantling has six catches for 76 yards on 16 targets.
Join the club
After a 13-1 beatdown from the Cincinnati Reds Monday, the Pirates now have 98 losses. So, if the Pirates lose two of their last six, they’ll hit the tragic 100-loss mark.
If they do, the Buccos will have plenty of company.
The Baltimore Orioles and Arizona Diamondbacks both have 106 losses already. And the Texas Rangers have 99 with six games left.
The Washington Nationals may come close. But they only have five games left and have 92 losses after a 5-4 win over the Colorado Rockies Monday.
Familiar faces
A few defensive players with familiar names in our region flashed with big plays during “Monday Night Football.”
Penn State product Micah Parsons had half a sack and a pass defensed for the Dallas Cowboys.
Micah Parsons
— NFL (@NFL) September 28, 2021
: #PHIvsDAL on ESPN
: https://t.co/sXVKWk2eYl pic.twitter.com/bTEhMZKbQK
And ex-Steeler Javon Hargrave had two sacks for the Philadelphia Eagles and six total tackles. One of them resulted in this touchdown for Fletcher Cox.
.@Jay_MostWanted starts it and @fcoxx_91 finishes it!#PHIvsDAL | #FlyEaglesFly
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) September 28, 2021
: ESPN pic.twitter.com/O1pZ2Z6X5B
Dallas went on to win 41-21.
Mixed results
On the positive end of things for the ACC, North Carolina State and Wake Forest both entered the AP Top 25 football poll at No. 23 and No. 24, respectively.
On the negative end, those are the two highest-ranked ACC schools in the poll. That’s after Clemson sank to 25th after losing to N.C. State last week.
North Carolina fell out of the poll after an unexpected loss to Georgia Tech and received just one vote this week. Boston College got 55 votes, Virginia Tech had 20 and Louisville had three.
Pitt didn’t get any. They open ACC play at Georgia Tech this Saturday at noon.
