SUBSCRIBE NEWSLETTERS
ADVERTISE| CLASSIFIEDS| JOBS| E-TRIB
HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS NETWORK TRIBLIVE LOCAL
Western Pennsylvania's trusted news source
First Call: Ravens Pro Bowler admits being exposed by Steelers; John Harbaugh hypes up late drive; Jaromir Jagr's latest exploits | TribLIVE.com
Penguins/NHL

First Call: Ravens Pro Bowler admits being exposed by Steelers; John Harbaugh hypes up late drive; Jaromir Jagr's latest exploits

Tim Benz
Tim Benz

Sponsored by:

Mike's Beer Bar
5712291_web1_ptr-MonFCBalt-121222
AP
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens takes the field before playing the Baltimore Ravens in Pittsburgh, Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022.

Despite a loss, the Steelers’ wide receivers are forcing a Ravens Pro Bowler to do some introspection. Baltimore coach John Harbaugh is gushing about his team’s game-sealing drive at Acrisure Stadium.

The Steelers are already underdogs for Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers. The Penguins have a stiff test at PPG Paints Arena.

And Jaromir Jagr continues to amaze. All that and more in Monday’s “First Call.”

Picked on by Pickens

One of the few bright spots in the Steelers loss to the Baltimore Ravens was George Pickens’ performance against Marlon Humphrey.

The Steelers rookie wide receiver put up 78 yards on three catches, burning the Ravens Pro Bowl corner on a few occasions.

He also drew a pass interference penalty on Humphrey in the end zone. Diontae Johnson got Humphrey for a big play as well.

After the game, Humphrey actually admitted his shortcomings on Twitter.

Johnson led the Steelers in catches with six. He also had 82 receiving yards. Humphrey had a team-high six total tackles.

That’s a … bit much

Ravens coach John Harbaugh had the right to be impressed with his team’s fourth quarter field-goal drive to give Baltimore a 16-7 lead.

It went 57 yards in 13 plays and ate up nearly eight minutes of game time. And it all happened with third-string quarterback Anthony Brown under center.

“That drive in the fourth quarter will go down in history as one of the great drives in this rivalry. It will in my mind, I promise you that,” Harbaugh said.

That may be some hyperbole on Harbaugh’s part, given how bad the Steelers are this year. But everyone is allowed to be a prisoner of the moment sometimes.

Of the 13 plays, Brown only threw the ball three times. One of them was a third-down conversion when the Ravens needed 4 yards and Brown hit Mark Andrews for 7.

Running backs J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards handled the rest, aside from one third-down plunge from Patrick Ricard.

Related:

• Airing of Grievances: Mitch Trubisky's interceptions, regressing run defense define Steelers' loss to Ravens
• Madden Monday: Just blaming Mitch Trubisky for Steelers' loss is the easy way out
• Steelers vs. Ravens: What they're saying in Baltimore after win

No lay-up

Any theory surrounding how the Steelers were going to make a late playoff push began with two givens.

The Steelers were going to have to beat the Baltimore Ravens without Lamar Jackson at home. And they were going to have to beat the 4-8 Carolina Panthers on the road next week.

But the Steelers couldn’t do the first thing Sunday. Now, that second element is very much in doubt as well.

Carolina upset the Seahawks in Seattle 30-24 on Sunday to improve to 5-8, the same record as the Steelers. While facing Panthers quarterback Sam Darnold may not seem daunting, they did just lose to the combo of Tyler Huntley and Anthony Brown from Baltimore.

What should be of significant concern is Carolina’s rush attack. They just put up 223 yards on the ground in Seattle. The Steelers just allowed 215 against the Ravens.

The Steelers have already been installed as two-point underdogs at BetRivers.com.

A star among Stars

The Penguins are set to host the Dallas Stars Monday night. That means they’ll be facing one of the NHL’s best at PPG Paints Arena.

Stars winger Jason Robertson has 42 points (third most in the NHL) and 23 goals (second most in the NHL). The 23-year-old had 41 goals and 79 points last year, totaling three assists against the Pens.

Of this season’s 23 goals, 17 have been at even strength. He’s seventh in shots with 122.

Dallas comes in with 37 points, good for a first-place tie with the Winnipeg Jets atop the Central Division. The Stars have 105 goals. Only the Buffalo Sabres (109), the Boston Bruins (106) and Los Angeles Kings (106) have more.

The team’s plus-24 goal differential is tops in the Western Conference.

Hockey haven

Here are a bunch of tasty tidbits from the hockey world that happened over the weekend.

• Former Penguins great Jaromir Jagr made his season debut for his Czech team. He is 50 years old, and he tallied two assists under some rather odd circumstances.

• Penguins prospect Tristan Broz scored an overtime game-winner for the University of Denver against Minnesota-Duluth Friday night.

• West Mifflin’s Logan Cooley had two goals during a 7-1 romp over Wisconsin Friday night.

The freshman added another Saturday night in a 6-4 win. The Golden Gophers are 15-5. Cooley has 25 points in 19 games, second best on the team.

• Former Penguins prospect Filip Gustavsson recorded his first NHL shutout with the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night during a 3-0 win over the Vancouver Canucks.

• Robert Morris alum Brittany Howard scored a hat trick and added an assist to lead the Toronto Six to a 5-2 home victory over the Metropolitan Riveters on Sunday afternoon.

On the men’s side, another former Colonial, Cody Wydo, has been named to the Atlantic Hockey Hall of Honor. The winger joins former teammate Zach Lynch as the second Colonial inducted. Wydo currently holds the record for most goals scored by a player in Atlantic Hockey history with 85 total career goals.

Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.

Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.

Get Ad-Free >

Categories: Penguins/NHL | Sports | Steelers/NFL | Breakfast With Benz
Sports and Partner News