First Call: Steelers won't love quotes from 49ers after opener; wild stats trending vs. Browns

You will not feel better about the Steelers after reading what the 49ers had to say regarding their win in Pittsburgh on Sunday.

There are some statistical trends that will pull you in opposite directions about this coming Monday’s game against the Cleveland Browns. And a potential option for the Penguins to sign is off the table.

All that in Wednesday’s “First Call.”

What did Samuel say?

After his team’s win in Pittsburgh on Sunday, San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy offered nothing but a tame dismissal of Patrick Peterson’s prediction that he’d get an interception because the 49ers offense has “tells.”

If there were “tells,” Peterson didn’t do much with them, as he failed to get a pick and was beaten for two touchdowns by Niners receiver Brandon Aiyuk.

Something that was not lost on fellow Niners receiver Deebo Samuel — as captured by “Inside the NFL.”

“(You) Left him there,” Samuel said to Aiyuk on the bench after one of his scores. “I thought he had all the tells?”

“C’mon now,” Aiyuk replied. “He ain’t got them.”

"I thought he had all the tells!"

The Inside crew breaks down the 49ers rout that had a little extra motivation for @brockpurdy13

Tonight 8/7c on @TheCW. Streaming free tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/AUlCrdSbfK

— Inside the NFL (@insidetheNFL) September 12, 2023

For his part, Peterson doubled down during his “All Things Covered” podcast with former Steeler Bryant McFadden.

“If you watch film, it’s on tape. Every offense, every defense in this league, in college, in high school, has tells. It’s just going to be upon the player to be able to execute his job when that formation comes about,” Peterson insisted. “It is what it is. I said what I said. I don’t take it back. Why would I take it back? I watch film just like everybody else, and everybody has tells in their schemes.”

We’ll see if Peterson can do something with the “tells” in Cleveland’s offense Monday night — whatever those may be.

They weren’t done

When it comes to the Steelers offense Sunday, it was so bad that the Niners were actually rooting for the Steelers to get a first down.

Why? Because the San Francisco offense was on the field for so long that it was getting tired. At least that’s the way Niners All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams tells it.

“At one point, you just kind of wanted (the Steelers) to get a first down. There were all those three-and-outs, and we kind of needed a break.” Williams said, via NBC Sports Bay Area.

San Francisco dominated the time of possession battle, holding onto the ball for 37 minutes, 23 seconds. The Steelers didn’t get a first down until 1:16 was left in the first half.

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Dueling digits

There are some pretty interesting numbers underlining the Steelers-Browns game coming up Monday night.

On one hand, in favor of the Steelers, they are enjoying a 20-game winning streak when it comes to Monday night games at home. That’s the longest such streak all-time. The Steelers’ last home loss on “Monday Night Football” was 23-20 against the New York Giants in 1991.

The Steelers did lose at home to Washington on a Monday in 2020, but that was a rescheduled daytime start because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Also going for the Steelers, it’s been 19 years since they dropped a regular-season home game against the Browns. That’s the second-longest home win streak versus a single team in NFL history.

Don’t forget, though, the Browns did win a playoff game in Pittsburgh at the end of that 2020 season as well.

Meanwhile, a trend working in the other direction is that NFL teams are on a 15-game losing streak whenever they play a game immediately after facing San Francisco.

That’s right. Every one of San Francisco’s opponents last year lost their next game — with the exception of the Kansas City Chiefs who had a bye in Week 8 after beating the Niners in Week 7, then beating the Titans in Week 9.

How is that possible? Well, first off, based on how the Steelers injury report looks, the Niners beat up everyone they play. Secondly, head coach Kyle Shanahan is extremely good at highlighting the mismatch holes and gameplan flaws of other teams.

So much for that

Former New Jersey Devil Tomas Tatar was viewed as a potential target for the Penguins to bulk up the middle six of their forward depth chart.

But that’s not happening now. The 32-year-old winger just signed with the Colorado Avalanche. It’s a one-year deal according to the club.

We have agreed to terms with Tomas Tatar on a one-year deal.

Welcome to Colorado, Tomas #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/MeXiq1DNLv

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) September 12, 2023

Tatar had 20 goals and 28 assists last year with New Jersey while playing all 82 games. Via ESPN.com, he is only the second player in franchise history (Patrik Elias, 2000-01) to record 20 or more goals and have a +40 rating or better. He led the Devils and was fifth in the league with a +41 plus/minus rating.

Tatar played his first seven years in Detroit before stops in Vegas, Montreal and New Jersey. He has 455 career points. The contract is reportedly worth $1.5 million according to The Hockey News.