Of Tight Ends and Long Snappers: Farewell and Godspeed

Via Steelers Wire, USA Today Sports

Well, I guess that sixth-round pick wasted on a long snapper isn’t looking quite so dumb. When the Steelers announced the pick of Colin Holba my husband and I were on our way to a St. George’s Day dinner. (Bet you haven’t been invited to one of those lately! It’s not in the same class as my sister-in-law, who has been invited to a garden party at Buckingham Palace* in a couple of weeks, but it is still pretty nice.)

But to return to the subject, I looked at the name, which I didn’t recognize, and then the “LS” next to it, and I said “Why on earth are the Steelers drafting a long snapper?!!!” Me and about 99.72% of Steeler Nation. (My guess is that the rest didn’t notice.) Between the announcement of the pick and crossing the Ft. Pitt bridge, though, I said “The Steelers must have concerns about Warren’s health.”

And if they did, they were correct to do so, as Warren failed to pass his physical. It certainly makes the pick less surprising. And as someone pointed out, it isn’t often you can draft someone in the sixth round and be fairly sure they will still be playing for you in ten years. All I can hope is that Gerry Dulac is feeling at least faintly foolish right now.

More on the Steelers’ Free Agency Moves, or Lack Thereof

Matt Freed, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

My husband and I had dinner the other night with some friends from our days in New Mexico. I was very much looking forward to the dinner and catching up with them, at least until they arrived and the first words out of Richard’s mouth were “Gosh, my team has been uncharacteristically active in free agency this year.” My heart plummeted as I remembered he was not only a Patriots fan but one of the smug kind. (Actually, those are pretty much the only kind of Pats fans I’ve met. Are there any other kind?)

It was too late to bail on the dinner arrangements, and besides the restaurant we met at is an old favorite, one that I seldom get to enjoy anymore, since it is now about 1500 miles away from my house. So I gritted my teeth and merely responded that I realized it was uncharacteristic, and assumed it must be because Bill Belichick has discovered some new loophole or other. Richard said “Oh, I hope so.”

He also offered me condolences on the AFC Championship game, which were, of course, completely lacking in any sincerity whatsoever. Luckily, I like his wife a lot, and she doesn’t care about football as far as I know.

Pittsburgh’s Goin’ to the Super Bowl: Ask and Ye Shall Receive

The title seemed appropriate to celebrate the news of Antonio Brown’s massive extension. And no, he didn’t get a new hair style, although I suspect he will, just to mark the occasion—he got a nice fat contract.

I expect if you are a betting sort of person you can find a site someplace in which you can lay down money on the odds of him committing even more outrageous and extravagant hi-jinks, now that he has $19 million in guaranteed money to tide him over, besides all the rest of it. We can only hope his post-season heart to heart meeting with Mike Tomlin at a downtown steakhouse included some equally extravagant promises of future good behavior. But in the end I expect what they mainly care about is future performance.

Because of this news it seems appropriate to address the wideouts. So let’s get this out of the way first. We just looked at the defensive backs and pondered why it is that the Steelers, who have come up smelling like roses in drafting later-round wide receivers, have generally smelled like something else in their drafting of defensive backs. goffthesloth left a very interesting comment on that post, which I quote in its entirety:

Fifth Quarter Report: 2016 Pittsburgh Steelers—Team Overview

via Steelers.com

by Ivan Cole 

The biggest question to be answered this past season was whether the Pittsburgh Steelers were, indeed, Super Bowl contenders. The answer is contained in the title of this piece. To make it into the fifth quarter of an NFL season, the playoffs, is always a good thing. They came within 60 minutes of making it to the big game.

There will certainly be those who will insist that this makes all the difference and is not good enough. But you won’t hear that argument in this space. It could be said that the fragility of Le’Veon Bell’s groin may have been the difference. Close enough.

5 Smoldering Questions on the Steelers: Post-Chiefs Pre-Patriots Edition

Shall we dance?

By Hombre de Acero

The Pittsburgh Steelers went into Arrowhead Stadium last Sunday and are now headed to New England for the AFC Championship game, thanks to six Chris Boswell field goals, stout defense and excellent special teams. But before we see whether the Black and Gold will qualify for a shot at climbing the Stairway to Seven, this corner of Steelers Nation must first answer these 5 Smoldering questions.

1. The Pittsburgh Steelers offense was revving between the 20’s but stalled badly in the end zone, to the tune of 0 touchdowns on 4 visits. What do you think is the root of the issue, and does it give you cause for concern looking ahead
?

Three’s a Charm: Steelers @ Bengals

It was a 2-chinstrap game…via Steelers.com

Wow! Three write-ups on one game! Well, it was that sort of game.

This isn’t going to be a literal blow by blow description, because ain’t none of us got time for that. There were plenty of blows, though, and most of them, or at least the questionable ones, were coming from the guys in the striped helmets.

Steelers and Bengals Present Their Greatest Hits

via Steelers.com

by Ivan Cole

What were your hopes and fears going into this latest edition of Pittsburgh vs. Cincinnati? Mine would include the following: A ‘trap game’ type vibe, the possibility of significant injuries to key players, chippyness, meltdowns and outright violence, and finally, black and orange tears along the Ohio River.

What we got with Pittsburgh’s 24-20 victory was all that and a lot more as, like some well-honed vaudeville act, Steelers v. Bengals gave a holiday presentation of some of their greatest hits, plus a few other goodies, as they struggled to an all too familiar conclusion along the banks of the Ohio.

5 Smoldering Questions: The Post-Giants Pre-Bills Edition

via Steelers.com

by Hombre de Acero

Eli Manning’s latest visit to Heinz Field resulted in the Pittsburgh Steelers first home win over the New York Giants since 1971, as the Steelers extended their winning streak to 3 games and improved their overall record to 7-5, which allows them to keep pace with the resurgent Ravens.

But before the Steelers can think of felling their winged rivals from the sky, they have a challenge to overcome on the ground in the form of Rex Ryan’s Buffalo Bills. As this corner of Steelers Nation anxiously awaits Mike Tomlin’s sixth matchup against Buddy Ryan’s offspring, we must first resolve these 5 Smoldering Questions on the Steelers.

Giant Relief: The Steelers Prove to be the Contender

via Steelers.com

In the opponent preview for this game I noted that both the Steelers’ last two victories and the Giants’ six-game winning streak were somewhat suspect because of the quality of the opponents, and that consequently this game would serve as a measuring rod for both teams. Well, the results are in, and the Steelers sure looked like contenders yesterday at Heinz Field.

There were a number of encouraging signs on both sides of the ball. Let’s begin with the defense, which has been the big unknown this season.

5 Smoldering Questions: Post-Thanksgiving, Pre-Giants

via Steelers.com

by Hombre de Acero

For the first time in 66 years the Steelers snapped their Thanksgiving curse. They did so in authoritative fashion, to the tune of a 28 to 7 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. Two convincing wins in five days, albeit over struggling teams, has led some to suggest that the Steelers have turned a corner, an important one.

The New York Giants figure to offer stiffer test this week at Heinz Field.  But before taking on that challenge, this corner of Steelers Nation must first answer 5 Smoldering Questions on the Steelers.