Steelers Season Ends; Playoffs Thoughts, and the GPR

So, do we really need to rehash the Steelers 31-17 loss to Buffalo in the opening round of the NFL Playoffs this past Monday afternoon?  A loss that was exemplified by Bills' QB Josh Allen's 52 yard run through the Steelers's defense?

I think not, but I do have a thought to offer on that Allen TD scamper.

Remember the ACC Championship game of a few years back when Pitt's Kenny Pickett scored a similar touchdown run through the Wake Forest defense?  During the course of that run, Pickett faked a slide, which caused the defenders to pull up, which enabled Pickett to run into the end zone.  It was an act, the fake slide, that was considered so heinous that the Lords of Football outlawed it almost immediately.   Does that rule apply only to college football or is it applicable in the pros as well, because I could have sworn that Allen faked a slide on his run by executing a deke that would have made Sydney Crosby envious.

And how about that Bills receiver picking up a Gatorade bottle on the Steelers sideline and taking a drink from it?  If that doesn't fit into the definition of "taunting" and "unsportsmanlike conduct", it should. No flag was thrown on that one either.

Not that it matters, because the Bills were and are clearly a better team than the Steelers.   They are also a team that is easy to like, and I believe that my rooting interest will attach itself to the Buff Bills throughout the balance of the Playoffs.

As for the Steelers, one topic seemed to be cleared up fairly quickly after the loss when Mike Tomlin said that he plans to return to coach the Steelers in 2024.  A lot of the sportswriters in the area as well as the talk radio hot take artists have just been itching to fire Tomlin as this season went on.  Many seemed disappointed that that the team rallied to win their final three games and make the Playoffs, as it weakened their case against HCMT.

As for me, I am glad that Tomlin isn't going anywhere.  He's a good coach, if not a great one.  Who currently coaching in the NFL is better?  Bill Belichick for sure, and maybe Andy Reid, and a few up-and-comers (John McVey, Kyle Shanahan) may get to that level someday, but it's not a long list.  And remember this: when you hire a new head coach, you are far more likely to end up with a Nathaniel Hackett or an Arthur Smith than you are a Chuck Noll or a Bill Cowher or a Mike Tomlin. 

Oh, and one person who has not chimed in Tomlin's status is the guy whose thought matters the most: Art Rooney II.   We'll wait and see how that plays out.

One thing that Tomlin faces in 2024 is an up-in-the-air quarterback situation.   The same scribes and on-air gasbags who want Tomlin fired are also ready to cut loose Kenny Pickett.  "He's failed; he hasn't shown us anything" say the critics of Pickett's now 25 game career.

Back in November, I wrote THIS PIECE on Pickett that pretty much said that it is way too soon to pull the plug on Pickett.   Those same pundits who wanted Mason Rudolph run out of town a few seasons back are now calling for him to replace Pickett as the Number One guy.

My thought is that Pickett needs to remain as number one, but that a guy like Rudolph (if he's still here; he's a free agent who made himself look attractive in the final weeks of the season) maybe deserves a better chance to compete for the job at St. Vincent's next summer.  I also think that a first round draft pick like Pickett deserves a shot to be the first among equals at camp, and I most certainly want to see how he plays under the guidance of an Offensive Coordinator who is not Matt Canada.

As for the remainder of the Playoffs, I was positively delighted to see that two of the professional sports teams that I just plain do not like and could not bring myself to root for, the Cleve Brownies and the Dallas Cryboys both got absolutely throttled in their opening round playoff games.  Those games were fun to watch.

What remains are eight teams that are all teams that I could find a reason to cheer for.  I think that I will start off by rooting for the Bills.  They have a history of Super Bowl heartbreak, they have Josh Allen, who sure if fun to watch, and they have Damar Hamlin, and here are other reasons to root for the remaining teams:

• Baltimore: A Super Bowl win will only add more juice to what is already the best rivalry in the NFL, Steelers-Ravens
• San Francisco: Christian McCaffrey
• Detroit:  How can you not pull for a team that hasn't won anything since the Eisenhower Administration?
• Kansas City:  Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.    And Andy Reid's mustache.
• Green Bay:  Who needs Aaron Rodgers, plus they spanked the Cowboys.
• Houston:  The CJ Stroud story is a great one
• Tampa Bay: The resurrection of Baker Mayfield

With all that said, I leave you with the Grandstander Power Rankings as we head into the Divisional Playoff Round this weekend.

1. Ravens
2. 49ers
3. Lions
4. Bills
5. Chiefs
6. packers
7. Texans
8. Bucs

Is There Anything Better Than Steelers vs. Ravens?

 

Yesterday's matchup between the Steelers and the Baltimore, the thirtieth time that head coaches Mike Tomlin and John Harbaugh have faced each other (more on that later), a 20-19 win for the Steelers, produced an obvious answer to the question stated in the headline above:

No, there is nothing better than games between the long time AFC North rivals, Pittsburgh and Baltimore.  I remember on one Sunday night  game between the two teams, Chris Collinsworth said something to the effect that he could watch these two teams go at it 16 games each season if the schedule makers would allow it, and it is hard to disagree with the sentiment.  Yesterday's game was no exception.

The Ravens came in with an AFC best record of 8-4, and the Steelers were on life support at 5-5-1 coming off of two straight losses where they gave up 82 points and were soundly thrashed by the Cincy Bengals 41-10 last week.  The Ravens dominated the Steelers defense and the Steelers offense was totally impotent in the first half, yet Baltimore went into the locker room at half-time with a mere 7-3 lead.

The headline over Ron Cook's column in the Post-Gazette this morning said it all about what then transpired:

On this day, the old guy came through for his team

The "old guy" in this case was, of course, 39 year old quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.  He may be a shadow of his younger self, but he somehow summoned up a measure of his past greatness by producing 17 fourth quarter points and produced the 39th fourth quarter comeback of his career.  If an athletic performance can be defined as "heroic", Big Ben's game yesterday falls into that category.  If this is to be his final season, as was reported this past week, then it is a shame that yesterday's game wasn't the final game of the year.  A gutsy comeback win over the team's bitterest rival would have been a great way to walk into the sunset.  However, there are more games to play, and if the Steelers still have life in their playoff hopes, then it will be the sheer force of Roethlisberger's will that will get them there.  It might not happen, probably won't happen, but it will still be fun to watch down the stretch.

T.J. Watt, the team's best player and perhaps the best defensive player in the NFL, did not practice all week due to COVID protocols, but was able to play, and he dominated the game, with sacks and pressures on Lamar Jackson, including one on the Ravens' final play, the attempted two point conversion with :12 to play that would have won the game for the Ravens.  Watt forced Jackson's pass to wobble just enough so that his pass to TE Mark Andrews fell out of reach.

About that two point conversion.  After the Steelers took a 20-13 lead with 1:38 to play, the Ravens proceeded to march down the field and score a TD to make it 2019 with :12 left.  Baltimore HC John Harbaugh eschewed the sure PAT that would send the game into overtime and went for a two point conversion to win the game outright then and there.  It was a gutsy coaching call, and he is no doubt being second guessed all over the Inner Harbor today, but why in the hell not go for it?  And it added yet one more layer of lore and legend to the Steelers-Ravens rivalry.

Oh, and about those Tomlin-Harbaugh face-offs.  Yesterday, was the 30th time that these two coaches' teams have played against each other.  This is the most such coach-to-coach encounters in the Super Bowl Era, and the third most in NFL history.  George Halas and Curly Lambeau faced each other 41 times , and Halas and Steve Owen went against each other 31 times.  After yesterday's game, Tomlin holds a 16-14 edge over Harbaugh.    Tomlin's Steelers are 2-1 in post season games with the Ravens.  The Steelers have been to the Super Bowl twice (1-1) in that time, the Ravens once, winning it.  The teams and the coaches meet again in the final game of the season on January 9.  At that point, the game may be meaningless for one or both of the teams, but it will no doubt be another epic encounter, and I can't wait to watch it.

If you want a better write up on this game and the nature of this Rivalry,  I cannot recommend the Post-Gazette's Gene Collier's column in this morning's paper.  You can read it here. 

The Steelers and the 2021 Draft

Don't want to disappoint you, but this post will contain no letter grades or opinions as to how the Steelers "did in the draft."  I make no claims to any expertise that would allow me to do so.  No one actually KNOWS how these kids are going to do in the NFL - not Kevin Colbert, Mike Tomlin, nor Bill Belichick, let alone Mel Kiper, Mike Greenburg, Booger McFarland, or the "PM Team" blowhards on 93.7 The Fan - until they get to training camps and begin practicing with and against and playing against actual NFL players, so we won't REALLY know how the Steelers, or any other team, did in the '21 draft until sometime in 2022 or 2023.

Still, on Draft Day(s), you have to be optimistic.  Two days ago in this space I wrote of how pleased I was with the selection Alabama's RB Najee Harris with the Steelers first pick.  In the second round, the Steelers surprised (and enraged!) a lot of people by selecting tight end Pat Freiermuth of Penn State.

Again, I will put my trust in Tomlin, Colbert, & Company with this pick, and will also say that any college TE who carried the nickname "Baby Gronk" should - should - be well worth a second round pick.  Plus, besides Harris, Freiermuth is the team's only selection that I can honestly say I actually saw play and on whom I have a semi-informed opinion, and I remember liking what I saw when I did see him play, so bring him on!

After the second round, the Steelers had seven more selections and used them to select two offensive linemen (a position of need), two linebackers (can one or both of them become an "edge rusher"?), a defensive lineman, a cornerback, and, in a very intriguing selection, a 263 pound punter!

After the draft, the Steelers also signed eight undrafted free agents (UDFA) - two cornerbacks, two linebackers, two safeties, and two wide receivers.  I won't even begin to speculate about them, but I will predict that at least two of them will make the team, and one of them could be a special teams standout.  We can also all remember that Donnie Shell, who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this summer, was an UDFA, and we can all dream, can't we?

Like I said, we should all be optimistic after a Draft, but, realistically, of the nine dated players, if five of them become solid starters over a period of five seasons or more, and if at least two of them can become Pro Bowl caliber players, I am guessing that Mike Tomlin and the team will be more than happy with "how they did" in this Draft.

Steelers First Round Draft Picks

Today, January 29, 2020, marks the fifty-first anniversary of the day that the Steelers selected Joe Greene of North Texas State with their first round selection (#4 overall) in the 1969 NFL Draft.  Remember the newspaper headline of the next day: "JOE WHO?" Anyway, I would argue that this is the moment in time that everything, and I mean EVERYTHING,  changed for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Because of the trade earlier this season that the Steelers made with Miami for Minkah Fitzpatrick, 2020 will mark the first year since 1967 that the Steelers will not have a selection in the first round of the draft,  

These two facts prompted me to think of first round picks in the past, and that prompted me to do a little research (thank  you, Wikipedia!), and that prompted me to do a Grandstander Spreadsheet.

YEAR	NOLL	Pos	YEAR	COWHER	Pos	YEAR	TOMLIN	Pos
1969	Joe Greene	DT	1992	Leon Searcy	DT	2007	Lawrence Timmons	LB
70	Terry Bradshaw	QB	93	Deon Figures	DB	2008	Rashard Mendenhall	RB
71	Frank Lewis	WR	94	Charles Johnson	WR	2009	Evander Hood	DT
72	Franco Harris	RB	95	Mark Bruener	TE	2010	Maurkice Pouncey	C
73	JT Thomas	DB	96	Jamain Stephens	OT	11	Cameron Heywood	DE
74	Lynn Swann	WR	97	Chad Scott	DB	12	David DeCastro	G
75	Dave Brown	DB	98	Alan Faneca	G	13	Jarvis Jones	LB
76	Bennie Cunningham	TE	99	Troy Edwards	WR	14	Ryan Shazier	LB
77	Robin Cole	LB	2000	Plaxico Burress	WR	15	Bud Dupree	LB
78	Ron Johnson	DB	2001	Casey Hampton	DT	16	Artie Burns	DB
79	Greg Hawthorne	RB	2002	Kendall Simmons	G	17	TJ Watt	LB
80	Mark Malone	QB	2003	Troy Polamalu	DB	18	Terrelle Edmunds	DB
81	Keith Gary	DE	2004	Ben Roethlisberger	QB	19	Devin Bush	LB
82	Walter Abercrombie	RB	2005	Heath Miller	TE
83	Gabe Rivera	DE	2006	Santonio Holmes	WR
84	Louis Lipps	WR
85	Darryl Sims	DE
86	John Reinstra	G
87	Rod Woodson	DB
88	Aaron Jones	DE
89	Tim Worley          Tom Ricketts	RB OT
90	Eric Green	TE
91	Huey Richardson	DE

What you see are 52 players selected over the past fifty-one seasons (two first rounders in 1989), divided among the three coaches, Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher, and Mike Tomlin.  It should also be noted that these drafts were also overseen by three different Personnel Guys/GM's, Art Rooney Jr. (Noll Era), Tom Donahue (Noll and Cowher), and Kevin Colbert (Cowher and Tomlin).  

Okay, besides evoking a lot of memories, most of them good, what do you do with this info?  I decided to look at the picks of each Coach and see how many Hits and how many Misses they had.  Some players by my totally subjective reckoning fell in some nebulous middle ground and were "just okay."

So here you go:

CHUCK NOLL

Hits (12, or 50%) - Greene, Bradshaw, Lewis, Harris, Thomas, Swann, Brown*, Cunningham, Cole, Lipps, Woodson, Green.

Misses (7, or 29%) - Hawthorne, Sims, Reinstra, Jones, Worley, Ricketts, Richardson

Just OK (4, or 17%) - Johnson, Malone, Gary, Abercrombie

We'll Never Know (1, or  1%) - Rivera

*Brown only played one year for the Steelers, and was selected, to the Steelers dismay, in the expansion draft by Seattle, where he enjoyed a long and productive career, so he has to be considered a "hit" even though it was for another team.

Eleven of these players played in Super Bowls for the Steelers. Five are in the Hall of Fame.

BILL COWHER

Hits (8, or 53%) - Bruener, Faneca, Burress, Hampton, Polamalu, Roethlisberger, Miller, Holmes

Misses (4, or 27%) - Searcy, Figures, Stephens, Simmons

Just OK (3, or 20%) - Johnson, Scott, Edwards

Seven of these players played in Super Bowls for the Steelers. Three of them are probable Hall of Famers.

MIKE TOMLIN

Hits (7, or 54%) - Timmons, Pouncey, Heywood, DeCastro, Shazier, Watt, Bush

Misses (3, or 23%) - Hood, Jones, Burns

Just OK (3, or 23%) - Mendenhall, Dupree, Edmunds

Two of these players have played in Super Bowls for the Steelers (so far).

Right now I see two of these guys as possible Hall of Famers, Pouncey and DeCastro; and perhaps Watt if he continues to progress as he has over his first three years.

So what does all of this prove?  Probably not much, and the real lesson is that teams are not built by first round picks alone.  Steelers Super Bowl wins fell on the shoulders of many, many players who were selected in later rounds (Greenwood, Stallworth, Webster, Ham, Lambert, and Ward to name a few) and other Steelers successes on the shoulders of many, many other stars who came well after the first round, like Kordell Stewart, Neil O'Donnell, Antonio Brown and Juju Smith-Shuster, to name a few others.

I guess if there is something to be learned here it is that the lack of a first round pick in 2020 does not and should not spell gloom and doom for the Steelers next season.  There is at least a fifty percent chance that Fitzpatrick will be better than any college kid that they would have selected with that eighteenth overall pick in April.  If they come up with three or four good players with their later round picks,  guys who can start for them, things will be alright.

Oh, and just for fun, I did look at Steelers first round picks in the ten years prior to 1969, 1959-68.  The Steelers had traded away their #1 Pick in the odd numbered years in that period.  In the even numbered years, here were their selections:

1960 - Jack Spikes

1962 - Bob Ferguson

1964 - Paul Martha

1966 - Dick Leftridge

1968 - Mike Taylor

I have no memory of Spikes as a Steeler, but I think that he went on to some success in the early years of the AFL.  Martha had a good career as a Steeler, and Ferguson, Leftridge, and Taylor were colossal busts.  

One other interesting note.  In 1957, the Steelers did use their first round pick to select a future Hall of Famer, QB Len Dawson of Purdue.  In three seasons in Pittsburgh, Dawson appeared in 19 games, threw 17 passes, completed six, and had one TD pass and two interceptions.  Better days were ahead for him when the AFL came into existence.

Like I said at the beginning of this post, that pick of Joe Greene in 1969 changed everything for the Steelers.

Steelers 20 - Browns 13

In professional sports, all wins and losses count the same in the standings, statistically speaking.  Emotionally, however, it's a different story, and some wins are way, way sweeter than others.  The Steelers 20-13 win over the Browns yesterday was one of those, and we all know the reasons why.  To wit....

• It was the Browns, and it's always great to beat the heated rival from Cleveland.
• Those same Browns acted unbelievable chesty after their 21-7 win against the Steelers two weeks ago, so how great was it to see them humbled by the guy who, when training camp began, was the Steelers undrafted, free agent, training-camp-arm fourth string quarterback?
• The manner in which the Browns owners (Dee Haslam wearing that Myles Garrett stocking cap at last week's game), head coach (Freddie "The Buffoon" Kitchens wearing a "Pittsburgh Started It" t-shirt out in public, and at the Mr. Rogers movie with his family, no less), players (Garrett deciding eight days after the fact that, yeah, Mason Rudolph used a racial slur against him), and fans (the Mason Rudolph pinata in the parking lot last week), it all added up to making the Steelers comeback from a 0-10 deficit and sticking it to that team and all of those folks just so, so sweet
• (Browns owner Jimmy Haslam - Dee is his wife - was at one time a minority owner of the Steelers.  He obviously never learned anything about how to act graciously or how to effectively run a football team in those years that he was hanging around the Steelers' offices on the South Side.)

So the Steelers now sit at 7-5 and hold the sixth and final AFC Playoff spot "if the season ended today."  This is an almost unbelievable state of affairs given all of the circumstances that have surrounded the team this year, first and foremost being the loss of their bound-for-the-HOF quarterback at halftime of the second game of the season.  The Tomlin Haters, inexplicably, are still out there, but he has as strong a case to make for Coach of the Year as any other HC in the NFL this season.

And that fourth string quarterback?  

 Duck Hodges

Devlin "Duck" Hodges has now started two games and won them both.  He also came in relief in another one and pulled victory from the jaws of defeat last week in Cincinnati.  He has now developed a full scale cult following here amongst Steelers fans.  A colorful nickname and an underdog back story can do the for you.  I admit that I had no expectations for neither the team nor Hodges going into that one yesterday, which made the results all the more satisfying.

Of course, the season does not end today, so, what lies ahead for Rooney U?

•  @ Cardinals.  The Steelers should be favored in this one and should come away with a Win.
• Bills @ home.  The Bills are now 9-3 and had a coming out party on national TV against the Cowboys on Thursday.  When the schedule was released in April, this looked like a sure W, but now so much now.  Two terrific defenses going against each other.  Either team could win this one, but the final score might be 10-7 or 9-6.  Bet the "Under" on this one.
• @ Jets.  The Jets stink.  They lost to the Bengals yesterday, for God's sake.  This should be a W.
• @ Ravens.  Unless John Harbaugh decides to rest all his starters for the playoffs, the Steelers aren't going to beat Baltimore.  In fact, the Ravens could very well run the table right up to the Super Bowl in Miami in February.

The Steelers could, conceivably come out of this season at 9-7 or 10-6 and be playing in the Post-Season.  Would you have bet on that when they were at 1-4 with Big Ben out for the season?