Steelers left tackle Jonathan Scott did not have a good game against the Colts Sunday night, but he is off the hook for the second quarter strip-sack by Dwight Freeney that ended in a Colts defensive touchdown. Scott actually did his job on the play as he was run blocking and let Freeney go up the field. The sack instead goes squarely on the shoulders of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger as he has the option to quick pass on the play if he sees a corner playing off and the safeties deep in cover 2. The key is that he has to get the ball out very quickly in a 3 step drop to avoid an ineligible player Read more [...]

The Steelers finished their final on-field practice preparations today for the week 4 Sunday game on the road against the Houston Texans. The Friday injury report is out and as expected, guard Doug Legursky (shoulder), tackle Jonathan Scott (ankle) and defensive end Brett Keisel (knee) did not practice again and all three have been ruled out for Sunday. Wide receiver Mike Wallace (ribs), wide receiver Arnaz Battle (knee) and defensive tackle Steve McLendon (illness) all practiced fully on Friday and all three are listed as probable. Linebacker Chris Carter (hamsatring) is listed as questionable Read more [...]

Season 2, Episode 24 of The Terrible Podcast is up and David Todd is back with me today to do our normal preview of the upcoming Sunday game against the Houston Texans. We lead off with the Steelers injury report and the speculation that practice squad tackle Trevis Turner could be promoted to the active roster this weekend. We discuss who the Steelers might release should that indeed be the case. Chris Carter? Chris Scott? We then discuss the recent $15K fine that James Farrior received for his hit on Kerry Collins this past Sunday and how the league seems to be fining for every personal foul Read more [...]

Mike Bires is reporting via Twitter today that Steelers linebacker James Farrior has been fined $15,000 this week for his late hit on Colts quarterback Kerry Collins Sunday night. The hit by Farrior was likely responsible for knocking Collins out of the game with a concussion. Farrior was not penalized on the play. Farrior makes the second Steelers player fined this past week as wide receiver Antonio Brown was also fined $7,500 for a low block late in the second quarter while Colts safety Joe Lefeged was returning a Ben Roethlisberger interception. Unlike Farrior, Brown was penalized on the Read more [...]

It is time again to check in on the TOX stats from week 3 and the plus 2 stat took a little beating this past week as 4 of the 13 teams with a plus 2 TOX, lost. The Steelers were 1 of the 9 teams with a plus 2 to win this week. Through the first three weeks, teams with a plus 2 TOX stat in a game are 28-7 and that is right at 80%. I have updated the year to date TOX numbers in the bottom table and 12 teams have a positive TOX stat and those teams combined have a 23-13 record. If you need refresher course on what the TOX stat is, I have added the video again from Brian Billick from a few years Read more [...]

The NFL TV distribution map for week 4 is up and it looks like most of the country will get the Steelers Texans game this week courtesy of CBS. Ken Laird has the transcript up from his Thursday Q & A with Steelers offensive coordinator Bruce Arians. Arians talks about how many big plays he usually has scripted for wide receiver Mike Wallace and also discusses the offensive line injuries, the strip sack play that was returned for a touchdown and the running back rotation. Mark Kaboly reports that cornerback Bryant McFadden has been running some routes at wide receiver to really test out the Read more [...]

The hot news this afternoon after practice is that practice squad tackle Trevis Turner could be promoted to the active roster for the Sunday game against the Houston Texans due to injuries to Jonathan Scott and Doug Legursky. If indeed that does happen, the Steelers will need to either release a player or place one on injured reserve to make room for him on the 53 man roster. From a salary cap standpoint the Steelers will likely have to release a player with less than 4 years accrued experience as after week 1 the vested players base salary is guaranteed and thus still counts against the cap. Read more [...]

The Steelers were in pads on Thursday as they get ready to take on the Houston Texans this Sunday down in Houston. The Thursday injury report is out and it shows that wide receiver Arnaz Battle (knee), tackle Jonathan Scott (ankle), guard Doug Legursky and defensive end Brett Keisel (knee) did not practice again today. All four look highly unlikely to play this Sunday. Also added to the injury report today was defensive tackle Steve McLendon (illness) as he was out sick today. Linebacker Chris Carter (hamstring) was also added to the injury report today as limited on Thursday. Wide receiver Mike Read more [...]

Steelers beat writers Mike Bires and Mark Kaboly reported via Twitter this afternoon that practice squad tackle Trevis Turner has a good chance of being promoted to the active roster this week due to the injuries on the offensive line. Both left tackle Jonathan Scott and right guard Doug Legursky both seem doubtful this week due to injuries suffered Sunday night against the Colts. Both sat out practice again on Thursday. Scott reportedly has a high ankle sprain while Legursky is battling a left shoulder injury. As it stands right now, Trai Essex would likely get the start at left tackle with Ramon Read more [...]

Season 2, Episode 23 of The Terrible Podcast is up and while David Todd is headed out of town today, I get a chance to interview Nick Scurfield, the beat writer for the Houston Texans official website. Nick and I chat for 20 plus minutes about the upcoming week 4 game as the Steelers travel down to Houston and play the Texans on Sunday. I ask Nick about the week 3 loss to the Saints this past weekend to get things started and about the current injury situation after the Wednesday practice. We talk about the return of Arian Foster to the lineup and get his thoughts on the Texans on both sides Read more [...]

Mark Kaboly is reporting via Twitter this afternoon that Steelers cornerback William Gay will once again get the start this Sunday at left cornerback against the Houston Texans in place of Bryant McFadden. Keenan Lewis will come in at the outside spot in nickel packages and Gay will slide inside to the nickel cornerback spot as he has done the last several weeks. McFadden seems to have lost his spot altogether after being hampered all season by a hamstring injury. Kaboly stated that McFadden will not play at all so that could mean he will be inactive for a third straight week. According to the Read more [...]

The Steelers now have 3 games in the books and there is now enough data to start tracking the formation stats. The formations should not be confused with personnel packages. Personnel packages are packages by position, not formation. All of these formations listed were at the snap of the ball and after all motions. In the formations below, if a tight end or wide receiver was lined up as an h-back in the backfield, he was counted as a running back. On the flip-side if a tight end was not down on the end of the line of scrimmage, he was deemed a wide receiver in the formation. As the table Read more [...]

Perhaps the funniest play from the Steelers 23-20 win over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday night was the ass block on Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney by Steelers left tackle Jonathan Scott. The play best illustrates the type of night that Scott had trying to handle Freeney. On this play Freeney spins and Scott spins with him and tries to block him with his butt. Freeney then just shoves Scott into quarterback Ben Roethlisberger nearly knocking him to the ground. Please give the animated gif time to load below: Read more [...]

Season 2, Episode 22 of The Terrible Podcast is up and David Todd and I try to put the Steelers 23-20 win over the Indianapolis Colts in perspective. The Patriots lost to the Bills, the Jets lost to the Raiders and the Chargers beat the Chiefs by four at home. While things weren't perfect in Indianapolis, the Steelers still got the W. From there we get to the injury report and it's a bit longer than we've seen so far this season. Mike Tomlin didn't have a lot of answers at his Tuesday press conference, but we share our thoughts on how things might play out on the offensive line and some other Read more [...]

The Steelers got their first official practice of the week in on Wednesday in preparation for their week 4 game against the Houston Texans this coming Sunday in Houston. The injury report shows that right guard Doug Legursky (shoulder), wide receiver Arnaz Battle (knee), left tackle Jonathan Scott (ankle) and defensive end Brett Keisel (knee) all sat out out today and did not practice. All 4 players are highly questionable to play this week right now. Wide receiver Mike Wallace (ribs) was limited on Wednesday, but should be fine by Sunday. Wide receiver Hines Ward (not injury related), linebacker Read more [...]