Despite their win last Sunday night against the Chiefs, the Steelers received almost no help in the other week 12 games to get some separation as far as the 2011 playoff picture goes. The Ravens, Bengals, Texans, Patriots, Raiders and Titans all won, and unfortunately the Bills did not knock off the Jets. The Steelers can certainly knock the Bengals out of the AFC North race with a win against them on Sunday, but let's look at a few other games in week 13 that could certainly help the Steelers inch even close to a playoff birth. Browns Over Ravens - Yes, this one is an obvious one, but we have Read more [...]

The Bengals finally unloaded disgruntled quarterback Carson Palmer today to the Raiders for a 2012 first-round draft pick and a 2013 conditional first-round pick. Palmer had decided to retire this season instead of playing for the Bengals in hopes it would force a trade. Bengals owner Mike Brown called the bluff of the veteran quarterback and the Bengals drafted quarterback Andy Dalton this past offseason in an effort to move on from Palmer. The Raiders were up against the wall right before the trade deadline after losing their starting quarterback Jason Campbell to a broken collarbone this Read more [...]

Season 2, Episode 13 of The Terrible Podcast is up and David Todd and I get a great preview of the Baltimore Ravens from John Eisenberg of CSNBaltimore.com. John brings us up to date on everything that has happened with the Ravens from hatchet day when the team released Todd Heap, Derrick Mason, et al, right up to the Ravens practice on Wednesday. There is tons of back-and-forth and John provides some excellent insight into both the personnel groupings and formations we can expect to see from the Ravens on Sunday. This is one of the best team previews we've had, be sure to check it out. You can Read more [...]

Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley was a busy man yesterday and did a great job on NFL Total Access and you can watch most of the video clips here. Woodley says he did not vote in the Top 100 Players of 2011 the NFL Network is running and told fans during a live chat yesterday that he thinks he should have been rated better than 82 and that the Steelers were underrepresented on the list in addition. Woodley laid down the smack hard on the Bengals and the Ravens as he was asked about the Bengals outlook without Carson Palmer and the Ravens chances of going to a Super Bowl with Joe Flacco at quarterback Read more [...]

Below are some of my thoughts from round 1 of the 2011 NFL Draft that took place Thursday night. I certainly was glad to see picks come off the board in a timely fashion to get things going and the draft moved along at a great pace. I hope it continues today. The Bengals drafting of A.J. Green might signal the end of Chad Ochocinco in Cincinnati, but they still do not have a quarterback if Carson Palmer sticks to his word of wanting out. Green is a beast so the Steelers secondary needs to get addressed with a more physical cornerback today in round 2 to counter that pick. The 49ers pick Read more [...]

#1 - Let It Rain A Few QB's Early - Let's hope the Panthers start right off the bat by selecting Auburn quarterback Cam Newton number one overall in the draft and a few other teams follow suit other than the 49ers, Cardinals & Titans. There is an outside chance the Dolphins and Patriots could indeed draft a quarterback in round 1 and not only would it drop a few players down to the board, it opens up the possibility of teams trying to trade back into the bottom of round 1 with the Steelers to draft a quarterback like the three teams I mentioned above. The Vikings, Redskins and Bills are also Read more [...]

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin and defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau were reportedly present at the makeup workout day of Ohio State defensive end Cameron Heyward. Tomlin reportedly will be in North Carolina today at their Pro Day. NFL.com Senior Writer Steve Wyche has his latest mock draft up and has the Steelers now taking Derek Sherrod. As many know, I have been on that pick since the beginning in both of my mock drafts, Steelers mock draft 1 & Steelers mock draft 2. Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer seems a bit closer to trying to get out of Cincinnati as his five-bedroom, two-story property Read more [...]

Steelers Director of Football Operations Kevin Colbert had a Q&A session with reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine and met later with a small group of Pittsburgh beat writers in Indy covering the event. We will be compiling all the 2011 NFL Combine results as they come in complete with official weights and measurements. This is the 3rd year we have provided wall to wall coverage of the numbers. As expected, Steelers did not use the transition tag on cornerback Ike Taylor, but Colbert said Thursday there have been some preliminary discussions about a new contract before the collective bargaining Read more [...]

So much good can come out of this AFC battle should the Steelers win, but they will have to do it without All-World strong safety Troy Polamalu. The game is a near must win for the Jets to stay alive in the AFC Wild Card picture. This game will be a defensive battle for sure and points will be a premium. Below are what we deem to be 7 keys to the game for the Steelers to beat the Jets in week 15. Hunt The Hunter - The Jets will start Wayne Hunter at right tackle in the place of the injured Damien Woody and LaMarr Woodley must be licking his lips prior to the game. Hunter gave up 3 sacks to the Read more [...]

By David Todd Overview: After a slow start on both sides of the ball the Steelers put together a workman-like 23-7 win. The defense dominated after the first quarter, scoring both Steelers touchdowns, actually outscoring the Bengals 12-7. The offense did a good job of possessing the ball and moving the chains but continued to have trouble finishing drives. Nonetheless it was a good division win coming off an emotional national television win against Baltimore the previous week. Injuries: There were no significant new injuries reported after the game for the first time in weeks. Both Ben Read more [...]

Looks like Bengals linebacker Brandon Johnson took a cheap shot on Ryan Mundy on the final play of the game as Johnson blind-sided Mundy after the whistle and that started the fighting at the end of the game. Several Steelers players are up in arms over the no calls on Sunday as quarterback Ben Roethlisberger took several shots to the head yesterday. You can see post game interviews of Roethlisberger, James Farrior, Mike Wallace, Hines Ward, Brett Kiesel, Antwaan Randle El, Ryan Clark and William Gay. Dale Lolley gives his Post-Cincinnati thoughts and touches a little on the Steelers next Read more [...]

Both sides of the ball were very sluggish to start with and it was not the first time we have seen this. The defense seemed confused to start with how the Bengals were lining up the fullback, tight end and extra tackles. Once they got that sorted out after the first drive they calmed down. LaMarr Woodley got of to a rough start starting with the first 3rd down, but he more than made up for it. I do not harp on non-calls that much in these recaps, but the missed holding calls on Woodley and James Harrison were VERY noticeable. I might try to clip gifs of all of these as the week goes. They Read more [...]

There is no room for a let down against the Bengals after the hard fought victory last week against the Ravens in Baltimore. A loss this week, could cost them a shot at the AFC North title as well as a good shot at the home field advantage. Playoffs? Why am I talking about playoffs? The Steelers should not be worried about anything but treating this as a must win divisional game and everything else will take care of itself. They have to remember that the Bengals swept them in 2009. This game has to be personal for them and they must play as such. Below are what we deem to be 7 keys to the game Read more [...]

The month of November has started much like the November last season. After whipping the Broncos in week 9 last year, the Steelers returned home to lay an egg against the division rival Bengals to fall to 6-3 through 9 games. Things were still looking rosy at the time as the Steelers had the Chiefs, Ravens, Raiders and Browns as their next 4 opponents and surely they would rebound from the Bengal loss and go 3-1 at the very least in those 4 games. As we all know, that never happened. After losing the first two games of that 4 game stretch, head coach Mike Tomlin promised that the team would unless Read more [...]

That left side of the line was very scary mixed in with Maurkice Pouncey missing time. Mike Tomlin was getting tight end Matt Spaeth ready to play tackle. Sounds like Chris Kemoeatu might be sidelined next week. Too early to tell. I can tell you that Jonathan Scott does not get many snaps at left guard. He is not a great left side option at tackle or guard. Better on the right side. If the injuries keep up, they will likely need the Aaron Smith roster spot pretty soon. It is fine to wait for him if you have the space. Need to stay healthy. I bet Ben Roethlisberger wishes he had that one pass Read more [...]