It was announced on Tuesday that the first game of 2012 NFL regular season will be played on Wednesday, September 5th at at MetLife Stadium as to avoid a conflict with President Barack Obama’s Thursday night speech at the Democratic National Convention. The Super Bowl XLVI champion New York Giants will be the home team of course and the speculation has been rampant as to who they will play. When you look at the Giants 2012 opponents that they will play at home in 2012, you will see that they are scheduled to host the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins, New Orleans Saints, Read more [...]

The Pittsburgh Steelers introduced Todd Haley as their new offensive coordinator on Thursday and here are a few of talking points from the noon presser. Mike Tomlin introduced Haley and said during the introduction that Haley brings some intangibles that he desires. He went on to say that he was impressed with Haley for his resume and love of the Steelers. He added that he did a lot of research and was really impressed by him. Haley took the podium and talked about how the Steelers are a big part of who and what I is after growing up around the organization and that in his mind it's the greatest Read more [...]

The Pittsburgh Steelers officially named former Kansas City Chiefs head coach Todd Haley as the new offensive coordinator on Tuesday in an announcement on steelers.com. The Steelers have had an opening at the offensive coordinator position ever since it was announced back on January 20th that Bruce Arians would not return in 2012. Haley, the son of former Steelers Director of Player Personnel Dick Haley, has spent the last 17 years in the NFL in some capacity. Haley said today in the statement released by the Steelers, "I am excited about the opportunity to come back home and work for a tremendous Read more [...]

Jason La Canfora reported last night that Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was looking into former Kansas City Chiefs head coach Todd Haley as a possible candidate for the open offensive coordinator position and now we have confirmation from Bob Labriola that Tomlin interviewed Haley today at the team’s practice facility. Haley, the son of former Steelers Director of Player Personnel Dick Haley, was hired to be the Chiefs head coach in 2009 and was fired late this past season. Prior to coaching the Chiefs, Haley was the offensive coordinator for the Arizona Cardinals under former Read more [...]

While not totally unexpected and certainly on the horizon for a while now, the Pittsburgh Steelers officially took two punches to the nose on Thursday as it was reported the veteran nose tackle Casey Hampton would indeed require ACL surgery on the left knee he injured in the Wild Card game against the Denver Broncos and veteran backup nose tackle Chris Hoke made his retirement official. Heading into the offseason, Hampton has been at the top of the list of possible players the Steelers will need to cut or restructure to get underneath the projected salary cap number of $125 million when the Read more [...]

The news officially broke this morning that Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Bruce Arians will not be back in 2012 according to a statement by head coach Mike Tomlin. With the offensive coordinator position now open I have put together a list below of the likeliest candidates to be the Steelers next offensive coordinator. Tomlin will be down in Mobile, Alabama next week for the Senior Bowl and there could be a few interviews that take place down there, but that is just speculation. Those interviews could include a few coaches not on my list below as well, as the Senior Bowl always is a Read more [...]

By Jeremy Hritz Right now, it still hurts for Steelers fans. Two of our most hated opponents will battle for the AFC crown that we proudly wore last year. And in the NFC, we have to watch the other hated Harbaugh and the Eli Manning-led New York Giants. While Sunday will no doubt be agonizing as it reminds us of what could have been, it is time to move on. And what better way to do so than taking a closer look at the 2012-2013 Steelers' opponents. Opponents’ 2011 Records: 103-105 (.495) 2011 Playoff Opponents on 2012 Schedule: 4 - Baltimore, Cincinnati, Denver, New York Giants Divisional Read more [...]

We are down to the last week of regular season games in the 2011 NFL season and there are still 3 playoff spots left up for grabs along with several other week 17 playoff scenarios. Their is also a lot left to be determined as far as some seeding goes as only the Green Bay Packers have locked up home-field advantage through-out the playoffs. The Pittsburgh Steelers situation I have covered before, but I will recap quickly. If the Steelers beat the Cleveland Browns on Sunday and the Baltimore Ravens lose or tie against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Steelers are AFC North champions and will get Read more [...]

We still have one week left to go in the 2011 NFL season, but we now have enough to go on to give you the Pittsburgh Steelers 2012 opponents that will be on their 2012 schedule. The only thing that remains to be decided is if the the Steelers will host the New England Patriots or the New York Jets and if they will travel to play either the Houston Texans or the Tennessee Titans. Should the Steelers win the AFC North on Sunday, they will host the Patriots and visit the Texans. If they do not win the AFC North on Sunday, they will host the Jets and visit the the Titans instead. Those are the only Read more [...]

I have compiled the Adjusted Net Yards Per Passing Attempt Differential Stats now through week 16 and the Pittsburgh Steelers have slipped down to 4th place in net differential behind the Detroit Lions, who shot up 0.29 this past week in their win over the San Diego Chargers. The Dallas Cowboys and the New York Jets were the two biggest sliders this week as the Cowboys slipped -0.47 in differential this week while the Jets dropped -0.45 in the stat. Despite their come from behind win over the Miami Dolphins on Saturday, the New England Patriots also slipped -0.25 in differential this past week. The Read more [...]

The Pittsburgh Steelers week 17 game next Sunday against the Cleveland Browns in Cleveland has had a time change. The game has been moved from a 1:00 p.m. EST kickoff to 4:15 p.m. EST start time. To add to the drama, the Baltimore Ravens Sunday game in Cincinnati against the Cincinnati Bengals has also been flexed the same way as well and will now start at 4:15 p.m. EST. The NFL utilizes “flexible scheduling” on Sundays in Weeks 10-15 and 17 to ensure quality matchups in all NFL Sunday time slots. Also being flexed, the week 17 Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants game on Sunday, January 1 Read more [...]

Mark Kaboly is reporting via Twitter that Pittsburgh Steelers starting right outside linebacker James Harrison is now back at the Steelers facility following his one week suspension for hitting Cleveland Browns quarterback Colt McCoy helmet-to-helmet back in week 14. The suspension to Harrison was handed down last Tuesday and Harrison has not been allowed at the Steelers facility for a week. Harrison appealed the suspension, but it was denied. The suspension did not keep Harrison out of the public spotlight as he has been very vocal on his Twitter account, that included remarks on several hits Read more [...]

The Dallas Cowboys game Saturday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was pretty much a laugher from the get-go, but two Pittsburgh Steelers players did not get a laugh out of the Cowboys final defensive play of the game. On 4th down and 12 from the Buccaneers 18 yard-line, Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman threw a pass down the right sideline to wide receiver Michael Spurlock, who had a step on Cowboys cornerback Terence Newman. The ball seemed to be slightly overthrown and Spurlock let up when he caught Cowboys safety Abram Elam closing out of the corner of his eye. The pictures below show Read more [...]

If you read my post on a regular basis you know of my fondness of the TOX stat and my new fascination with the Adjusted Net Yards Per Passing Attempt Differential Stat. Both are not new by any stretch, but neither are actively tracked. If you want to read up on the first post I did on ANYPPAD Stat I did in relation to teams making the playoffs and winning it all, just follow the link. Also here is the year to date of the stat last week as I will be tracking this for the remainder of the season. Below is the year to date Adjusted Net Yards Per Passing Attempt Differential Stats for all 32 teams Read more [...]

It has been a while since I checked up on the adjusted net yards per passing attempt differential stat so I decided to research it and post the results. adjusted net yards per passing attempt differential is the difference of the adjusted yards per passing attempt on offense versus that allowed on defense. To get a true adjusted yards per passing attempt stat, we use the formula explained in a book called The Hidden Game of Football. That formula, as explained on Pro Football Reference, is: (pass yards + 20*(pass TD) - 45*(interceptions thrown) - sack yards)/(passing attempts + sacks). We do this Read more [...]