By Jeremy Hritz It’s never too early to talk about the NFL Draft, and it’ never to early to speculate about the direction that the Pittsburgh Steelers will go in the first round. While the needs on the offensive line are well known, there are some other positions that need to be considered with the 24th overall pick. The pundits have wasted no time in showcasing their 2012 Mock Drafts on espn.com and nfl.com. In looking at those projections, the following seven players have surfaced: Safety, Mark Barron from Alabama Defensive End/Tackle, Fletcher Cox from Mississippi State Guard, Read more [...]

We continue on with our player by player look at the Pittsburgh Steelers 2012 Free Agents and do a complete breakdown of their 2011 season and look ahead to their pending 2012 free agency situation. I am focusing on the restricted free agents first and this is the second player in that series. In this free agent analysis we will have a look at cornerback Keenan Lewis. Player: Keenan Lewis Position: Cornerback Experience: 3 Years Free Agent Status: Restricted 2011 Salary Cap Hit: $685,000.00 2011 Season Breakdown: After playing just 43 lackluster snaps in 2010, Lewis literally Read more [...]

The last episode of of Agree To Disagree with Bob Labriola and Mike Pristua is now up on steelers.com as they argue about the playoff loss against the Denver Broncos and try to predict if Joe Flacco will lead the Baltimore Ravens to the Super Bowl. Speaking of the Ravens, several of their players took great joy in the Steelers loss this past Sunday as you would expect. Who the hell is Arthur Jones and why is he talking? Hines Ward gave a very candid interview to Tunch Ilkin and Craig Wolfley yesterday and tells about his plans for the offseason that includes having some bone spurs removed Read more [...]

The questions are rolling in about the Pittsburgh Steelers 2012 free agents so I threw together a quick rundown of the restricted, unrestricted and exclusive rights free agents as the Steelers head into the offseason. The 6 restricted free agents will all certainly be tendered with only Mike Wallace receiving a first round tender. The other 5 will receive the lowest one year tenders. These amounts have not yet been released and I will post those amounts later in the offseason when they are made known. Both exclusive right free agents have no choice but to accept their tender offers and they can't Read more [...]

By Jeremy Hritz Sure, the ankle of Ben Roethlisberger is hurt. Probably even more so than it was last week. Yes, Rashard Mendenhall is done for the year, and possibly until October. Correct. The up-and-coming corner Cortez Allen is out, and Keenan Lewis, though he will play, is dealing with a hamstring. Combine all of this with the return of Doug Legursky and LaMarr Woodley, both who may still have lingering effects from their injuries, and what you have is a recipe for Mile High loss, right? Wrong. The Pittsburgh Steelers of 2011 are a team who have, won in the face of adversity and overcome Read more [...]

The Pittsburgh Steelers were back on practice field Wednesday getting ready to take on the Denver Broncos this coming Sunday in one of the two AFC wild card games. Despite finishing 12-4 on the season the Steelers must travel to Denver who won the AFC West with an 8-8 record as the Steelers earned the 5th seed because they did not win the AFC North. The first injury report of the week is now out and it shows that cornerback Cortez Allen (shoulder), running back Mewelde Moore (knee), linebacker James Harrison (toe) defensive end Brett Keisel (groin), safety Troy Polamalu (calf) did not practice Read more [...]

Below are the Pittsburgh Steelers coverage stats for their week 17 win against the Cleveland Browns on the road in Cleveland. These stats are broken down by play and include down and distance, line of scrimmage, direction, yards gained, yards after catch, personnel the offense used, defensive package, number of pass rushers and whether or not the defense blitzed on the play. Browns quarterback Seneca Wallace was 16 of 41 for starters, with two incompletions being spikes. Those are not accounted for below. He also threw for just 177 yards on the day. William Gay was the most targeted in coverage Read more [...]

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin met the media today for his weekly press conference in preparation for the Steelers AFC wild card game this coming Sunday on the road against the Denver Broncos. Tomlin previewed the Broncos on both offense and defense and updated the injury status of running back Rashard Mendenhall, cornerback Keenan Lewis, cornerback Cortez Allen, running back Mewelde Moore, guard Doug Legursky and linebacker LaMarr Woodley to name a few. Injury wise, Tomlin said Mendenhall (knee) is done for the year with his ACL injury and they are working towards specifics of when Read more [...]

Below is the defensive participation chart for the Pittsburgh Steelers week 17 Sunday game versus the Cleveland Browns at Cleveland Browns Stadium. The Steelers were in their base defense for 25 of the 58 non-penalty plays Sunday against the Browns. 33 plays in the nickel sub-package with Bryant McFadden replacing Keenan Lewis later in the game after Lewis suffered a hamstring injury. Rookie Cameron Heyward had 6 snaps in this game and they came at the right defensive end spot. Steve McLendon saw 3 snaps at left defensive end and none as a base nose tackle this week. No snaps for Cortez Allen Read more [...]

Season 2, Episode 64 of The Terrible Podcast is up and with David Todd busy tearing up the blackjack tables in Las Vegas, I have Nick Richetta back in the co-host chair this week as we recap the Steelers 13-9 win over the Cleveland Browns to close out the 2011 regular season. Before we get into talking about the game, Nick and I talk about the injuries suffered by Rashard Mendenhall, Keenan Lewis and Cortez Allen yesterday. Mendenhall is out for the season with a torn ACL in his right knee, but we do not think he was the biggest injury of the three. We explain who was and why. We discuss the Read more [...]

Ed Bouchette reports today that the injuries suffered by Pittsburgh Steelers cornerbacks Keenan Lewis and Cortez Allen yesterday against the Cleveland Browns are a hamstring and separated shoulder respectively. Lewis injured his hamstring some time in the second half and was replaced by cornerback Bryant McFadden when the Steelers used their nickel sub-package. Allen hurt his shoulder on a tackle during a punt return. Both Lewis and Allen are key special teams players for the Steelers as gunners and it looks like one or both could be in jeopardy of missing the AFC wild card game on Sunday against Read more [...]

Defensive back Anthony Madison reports on his Facebook page that he is back with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the announcement of the signing is expected to be later today. Madison has served three different stints with the Steelers and played in all 16 regular season games and the playoffs last year for the black and gold. Madison is known for his special teams play, but did get time on defense last year in some sub-package situations. His re-signing could indicate that rookie cornerback Cortez Allen might out a few games or even lost for the season because of the injury he suffered on Sunday Read more [...]

The Pittsburgh Steelers are in the playoffs and will play the Denver Broncos Sunday afternoon in Denver in one of the two AFC wild card games with the Cincinnati Bengals taking on the Houston Texans Saturday in Houston in the other first round AFC wild card game. The New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens both received the first round byes and are the 1st and 2nd seeds respectfully. The Steelers are the 5th seed and the Bengals are the 6th. The Texans are the 3rd and the Broncos are 4th. Should the Steelers beat the Broncos on Sunday in Denver, they will travel to Foxboro to take on the Patriots Read more [...]

The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Cleveland Browns Sunday to close out the regular season at 12-4. As I do every week, here are my deeper post game observations after going through the game tape a few more times. The sack by Lawrence Timmons on the Browns opening saw Timmons come on a delayed blitz and he took on fullback Owen Marecic. Marecic did not hold his block long and Timmons spun away back inside for the sack. Jason Worilds should get a little credit on the play for taking right tackle Artis Hicks up the field to open up the lane. Great tackle on Josh Cribbs by Keenan Lewis on the Read more [...]

The Pittsburgh Steelers had another close game to finish out the 2011 regular season, but they held on to beat the Cleveland Browns 13-9 Sunday at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger started despite his left ankle still not being 100% and threw for 221 yards on 40 attempts. He was sacked twice on the afternoon, but did not turn the ball over in the win. Wide receiver Antonio Brown finished out his spectacular sophomore season by hauling in 6 catches for 90 yards. Brown also chipped in 73 yards on 3 kickoff returns in the game and he went over the 1000 yard mark in return Read more [...]