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Steelers Report Card for Loss to Patriots — Self Sabotage at Gillette Edition

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Taken from the gradebook of a teacher sad to see his students self-sabotage, here is the Pittsburgh Steelers Report Card for the 2026 loss to the Patriots at Gillette Stadium.

T.J. Watt closes in to sack Derek Maye in the Steelers 2026 loss to the Patriots.

T.J. Watt seconds before sacking Derek Maye. Photo Credit: Karl Roser, Steelers.com

Quarterback
Aaron Rodgers went 23-39 for zero touchdowns and 1 interception. The interception wasn’t his fault; he got zero help from his receivers and he got even less from his offensive line, but even controlling for that, too many of his passes were off target. Grade: DSteelers, Report Card, grades,

Running Backs
Jaylen Warren had 11 carries for 43 yards and 2 catches for 35 yards. Rico Dowdle had 7 carries for 22 yards and 2 catches for 22 yards. Travis Homer had 2 carries for 16 yards. Decent numbers, but the running backs could not establish any semblance of a rhythm. Grade: C-

Tight Ends
Pat Freiermuth had 4 catches for 32 yards on 5 targets and 1 carry in the tush push. Darnell Washington had one catch for 7 yards. Hard to say the tight ends were part of the problem, but easy to observe that they failed to step up as part of the solution. Grade: D

Wide Receivers
Rookie Germie Bernard looked to be the one bright spot here, until he let a pass bounce out of his hands to kill a scoring drive when a sliver of a comeback chance remained. D.K. Metcalf had 4 catches for all of 27 yards – and that includes a 16-yard quasi garbage-time catch. Roman Wilson caught 5 checkdown passes for 28 yards. Ben Skowronek had one catch for 2 yards.

So watch out for those Steelers wideouts on those sub-five yard passes. They’ll get you every time…

…Ah, once again, Generation X Steelers fans are left longing for the days of Charles Lockett, Derek Hill, Dwight Stone  and heck, why not Weegie Thompson? Grade: F

Offensive Line
Where to start? The unit let its quarterback get hit 7 times, sacked 4 times, 2 of which were strip sacks. There were a couple of flashes of respectability in the run blocking, but nothing of any sort of consequence and certainly not early enough in the game when the Steelers needed it the most. Grade: F

Defensive Line
Cam Heyward had another tipped pass and 3 tackles. Derrick Harmon led the team in tackles with 9 and had half of a sack. If you exclude two long runs by Patriots running backs, the Steelers contained the run well enough to win. Grade: B-

Linebackers
T.J. Watt had a sack and a half. Patrick Queen hauled in an interception. Payton Wilson had a tackle for a loss. Alex Highsmith had a sack and three tackles for losses. All good. But Highsmith had an off sides penalty that gave the Patriots new life, and two plays later TreVeyon Henderson cut through the heart of the Steelers defense like a knife – untouched by any linebacker. Grade: B-

Secondary
No Patriots receiver caught more than 3 passes and only one sniffed 100 yards. Romeo Doubs did burn the Steelers for a 63-yard gain, but the defense held after that. Grade: B-

Special Teams
Chris Boswell was 1-1 on field goals, missing a 57 yarder but making a 56 yarder with room to spare. Cameron Johnston boomed off 8 punts for a 48.1 yard average and pinned the Patriots inside the 20 on three separate occasions, arguably making him the MVP of the Steelers offense. Kaden Wetjen and Eli Heidenreich had solid days as returners, but the same can be said of New England’s returners. Grade: C

Coaching
Let’s start with the positive. Patrick Graham’s defense turned out a “above the line” performance. Yes, his unit suffered two critical lapses but, to the naked eye, both issues appear to be correctable.

And everything we’ve seen and heard about Graham indicates he can and will make those corrections….

…If it were only so easy to say the same thing about the offense.

To his credit, Mike McCarthy manned up and took responsibility after the game. He went as far as to intimate that he’d seen warning signs in practice (something Mike Tomlin never would have done.)

  • Fair enough. The first step towards solving a problem is to acknowledge it.

The bigger question is now that he’s embraced the elephant in the room, what can he, Brian Angelichio and, perhaps most importantly, offensive line coach James Campen do about it? While no phase of the Steelers offense played winning football against the Patriots, the offensive line was worst of all.

Fixing that won’t magically make D.K. Metcalf win combat catches or propel Roman Wilson to do more than catch check downs, but without better play from the line none of that will matter.

  • Right now, that seems like an impossible task for James Campen.

But let’s remember that after the Steelers dropped a 26-6 decision to the Ravens in week 2 of the 2014 season, no one was calling Mike Munchak an offensive line genius. By the end of the season they were.

So there is hope even if it doesn’t feel like it today. But its up to McCarthy, Angelichio and Campen to translate that hope into reality – and they need to do it fast. Grade: F

Nick Herbig closes in during the Steelers 2026 loss to the Patriots.

Nick Herbig closes in. Photo Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images via the Lexington Herald-Ledger

Unsung Hero Award
He ended the Patriots’ first drive with a forced fumble, he had 3 tackles for losses including one on third down that wrecked another drive, forcing a punt when the Pittsburgh still had a shot at a comeback. For that Nick Herbig wins the Unsung Hero Award for the Steelers 2026 loss to the Patriots at Gillette Stadium.

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Steelers vs Ravens: Mike Tomlin’s Last Win and the Story of Three Kicks and One Basement

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Mike Tomlin’s final win as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers came on Sunday, January 4, 2026, when the Steelers defeated the Baltimore Ravens 26-24 at Acrisure Stadium.

  • It was a game worthy of story and song.

The win didn’t just clinch the AFC North for the Steelers, giving Tomlin his 8th division title. Mike Tomlin’s final win also created an unspoken yet palpable symmetry with Chuck Noll’s final playoff victory.

And that symmetry resonated across 37 years and brought together the two games through three kicks and one basement….

Mike Tomlin and Cam Heyward embrace following the 2025 Steelers win over the Ravens.

Mike Tomlin and Cam Heyward embrace at Acrisure. Photo Credit: Steelers.com Taylor Ollason

The Stage: The Basement @ Wendy Lane

I learned the game of football in my parents’ basement on Wendy Lane in Aspen Hill, Maryland. This basement hosted my formative Steelers moments.

I watched the ’78 AFC Championship and Super Bowl XIII there. A year later, by the time sat there and watched John Stallworth run 60 Prevent Slot Hook and Go to clinch Pittsburgh’s 4th Lombardi in Super Bowl XIV, the Steelers had been Super Bowl Champions for 60% of my life – I believed my older siblings when they told me Queen wrote “We Are the Champions” for the Steelers.

So…. Watching Steelers playoff games the Wendy Lane Basement figured to be a staple of growing up. I was wrong.

I’d have to wait until the 1989 Steelers confronted the Houston Oilers in the Astrodome to watch my next playoff win. It wouldn’t be until 2026 that I’d see my next Steelers “playoff game” in the Wendy Lane Basement.

This is the story the latter two games.

Characters: 1989 and 2025 Steelers, the ’89 Oilers and the ’25 Ravens

The 1989 and 2025 Steelers squads were vastly different. Yet during the season Steel City Insider’s Jim Wexell pointed out several similarities:

  • No one expected either team to contend for anything
  • Both Chuck Noll and Mike Tomlin faced withering criticism from fans and pundits
  • Both teams had been left for dead multiple times during their seasons – each time both rallied

The 1989 Oilers and 2025 Ravens followed similar arcs.

In the preceding seasons both the Oilers and Ravens had alternated between suffering upsets by the Steelers and inflicting humiliating defeats upon them. Both team entered their respective seasons as Super Bowl favorites, only to struggle once the games started.

The casts don’t align perfectly.

Mike Tomlin and John Harbaugh share a bond of mutual respect. Jerry Glanville actively disrespected everyone. Noll regarded Glanville with well-deserved contempt.

Finally, both Steelers offenses struggled to find their footing. Too often both needed bail outs by their kickers, Gary Anderson and Chris Boswell.

First Halves: Obstructed View Due to Delay of Game

The Wendy Lane Basement isn’t the only constant tying the two games together for this scribe, the other is delay of game.

…’89 Steelers kicked off at 4:00 pm on Saturday December 31st. St. Elizabeth’s was holding a double-header anticipatory mass taking care of both Sunday and the Solemnity of Mary Holy Day of Obligation. My parents may have been typical Pittsburghers, but no Steelers playoff game was getting in the way of going to mass.

“Tape it” they responded to my protests. Ah, but you couldn’t tape a game on a VCR and then catch up in progress they way you can with a DVR today – yes, you kids are spoiled.

Tim Worley scores a touchdown in the 1989 Steelers upset over the Oilers in the Astrodome.

Tim Worley gets the Steelers on the board. Photo Credit: Steelers.com

So I missed most of the first half, only tuning in on the radio in the car on the way home just in time to hear Jerry Olsavsky’s blocked punt that set up Tim Worley’s touchdown….

  • The Steelers-Ravens started late also started late for me.

I wanted to watch the game without disrupting dinner, so I set the DVR, shifted my phone to airplane mode and enjoyed the meal. After dinner, I helped my parents set up the upstairs TV to get Netflix – which took some time.

By the time I decended into the Wendy Lane Basement to tune in for the opening kickoff, the first half was ending in real time, but I was blissfully oblivious to anything that had happened – or would be to come.

I watched the first half alone with my wife checking in occasionally, as the ’25 Steelers offense duitfully followed the template it laid for itself during the season – it struggled settling for a lone 57 yard Chris Boswell field goal for its only points.

Nick Herbig sacks Lamar Jackson in the 2025 Steelers win over the Ravens at Acrisure Stadium.

Nick Herbig sacks Lamar Jackson. Photo Credit: Alyisa Rubin, Steelers.come

Yet sacks by Nick Herbig and Derrick Harmon snuffed out promising Ravens’ drives.

…All good storytellers weave foreshadowing into their tales. Foreshadowing is particularly potent when its wielded by authors of football games. The 1989 Steelers offense sputtered for most of the first half, while the defense held the Oilers in check, limiting them to 2 Tony Zendejas field goals.

Merril Hoge runs through the middle of the Oilers defense as Bubby Brister watches and Tunch Ilkin blocks in the 1989 Steelers AFC Wild Card Upset of the Houston Oilers.

Merril Hoge storms through Houston’s defense. Photo Credit: RVR Photos, Imagn Images via Athlon Sports

Yet, late in the 2nd quarter, Tom Moore’s unit stitched together its first long drive, highlighted by Merril Hoge blasting through the middle of Houston’s defense on a 49 yard run and punctuated by a Gary Anderson field goal just after the two-minute warning….

The ’25 Steelers came alive in the 2nd quarter’s final three minutes, marching 89 yards down the field. They came close to tying the game, but Baltimore scuttled a Kenneth Gainwell goal line run as time expired.

The 2025 Steelers had opted to go for it all and closed their first half down by 10-3, their 1989 predecessors elected to kick and took a 10-6 lead into the locker room.

3rd Quarters Then and Now

We got home at half time, allowing me to tune in for the beginning of the third quarter. I sat in the Wendy Lane basement alone, eating Pizza Hut Pizza and drinking a diet Minute Made Orange Soda. In 2026, my wife had been upstairs during the first half, but joined me for the second.

…The third quarter of the 1989 AFC Wild Card game resembled the first two – a tight, defensively dominated battle featuring with Gary Anderson and Tony Zendejas exchanging field goals.

The ’89 Steelers offense looked every bit as the unit that finished 28th in the NFL, the defense, led by stars such as Rod Woodson, Greg Lloyd and Carnell Lake kept a lid on the Oilers high-octane offense.

Gary Anderson closed the third quarter in 1989 with a 30-yard field goal, putting Pittsburgh up 13-9…

My wife got to see a different Steelers offense in the third quarter. Aaron Rodgers led a methodical, workman-like drive featuring tough runs by Jaylen Warren supplemented by a deep pass to Adam Thielen that set up Connor Heyward’s Steel City Shove touchdown.

Connor Heyward scores a touchdown during the 2025 Steelers win over the Ravens at Acrisure.

Connor Heyward ties the game on the Steel City Shove. Photo Credit: Taylor Ollason, Steelers.com

Three plays later, T.J. Watt intercepted Lamar Jackson. The Steelers reached Baltimore’s 2, but had to settle for a Boswell field goal.

The ’89 Steelers closed their third quarter holding a 13-9 lead, the ’25 Steelers closed their third period with a 13-10 lead.

Bubby Brister an Derek Hill during the 1989 Steelers AFC Wild Card upset of the Houston Oilers at the Astrodome.

Bubby Brister. Fixing to come unglued…. Photo Credit: Steelers.com

The first 45 minutes of both games had been pretty quiet in the scoring department, but to paraphrase Bubby Brister’s comments made in a different context – both offenses were fixing to come unglued.

4th Quarter Fireworks

…Gary Anderson opened the 4th quarter for the ’89 Steelers with a 48-yard field goal that, quite frankly, split the uprights dead center with at least 10 yards to spare. But that only gave the Steelers 7 point lead, and Warren Moon was cocking Houston’s “Red Gun Offense” preparing to fire.

The Houston Oilers of the late 80’s had a wealth of talent that’s impossible to assemble in the free agency era, featuring 2 if not 3 starter-capable running backs and four or 5 Pro Bowl caliber wide receivers.

Rod Rust’s 1989 Steelers defense had gone toe-to-toe with them for 3 quarters, but Moon and the Oilers found the end zone five minutes into the 4th quarter.

But as ESPN’s Tom Jackson was wont to say, “You can’t hope to stop Houston’s offense, you can only hope to contain it.” Technically, the Steelers defense was still “containing” Houston’s offense, but the Oilers had just tied the game….

Similarly, the ’25 Steelers defense had contained the Ravens offense for the first 45 minutes. This is signfigant:  In the 2024 playoffs, the Ravens hadn’t just beaten the Steelers, they’d ridiculed them, calling into question the franchise’s core defensive philosophy.

If Mike Tomlin and his staff learned anything from that debacle it was this: Never let Derrick Henry or Lamar Jackson reach the 2nd level.

Midway through the 4th quarter, the Ravens had a 3rd and 4 – the Steelers defense sold out to stop the run, and Jackson made them pay with his arm, hitting Zay Flowers for a 50-yard touchdown, putting Baltimore up by 4 with 8:42 remaining.

  • Coincidentally, or not, my wife had left the basement, missing the entire series.

She returned in time to see Jaylen Warren rip off a 15 yard run, and a deep, 31-yard strike to Pat Freiermuth that set up another Kenneth Gainwell goal line run that this time hit pay dirt, putting the Steelers up by three.

…After the Oilers tied the game, the Steelers offense lost 3 yards on first down and then threw 2 incompletions, going three and out. Worse yet, Harry Newsome shanked his punt, giving Houston the ball at Pittsburgh’s 38. Despite a false start by Mike Munchak, Warren Moon only needed 5 plays to find Ernest Givens in the end zone to give the Oilers a 7-point lead with just six minutes remaining.

The 1989 Steelers could neither contain nor stop the Oilers offense it seemed….

After Gainwell’s TD, my wife stepped out of the Wendy Lane Basement to check on the laundry. Coincidentally, or not, the Ravens quickly found themselves in a 3rd and 1. Again, the Steelers sold out to stop the run. Again, Lamar Jackson burned them through the air, hitting Zee Flowers for a 64-yard touchdown.

With 2:20 remaining, the Ravens were up by 7. From the laundry room my wife heard and encouraged me not to give up hope.

…With 6:10 remaining, the Bubby Brister and 1989 Steelers offense authored a drive worthy of Bradshaw before him or Roethlisberger after him.

Driven by a belief-in-self that bordered on naiveté and with gritty plays by Louis Lipps, Tim Worley, an amazing reverse by Dwight Stone, Brister moved the team down the field. With 1:03 remaining, he looked to Merri Hoge twice, once for 8 yardrs and another for 1 and the tying touchdown.

Merril Hoge scores the tying touchdown for the Steelers against the Oilers in the 1989 AFC Wild Card playoff game at the Houston Astrodome.

Merril Hoge crosses the goal line with the tying touchdown during Pittsburgh’s stunning 1989 playoff upset of Houston in the Astrodome. Photo Credit: Twitter

“Did the Steelers win?” my mom asked from upstairs. “No, mom, but they tied the game.”

The Oilers offense was still dangerous, yet on 3rd and 5 they were only at their 25, when Greg Lloyd appeared to have won the game, with a strip-sack, fumble recovery and touchdown on Warren Moon.

“Did the Steelers win?” my mom asked again.

Alas, they did not.

The Steelers had too many men on the field. Houston had one more chance, but Moon’s next pass to Haywood Jefferies fell incomplete. The 1989 Steelers would have to win this one in overtime….

When my wife returned from the laundry room, she asked if the Steelers had scored. I said, “I don’t know, I’m waiting for you to watch.” Yes, the game had been over for at least an hour, but I wasn’t taking any chances.

There’s a reason why Mike Tomlin wanted and waited for Aaron Rodgers, and the world saw it in the final two minutes of the Steelers-Ravens game at Acrisure. Rodgers moved the team deftly, hitting on 3 of 4 passes getting the Steelers to Baltimore’s 26 with just over a minute to go.

In the huddle, Calvin Austin and Rodgers agreed that they’d seen something from Ravens corner Chiode Awuzie. Austin ran a hitch and go route and sure enough Awuzie slipped when Austin feigned breaking off his route, a few steps later he was in the end zone, putting the Steelers up by 2.

Calvin Austin catches to go ahead touchdown pass during the 2025 Steelers regular season finale win over the Ravens. As fate would have it it was the last touchdown of the Mike Tomlin era.

Calvin Austin catches the go ahead touchdown and the last touchdown of Mike Tomlin’s last win with the Steelers . Photo Credit: Karl Roser, Steelers.com

“Did the Steelers win?” my dad inquired from upstairs. “No, but they’re ahead.” They were. But 1:00 minute still remained.

3 Kicks 37 Years Apart Find Each Other in One Basement

…The ’89 Steelers won the toss to start overtime. That gave them a decisive advantage because the NFL had sudden death overtime in those days.

Unfortunately, the Steelers offense only managed a single one-ard run by Merril Hoge and two incomplete passes. Worse yet, Harry Newsome, the team’s rookie of the year just three years earlier and then regarded as one of the NFL’s best, shanked another punt, this one going for just 26 yards….

Chris Boswell is one of the NFL’s best kickers. Time and time again, he’s delivered under pressure to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat for Mike Tomlin and the Steelers. An extra point should be automatic. And for Boswell, it normally is.

Except this time it wasn’t.

A Raven got a hand on it and the kick hooked to the right, falling outside the cross bar. That left the Steelers with a 2 point win; Baltimore now only needed a field goal to win.

And the two time NFL MVP had almost a full minute and 3 timeouts to put his team in position.

…Taking over at Pittsburgh’s 45 meant the Oilers were almost in field goal range. Jerry Glanville opted to play it safe, sending out a split backfield instead of the Red Gun. Running back Lorenzo White got the ball and broke to the weak side.

As he reached the line of scrimmage Tim Johnson and Greg Lloyd made contact – White wasn’t going to turn the corner and the Steelers would “contain” him on this carry. But future Hall of Famer Rod Woodson had other ideas, breaking his coverage and shooting towards White:

 

As the video courtesy of Steel City Star illustrates, Woodson didn’t contain the Oilers offense, he stopped it. Cold.

Just as he’d done at the end of the 2nd quarter, Merrill Hoge took the next carry and exploded through the Oilers front seven dragging defenders with him.. Hoge “only” gained 11 yards, but he brought bringing the Steelers to Houston’s 35.

Tim Worley tacked on two more yards, but then the drive stalled. Chuck Noll had a choice – attempt a 50 yard field goal or punt….

The Steelers special teams did the Ravens another favor – they allowed a long return, giving Baltimore the ball at midfield. The Steelers defense held – for the first 3  plays. Then, on 4th and 7, Jackson found  Isaiah Likely for 26 yards, who reached the Pittsburgh’s 24. A kneel down put them back to the 26 – the clock ticked to two seconds; the Steelers with no timeouts could only watch and wait.

…I think it was Tunch Ilkin who said that Noll initially started to send out the punt team but Rod Rust warned him off saying his defense was too winded and to try the field goal.Video doesn’t support that, as the kicking team took the field immedately.

The only thing Jerry Glanville could do, was to try to psych Gary Anderson out. He called a time out. Gary Anderson waited calmly, deciding to dedicate his forthcoming kick to his ailing father…

Tyler Loop came to Baltimore tasked with the role of replacing Justin Tucker, the NFL’s best kicker. He needed to make a 44 yard field goal. He’d been perfect from under 40 during the season and 8 of 9 from between 40 and 49 yards.

…When the timeout expired George Stewart’s special teams got into formation, snapped the ball, Gary Anderson’s foot hit the ball, it sailed straight ahead and split the uprights with 10 yards to spare.

With Harry Newsom holding, Gary Anderson kicks the game-winning overtime field goal for the Steelers against the Oilers in the 1989 AFC Wild Card playoff game at the Houston Astrodome.

Gary Anderson’s overtime field goal completes the 1989 Steelers’ stunning playoff upset of the Oilers at the Astrodome. Photo credit: Richard Jackson, US PRESSWIRE

“Yes!” “Yes!” “Yes!”

“Did the Steelers win?” my mom asked from upstairs, “YES!” “Gary Anderson made the field goal in overtime!” After starting the seaosn losing thier first two games 92-10, and suffering 3 shutouts, the 1989 Steelers had just gone into the Astrodome and upset the Oilers, fulfilling Bubby Brister’s promise to “Shock the world….”

Sitting in the adjacent couch, my wife assured me, “Its not over sweetheart.” 6000 miles and an hour and a half before, Sarah watching her first Steelers game end-to-end in the town of Maschwitz , in the Province of Buenos Aires, told Gustavo, “El Dr. De Acero” “…Bueno, si lo tyuo puede fallar, esto tambien puede fallar,” [If your kicker missed, so can theirs.]

 

Loop got a good snap, and his foot made good contact with the ball – it clearly had the length and began with the trajectory, but then hooked wide right — its almost as if the Terrible Towel twirling knocked it off course.

“Yes!” my wife cheered. “Did the Steelers win?” my dad inquired from upstairs.

“Yes they won, Baltimore missed the kick!”

Mike Tomlin celebrates while Keeanu Benton looks on after the 2025 Steelers season-ending win over the Ravens

Mike Tomlin celebrates his final win with the Steelers. Photo Credit: Jared Wickerham, Steelers.com

In a year when most experts assured us he was doomed to suffer his first losing season and perhaps even finish last in the AFC North, Mike Tomlin had just won the division.

And that’s the story of how three kicks in one basement spread out over 37 years unite 2 Steelers wins.

Denouement: Chuck Noll’s Last Playoff Win, Mike Tomlin’s Last Win

“This team is headed up” explained Chuck Noll during the playoffs. Although they lost the next week in Denver — coming within a bad snap and a dropped pass of upsetting the eventual AFC Champions — Noll’s logic seemed sound. But the only thing Noll would climb up was Walton’s Mountain – his decision to hire Joe Walton to replace Tom Moore proved to be a critical mistake.

He went 16-16 over the next two seasons and retired. The ’89 Steelers upset at the Astrodome was Noll’s final playoff victory.

Mike Tomlin’s Steelers would host, wait for it, the Houston Texans the next week in Pittsburgh, losing 30-6. The game was actually closer than the lopsided score suggests – the Steelers defense did a tremendous job limiting the Texans who logged 2 defensive scores and their offense added a garbage time touchdown in the 4th quarter.

  • The Steelers offense lacked a WR No. 2 and their line needed another year of maturity.

Be that as it may, a day later, Mike Tomlin decided it was time to hang it up.

I didn’t watch either of then ensuring games in the Wendy Lane Basement. I saw the 1989 Steelers playoff loss to the Broncos at my sister’s apartment in White Marsh, Maryland. I watched the ’25 Steelers playoff loss to the Texans at Hibernia Bar in New York City.

  • Would the outcomes have changed had I watched either in the Wendy Lane Basement?

We’ll never know. But I do know one thing: IF either game had come down to a final kick, I’d have liked our chances….

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Cordarrelle Patterson Cut. Did Arthur Smith Bring “False Friends” to the Steelers?

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When news broke that the Steelers cut Cordarrelle Patterson earlier this week observers the reaction of many was, “What took them so long?”

Cordarelle Patterson, Steelers vs Colts

Cordarrelle Patterson runs against the Colts. Photo Credit: AP Photo/Michael Conroy

They may be right – I think the Steelers were probably wise to bring him to camp, but my conclusions track in a different direction. Namely that the Cordarrelle Patterson experiment highlights the dangers of “False Friends” in NFL roster building.

Let’s clarify something important here: Using “False Friends” to describe Cordarrelle Patterson or the other players soon to be mentioned, says nothing about their character, work ethnic or presence in the locker room.

  • Rather, “False Friends” in this context is a concept borrowed from second language acquisition.

Take the words “assist” and “asistir” in English and Spanish. In my first week living in Buenos Aires, Mari my Argentine “aunt” asked me, “Te vas a asistir la clase de Jose Luis hoy?”

Although I was planning to make an appearance at my friend Jose Luis’ English class that afternoon, I responded, “No. Si voy, pero no voy a asistir.” thinking she was asking me if I was planning on helping her son teach the class.

This thoroughly confused Mari, who spoke no English and had many, many virtues — none of which was patience, because “asistir” in Spanish means “attend.” There’s a strong chance I further confounded her by saying something like, “Si. Voy a attender us clase, pero no voy a asistir.” (“Attender” in Spanish sort of means to “help” someone, but I was using it completely out of context.)

The concept of “False Friends” applies here due to Patterson’s relationship with Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. Patterson played for Smith, and he was one of the more notable free agent signings in the 2024 off season.

The Steelers also signed Van Jefferson and MyCole Pruitt, two other players with a productive history from their time playing under Arthur Smith.

Pruitt almost certainly cost Connor Heyward snaps, but failed to deliver much on the field. Van Jefferson was not only a substandard NFL WR No. 2 by today’s standards, he was badly outclassed by other lackluster Steelers WR No 2’s from yesteryear such as Charles Lockett and Derek Hill. (Dwight Stone looked like a Pro Bowler compared to Jefferson.)

  • The Steelers signed Patterson due to his kick-returning prowess.

However, the Steelers got no spark from their kick return game in 2024, despite the rule changes and despite Patterson’s pedigree. Bringing Patterson to camp still made sense to this scribe, given how well he ran during limited duty against the Raiders and Colts.

But he got injured at Indianapolis and never got back on track. Giving him one last chance seemed to be a no brainer, low-risk risk high-reward move.

When a coach arrives at a new team, the idea of bringing some of his former players into the fold to recapture old magic can often be irresistible. Sometimes, as then rookie coach Mike Tomlin found out with Allen Rossum and Sean Mahan in 2007 they don’t always work out.

But there’s a flip side to this story:

A year later the Steelers signed Mewelde Moore who was the Unsung Hero of the 2008 season and delivered a critical block freeing Ben Roethlisberger to find Santonio Holmes in Super Bowl XLIII.

Fortunately, former players don’t always turn out to be “False Friends.”

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Steelers Trade George Pickens to the Cowboys – Buyer and Seller Beware

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The Pittsburgh Steelers are trading wide receiver George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys in a move screams “Both Buyer and Seller Beware.” The Steelers send George Pickens and a 2027 6th round pick to Dallas, and in exchange the Cowboys send their 2026 3rd rounder and 2027th 5th rounder to Pittsburgh.

Since even before the 2024 season ended, speculation abounded as to whether the Steelers would move on from George Pickens.

Coming out of the NFL combine Steel City Insider’s Jim Wexell reported Pickens had soured his trade value in the league, and that a trade would be “next to impossible.”

Yet, prior to the draft, George Pickens reportedly deleted references to the Steelers from his social media accounts, and Omar Khan did field calls about a potential trade but could not get more than a 4th round pick.

With the draft over, Jerry Jones has increased his offer for the ultra-talented, mercurial wide receiver and brought him to Texas.

George Pickens, Nick Cross, Steelers vs Colts

George Pickens fumbles at the 5 yard line. Photo Credit: Chaz Palla, Tribune-Review

Steelers Exchange High Short-Term Risk for Long Term Value

George Pickens began tantalizing Steelers fans from the moment he stepped foot on Chuck Noll Field at St. Vincents College.

George Pickens, Steelers 2022 training camp, Cam Sutton

George Pickens making a catch on the first day @ St. Vincents. Photo Credit: Post-Gazette.com

In terms of pure pass-catching capability, Pickens is in the conversation with Lynn Swann and Antonio Brown.

  • Alas, Pickens mimicked Brown’s attitude issues. And then some.

For as unglued as Antonio Brown became in his final year in Pittsburgh, Brown’s self-centered disposition rarely, if ever, reared its head on the field.

  • The same cannot be said for George Pickens.

His immaturity was on display on the sidelines in the Steelers 2022 win over the Atlanta Falcons, prompting Cam Heyward to initiate a “heart-to-heart” on the sidelines. (Heyward, to his credit, said the young wide out simply needed a “Pick me up.”)

The antics continued through his second season, with Pickens declining to block for Jaylen Warren near the goal line, citing injury concerns. This is only the tip of the iceberg.

George Pickens, Noah Igbinoghene, Steelers vs Dolphins

George Pickens with another Lynn Swann like catch. Photo Credit: Yahoo! Sports

Pickens proved, time-and-time again, he could make belief defying catches.

Yet it was almost like he was bent on establishing a 1-1 relationship between those feats and team-destructive incidents, whether it was cutting off routes, showing up late, taking plays off, using his face paint to complain about lack of targets, getting into shoving matches with defensive backs in Hail Mary situations, or needing to be restrained from fighting with fans by Pat Freiermuth.

As he did with Kenny Pickett, Justin Fields and Russell Wilson, Omar Khan began the off season singing Pickett’s praises and talking about his plans to keep in in Pittsburgh.

  • Now Pickens is headed to Dallas.

In football realpolitik the Steelers got a steal. They weren’t going to resign him, they may not have gotten a good compensatory pick for him, and unhappiness over lack of a new contract could have been a season-long disruption.

If the Steelers get four compensatory picks for the 2026 NFL Draft, they’ll have 12 picks at their disposal.

But by playing the long game, Omar Khan has once again exposed the team to short-term risk.

Another Year of Longing for Lockett and Hill?

Last season the Steelers dealt problem child wide receiver Diontae Johnson. It was a wise move. Donte Jackson delivered solid play at cornerback while Johnson got himself cut three times.  However, Omar Khan never filled the gaping hole that Johnson’s departure left on the roster.

Dwight Stone, Dwight Stone Steelers career

Dwight Stone’s Steelers career ran from 1987 to 1994. Photo Credit: Amazon

Early in the season, this scribe opined that the lack of a number two wide out opposite Pickens was enough to make Gen X Steelers fans long for the days of Charles Lockett, Derek Hill and Dwight Stone.

The Steelers of course added D.K. Metcalf in the off season, and Calvin Austin improved noticeably last year, but outside of that they’ve got a wide receiver room filled with roster bubble players or unproven youth, such as Roman Wilson, with Robert Woods taking Van Jefferson’s place.

When the Steelers drafted Kaleb Johnson word was he excelled in running against stacked boxes at Iowa.

Good thing he’s already used to playing in Black and Gold, because he’s going to see plenty of other familiar sights in Pittsburgh. Seller be wear.

Now Jones and Schottenhimer to Try Their Hand

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin stood behind George Pickens for as long as he could. He opted not to air his dirty laundry and instead focus trying to break through to Pickens.

  • At times it appeared to work.

After an awful game against the Colts in December 2023, no one would have criticized Tomlin if he just decided to bench Pickens for the rest of the year. Instead, Tomlin talked to him and Pickens exploded for two break out games on Christmas and New Years. He even showed up as a blocker in the season finale against the Ravens.

Yet, after two senseless personal foul penalties in the road win over the Bengals last year, Tomlin said it was time for Pickens to grow up.

  • Clearly, he feels he’s mentored Pickens as far as he can.

Now Brian Schottenheimer and Jerry Jones will launch a wide receiver reclamation project. Other head coaches have tried and failed with similar endavors with Steelerss cast offs such as Brown, Johnson, Martavis Bryant and Chase Claypool.

Buyer beware.

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Pittsburgh Steelers 2025 Undrafted Rookie Free Agent Class

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After the New England Patriots officially made defensive back Kobee Minor out of Memphis as Mr. Irrelevant, Omar Khan’s team pivoted from the Steelers 2025 Draft Class to getting the Steelers 2025 Undrafted Rookie Free Agent class under contract.

D.J. Thomas-Jones, Fullback, South Alabama
Roc Taylor, Wide Receiver, Memphis
Ke’Shawn Williams, Wide Receiver, Indiana
J.J. Galbreath, Tight End, South Dakota
Aiden Williams, Guard, Minnesota-Duluth
Sebastian Castro, Defensive Back, Iowa
Ben Sauls, Kicker, Pittsburgh

While these men are the “Rudys” of the NFL, each of these new faces should take heart that the Steelers have a rich tradition with undrafted rookie free agents.

Donnie Shell, Joe Montana, Steelers vs 49ers

Hall of Famer vs Hall of Famer: Donnie Shell stares down Joe Montana. Photo Credit: George Gojkovich, Getty Images via SI.com

Donnie Shell was an Undrafted Rookie Free Agent who joined after the 1974 draft class was set, and he’s now in the Hall of Fame.

As Shell was finishing his final season in Pittsburgh, Dwight Stone joined the Steelers part of their 1987 Undrafted Rookie Free Agent class. Stone parlayed that opportunity into a 17-year NFL career with the Steelers and Jets that saw him play in 171 games making 154 starts. Ramon Foster followed a similar route, playing 11 years and making 145 including on in Super Bowl XLV.

In Super Bowl XL Willie Parker set the NFL record for longest run from scrimmage and in Super Bowl XLIII James Harrison set the record for the longest interception return in the game’s history, and both men joined the Steelers as Undrafted Rookie Free Agents.

More recently, Jaylen Warren arrived in Pittsburgh as part of the Steelers 2021 Undrafted Rookie Free Agent class and will enter training camp as the starting running back.

Of the group above, logistically speaking, D.J. Thomas-Jones has the best chance to make the team. For starters, the Steelers paid him a $30,000 dollar signing bonus, the highest in team history per Steel City Insider’s Roy Countryman.

Arthur Smith believes in the fullback, and the Steelers were ready to offer real money to Kyle Juszczk. So Thomas-Jones has a slot “greyed out” for him that he can secure by showing he can play fullback and contribute on special teams.

Sebastian Castro is another player with potential, who in the eyes of Countryman, suffered from a bad combine but built a solid tape for the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Ben Sauls doesn’t have much of a chance of replacing Chris Boswell, but Acrisure Stadium is one of the toughest places to kick, and he showed at Pitt he’s up to that challenge.

And like everyone else, he’ll get a fair shake at St. Vincents.

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Steelers 2025 Draft Needs @ Wide Receiver – Moderate

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You’d have never guessed it, but two second round picks started at wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2024.

George Pickens played up to his pedigree, albeit with a giant asterisk. But just how bad was Van Jefferson? Our free agent profile on Van Jefferson detailed that, but we’ll jump to the point here: We compared Van Jefferson to several historically underwhelming Steelers WR No. 2’s (Charles Lockett, Derek Hill and Dwight Stone) let’s just say that Van Jefferson suffered by comparison.

But the Steelers already used this year’s 2nd round pick to bring yet another 2nd round pick, D.K. Metcalf to Pittsburgh, so how does that impact their situation going into the 2025 NFL Draft?

George Pickens, Calvin Austin, Steelers vs Browns

George Pickens celebrates with Calvin Austin after Austin’s touchdown. Photo Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images, via Yahoo! Sports

Steelers Depth Cart at Wide Receiver: The Starters

The Steelers had hoped and expected to land another wide receiver after trading Diontae Johnson, but that never worked out. This year Omar Khan ensured that did not happen by trading for D.K. Metcalf before the start of free agency.

Just how much of an impact might Metcalf make? As Doug Farrar explained to Jim Wexell for a Steelers Digest feature:

In the abstract, Metcalf gives Arthur Smith and Pittsburgh’s quarterback du jour a big contested-catch winner with an estimable combination of physicality to outmatch defenders at the catch point, and the speed to simply run by them. That’s the plus side, and it shows up quite frequently. It’s the rare receiver who can consistently make NFL cornerbacks look overwhelmed and overmatched, but at his best, Metcalf is perfectly capable of doing so.

While Farrar makes clear that Metcalf’s game has his weaknesses, there’s no denying that he lifts the Steelers wide receivers room to levels not seen since Antonio Brown left.

At present, all signs indicate that George Pickens will return to the Steelers for the fourth and final year of his rookie contract.

George Pickens, Steelers 2022 training camp, Cam Sutton

George Pickens making a catch on the first day @ St. Vincents. Photo Credit: Post-Gazette.com

George Pickens started turning heads as soon as he arrived on the fields of St. Vincents in the summer of 2022. And he’s continued to turn heads since then, unlike other training camp wonders.

  • Unfortunately, too often he turns heads for the wrong reason.

George Pickens has the talent to be an elite receiver not only in today’s game, but perhaps earn himself a place the history’s conversation about the subject. Whether it’s from causing post-snap penalties, pouting over not getting the ball enough, failing to block for running backs, or cutting off routes, George Pickens cannot get out of his own way.

Word is that the rest of the NFL has wised up to the Steelers dealing off unwanted wide receivers, so unless someone throws a 2nd or 3rd round pick at Khan, expect Pickens to finish his contract in Pittsburgh.

But he’d be wise not to sign anything other than a one-year lease.

Steelers Wide Receiver Depth Chart: The Backups

Calvin Austin heads up the depth chart behind the starters and in his third year he proved he’s an effective 3rd wide receiver. Austin doubled his production from 2023, and proved to be both a deep threat and a receiver capable of making tough catches.

Behind Austin, the Steelers have Roman Wilson, 2024’s 3rd round pick whose season was effectively lost to injury. Omar Khan opted to bring back both Scotty Miller and Ben Skowronek, with Skowronek being a special teams ace who has upside as a receiver.
Pittsburgh Steelers, NFL Draft, Pittsburgh Steelers Draft Needs Scale

The Steelers also have 2024 practice squader Brandon Johnson and Lance McCutcheon on their roster.

The Steelers 2025 Draft Needs @ Wide Receiver

Pittsburgh finds itself in a good place at wide receiver entering the 2025 NFL Draft. The Steelers could and most certainly should boost the talent in their receiver room, but they don’t need to reach.

What the Steelers must do however, is keep an eye open towards the future as both George Pickens and Calvin Austin will be free agents next spring. Therefore, the Pittsburgh Steelers need at wide receiver entering the 2025 NFL Draft must be considered as Moderate.

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Even a Theoretical Van Jefferson Return to the Steelers Is Hard to See

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New coaches bringing players from their old teams is a time-honored tradition in sports. Steve Spurrier loaded Washington with players who’d starred for him at Florida. Rick Pitino brought so many players from Kentucky to Boston that people quipped about them being “The Boston Wildcats.”

  • Several players that Arthur Smith had worked with in Atlanta followed him to Pittsburgh.

Van Jefferson was the biggest name. Now that his one year deal is almost up, the Steelers need to decide whether there’s anything they saw that gives them a hint of a reason to ask him back.

Van Jefferson, Steelers vs Ravens

Van Jefferson catches a 30 yard touchdown. Photo Credit: Chaz Palla, Tribune-Review

Profile of Van Jefferson’s Steelers Career

Omar Khan signed Van Jefferson with the hope was that the Steelers would either sign, draft or trade for a wide receiver to replace Diontae Johnson, whom they’d traded 3 days before. Those hopes never came to fruition.

That opened the door for Van Jefferson to realize the potential he’d shown while catching passes as a starting wideout for the 2021 Super Bowl Champion Los Angeles Rams. After all, someone had to take advantage of the double teams that George Pickens was going to draw.

Right?

Van Jefferson started 17 games for the Pittsburgh Steelers during the 2024 season. He caught 24 passes on 40 targets and 2 touchdowns totaling 276 yards.

The Case for the Steelers Resigning Van Jefferson

OK. This one’s rough. Even if this is a theoretical exercise.

2024 was a tough year for the Steelers offense. The unit experienced a lot of growing pains in several different spots on the depth chart. Van Jefferson might not have proven himself to be a true number NFL number 2 wideout, but he could be a real asset as a number 3 or 4 receiver.

After all, Jefferson posted the highest catch rate of his career. …Didn’t he?

The Case Against the Steelers Resigning Van Jefferson

24 pass receptions in 17 starts.

When it was clear early in 2024 that the Steelers wide receivers would struggle all season long, this Steelers scribe mused about “longing for the days of Charles Lockett, Dwight Stone and Derek Hill.”

IF only we had been so lucky. Number don’t lie. And remember, these stats came from an offense that was hard-wired to run first:

  • In 5 starts for the 1988 Steelers, Lockett hauled in 22 catches and 1 touchdown
  • In 8 starts on the NFL’s worst offense, Hill logged 28 passes for the 1989 Steelers
  • Dwight Stone managed 41 catches starting 15 games for the 1993 Steelers

And it was that 1993 campaign that led coaches to conclude that Stone really wasn’t a viable NFL wide receiver (he caught 8 more passes in the next 7 seasons.)

And unlike those players, Van Jefferson had the benefit of an 11th overall draft pick in Justin Fields and a Super Bowl winner in Russell Wilson throwing to him. Yet he only managed to catch 24 passes. Lockett, Hill and Stone were catching their passes from the likes of Mark Malone, Bubby Brister, Todd Blackledge, Steve Bono and Neil O’Donnell.

There is no reason for Van Jefferson ever to don a Black and Gold uniform again. Period.

Curtain’s Call on the Steelers and Van Jefferson

It’s not Van Jefferson’s fault that the Steelers never found a legit number 2 to take heat off of George Pickens, but the experiment certainly gave them a large enough sample size to know that Jefferson is not part of the answer at wideout, even at the veteran minimum.

  • Perhaps he can be another team’s number 3 or 4 pass grabber.

But after what we saw from Van Jefferson in 2024, it is obvious that the Steelers would be better suited using his roster spot to an undrafted rookie free agent who might, say, turn into the next Nate Washington or, dare we say, the next Dwight Stone.

Either would be an upgrade on what they had from Van Jefferson in 2024.

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Steelers Report Card for Loss to the Cowboys Whining about Wine Edition

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Taken from the grade book of a teacher wanting to whine after seeing visitors drinking wine at Acrisure, here is the Pittsburgh Steelers Report Card for the loss to the Cowboys in Sunday Night Football.

T.J. Watt, Nick Herbig, Dak Prescott, Steelers vs Cowboys, T.J. Watt 100 sacks

T.J. Watt gets his 100th sack. Photo Credit: Chaz Palla, Tribune-Review

Quarterback
Justin Fields passing numbers were solid, completing 15 of 27 for 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. He also ran 6 times for 27 sometimes tough yards. Nonetheless, Fields missed makeable throws that could have been difference-makers for a struggling offense. To wit, the Steelers were 3-12 on third downs. Grade: CSteelers, Report Card, grades,

Running Backs
Najee Harris actually led the team in receptions, catching two passes for 35 yards. That’s good, but Najee Harris is a running back. And for the second straight week he did not run well. He may have come out slightly better in the ‘eye test’ but his numbers 42 yards on 14 carries don’t lie. Aaron Shampklin and Jonathan Ward looked good in spot duty but not enough to provide a spark. Grade: F

Tight Ends
The tight ends provided both touchdown catches on the night, with Pat Freiermuth catching 3 balls for 22 yards and Connor Heyward catching 2 for 23. Darnell Washington also had 1 catch for 5 yards. Grade: B

Wide Receivers
The good news? Van Jefferson shed his invisibility cloak for this game. The bad news? His 3 catches for 26 yards look more like mop up numbers that WR No 2 stats. WR No. 1 George Pickens also had 3 catches for 26 yards…. Calvin Austin had 1 catch for 6 yards and Brandon Johnson (who?) had 1 catch for 9 yards.

Stats like these make graying Generation X Steelers fan long for the days of Weegie Thompson and Dwight Stone. Ouch! Grade: F

Offensive Line
Isaac Seumalo returned to the offensive line and added a veteran presence. It may take him time to find his feet, as Justin Fields took 8 hits and suffered 3 sacks, and the Steelers consistently lost on 1st and 2nd down setting up third and longs. All of that might not be on the line, but some of it certainly is. Grade: D

Defensive Line
Look at the box score and you’ll see that the Dallas Cowboys rushing attack probably lacked the “wow” factor. But whatever they lacked there, they made up for consistency. The Cowboys establish the run early on and leaned into it on their final drive. All of this doesn’t fall on the shoulders of the defensive line. But it starts there. Grade: D

Linebackers
T.J. Watt got his 100th sack on a play here he and Nick Herbig brought Dak Prescott down, stripping the ball in the Red Zone. Watt later helped wreck a drive in the 3rd quarter with a sack. Payton Wilson had nine tackles and was around the ball. Patrick Queen led the unit in tackles with 9 while Elandon Roberts forced a fumble that should have been a game changer. Those are all positives, but the linebackers failed to bring pressure on Prescott when it counted and they too deserve their share of the blame for Dallas’ success on the ground. Grade: C-

Secondary
Joey Porter Jr. hauled what should have been a game-shifting interception, and Donte Jackson had a pick in the end zone that took at least 3 points off the board. Minkah Fitzpatrick made several key stops. But Dallas converted 9 of 15 third down attempts and made it look all too easy in the process. DeShon Elliott manned up after the game – but he was hardly the only one at fault. Grade: D

Special Teams
Chris Boswell kicked a 41 yarder. Corliss Waitman’s punting was solid and, unfortunately, could probably gain a few votes for offensive MVP. Dallas forced the Steelers to return kicks and Aaron Shampklin did a respectable job. Isaiahh Loudermilk blocked a field goal. Grade: B+

Coaching
Where to start?

Arthur Smith’s offense doesn’t come with a lot of frills. His philosophy is focused establishing the run by dominating at the line of scrimmage, setting up play action passing to create chunk plays.

This formula worked slowly, but reasonably well through the first three weeks of the season. But things have gone downhill fast. For the second straight week the Steelers have failed to establish the run, and effectively asked Justin Fields to win the game for them, when he clearly lacks the receivers to do that.

Smith likes to line his quarterbacks up under center, but Justin Fields worked extensively in the shotgun on both touchdown drives. While those touchdowns were nice, over reliance on the shotgun could complicate things.

Shotgun or no, Dallas came to Pittsburgh with a terrible rushing defense and missing its best two defenders, yet they clearly got the better of the Steelers rushing attack.

  • Teryl Austin has a different problem.

He’s got a defense that is capable of making splash plays that should be game-changing. Yet they keep getting beaten on bread-and-butter downs. As the Elandon Roberts play proved, forcing a fumble at the one doesn’t mean a whole lot if you can’t stop a four yard pass on 4th and 4.

To be fair to Austin, by the end of the game, the Steelers had lost Nick Herbig and DeMarvin Leal, making 5th string outside linebacker Jeremiah Moon the next man up. Any defense in the NFL is going to struggle a bit in those circumstances.

But that neither explains nor confuses the lackluster play on the defensive line or the miscommunications and/or ineffectiveness of the inside linebackers.

Cameron Heyward, Rico Dowdle, Steelers vs Cowboys

Cam Heyward was one of the few rights spots for the Steelers. Photo Credit: Chaz Palla, Tribune-Review

Mike Tomlin has said that an NFL team definition its identity during the first six weeks of the season. During weeks 1-3 the Steeler that definition looked pretty sharp. Focus slipped a little in week four but still looked good.

But in week 5 the Pittsburgh stuck “smashing grapes.” And it wasn’t pretty. Grade: F

Unsung Hero Award
Five weeks ago he was being mocked as a player getting a “scholarship year.” Since then he’s been the best player in his unit, by far, and against the Cowboys he was the only defensive lineman to turn in a truly good performance. And for that Cam Heyward wins the Unsung Hero Award for the Steelers 2024 loss to the Cowboys at Acrisure.

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Uninspiring, but Steelers Beat Broncos 13-6, Lead AFC North in Week 2 of 2024

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The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Denver Broncos 13 to 6, improving their 2024 record to 2-0 and giving Mike Tomlin just his second win in the Mile High City.

  • If there’s a single word to describe this win it would be “Uninspiring.”

To be sure, the Steelers defense authored a solid game, end-to-end and, as it did last week in Atlanta, delivered splash plays when the game was on the line. But what of the Steelers offense? Alas, that is another question.

Arthur Smith’s offense logged a respectable but unspectacular 10-0 halftime lead. But they unfortunately sputtered through the second half and in the process, they created more questions about themselves than they answered. But, given the franchise’s history in this city perhaps that’s a given.

Cory Trice Jr., Steelers Broncos

Cory Trice picks off Bo Nix in the end zone. Photo Credit: Steelers.com

Expect the Uncanny @ Mile High

Mile High Stadium has not been kind to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Yes, Chuck Noll’s 1984 Steelers upset John Elway in the Broncos in one of the biggest playoff upsets wins in franchise history. And Bill Cowher’s 2005 Steelers punched their ticket to Super Bowl XL and One for the Thumb by beating the Broncos in the AFC Championship at Mile High.

  • But rest assured citizens of Steelers Nation, those wins are exceptions.

Beyond simply proving to be a tough place to win, uncanny things seem to happen to the Steelers at Mile High. Consider:

And as those who remember that miserable 2018 loss can attest, this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to uncanny for the Steelers at Mile High.

Given that it is hardly surprising that George Pickens would have a 51 yard catch and then a touchdown negated by penalties, or that the Steelers would see yet another center to quarterback snap short-circuit.

Yet the Steelers were able to overcome those miscues and leave Denver with a win. Let’s look at why.

Fields Second Start Goes Smoothly. Until It Doesn’t

A week ago Justin Fields played a smart and efficient game and won his first start in the season opener against Atlanta. Mike Tomlin, citing Russell Wilson’s ongoing calf issue, announced that Fields would start again.

Was there a quarterback controversy brewing in Pittsburgh?

For two quarters, Justin Fields made it look like that just might be in the works. Justin Fields led the Steelers to two scores in the first half. While the offense was hardly dominant, it was efficient. The Steelers kept drives alive, converted third downs and Fields was particularly effective in the Red Zone, with precision passes to Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington, the later of which was a touchdown.

Fields closed the half by running a text book two-minute drill and saw a touchdown catch negated by a highly questionable offensive pass interference call against Van Jefferson. The Steelers nonetheless got on the board with a Chris Boswell field goal.

Going into the locker room, commentators were singing Fields’ praises, a tune which Bill Cowher echoed in the studio.

But if the first half left us wondering whether Justin Fields could keep Russell Wilson on the sideline indefinitely, the second half likely left more than a few wondering just how quickly Wilson’s calf would heal.

In Justin Fields defense, the Steelers sputtering second half effort was hardly all his fault. Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren rushed for just under 65% of their yards in the first half. Credit Sean Payton’s Broncos for smothering the line of scrimmage, stuffing the Steelers run game and forcing third and long.

And Fields struggled on third down as the Steelers only converted 1 of 6 third downs.

Worse yet, their longest play of the second half was a 37 yard pass interference call on George Pickens which set up a 53-yard Chris Boswell field goal, their only score in the final 30 minutes.

Defense Dominates in Denver

Let’s acknowledge a few caveats from the outset:

  • Yes, the Steelers were roughing up a rookie quarterback in Bo Nix.
  • Yes, Steelers defense committed several penalties that would have been lethal in a competitive game
  • Yes, Broncos receivers dropped passes in droves
Payton Wilson, Courtland Sutton, Steelers vs Broncos

Payton Wilson tackles Courtland Sutton for no gain. Photo Credit: Steelers.com

All of those things are true. Its also true that the Steelers defense authored a second dominating performance in so many weeks. And even if the defense did get a little slopping at times committing unnecessary holding penalties and neutral zone infractions, Punter Ridley Dixon was arguably Denver’s offensive MVP.

A week ago T.J. Watt went down to Atlanta and acted as a one-man wrecking crew with the rest of the Steelers defenders knocking down what he’d left behind. Against Denver everyone got into the act:

  • Alex Highsmith had 1 sack and a tackle for a loss
  • Both DeShon Elliott and Donte Jackson tackled ball carries behind the line of scrimmage
  • Patrick Queen and Isaiahh Loudermilk deflected passes, with Loudermilk’s saving a first down if not a score
  • Watt, Damontae Kazee and Joey Porter Jr. also got into the pass batting party

But perhaps the defense’s best play came on its worst drive. Bo Nix and Josh Reynolds had executed a picture-perfect play fake that saw Minkah Fitzpatrick bite hard only to get down the field to help with a touchdown saving tackle. But the damage had been done – Denver was knocking on Pittsburgh’s door from the 10 yard line.

Two plays later Nix thought he had Courtland Sutton in the end zone, but first-year man Cory Trice picked him off in the end zone, which in turn set up the Steelers lone 2nd half scoring drive.

And that’s the takeaway from the Steelers win at Empower Field: While the offense certainly must improve, the Steelers defense certainly looks good enough to give them the breathing room to make that improvement. And given the franchise’s history in the Mile High City, that’s a pretty good take away.

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The 1988 Steelers Season: The Year I Re-Found My Faith in the Black and Gold

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The 1988 Steelers finished 5-11. That’s a franchise worst since Chuck Noll’s 1969 inaugural 1-13 campaign. Just how bad were they? Consider:

  • Dan Rooney openly decried “stupid plays”
  • Chuck Noll quipped that they would struggle against a grade school team
  • Cornell Gowdy started 14 games at strong safety and disappeared from the NFL
  • David Little and Rod Woodson were co-MVPs… on the 28th ranked defense

Yet the 1988 Steelers will always hold a special place in my heart, because that’s the season I re-forged my faith in the Black and Gold.

Bubby Brister, Chuck Noll, Bubby Brister super tecmo bowl raiting, Steelers 1988

Chuck Noll and Bubby Brister. Photo Credit: Mike Powell, Getty Images

A Steelers Fan Confesses to “Youthful Indiscretion”

I grew up in the 70’s in Maryland outside of DC, the child of two “Pittsburgh Expats” who weren’t serious Steelers fans. Sure, we went all in for the Super Bowls, and Steelers jackets, shirts, hats, scarfs, gloves were glued to me through elementary school.

  • As the 70’s faded into the mid-80’s I began to stray.

Washington’s first Joe Gibbs era was underway and, honestly, all things being equal, I’d have probably traded Black for Burgundy and “converted” to the home team.

  • But my older brother did convert.

Thanks to sibling rivalry, rooting for the then Redskins was out of the question.

Rooting for the Steelers was hard because there was so little news on them. What did filter down made it clear that the Pittsburgh was pretty mediocre.

But I still liked football. And I longed for a team that could thwart either Washington or San Francisco’s quest to break the Super Steelers records.

So I’d get behind the Bears and/or Giants and even hoped Buffalo would develop to the point where they’d fit the bill (pun intended.) That changed in 1987. I’d reached high school and that’s when guys got serious about sports. I needed a skin in the game at both the lunch table and inside the locker room

  • And there was no question: The Pittsburgh Steelers were my team.

Still, I didn’t follow the ’87 Steelers closely. And in Super Bowl XXII I backed the Denver Broncos. What followed was one blissful quarter and then dejection as Doug Williams authored perhaps the most incredible 15 minutes in football history.

The lesson was clear: Never trust in another set of colors that wasn’t Black and Gold.

1988 – Going All In on the Steelers

The Steelers actually started 1988 on a high note.

The ’87 Steelers had finished 8-7 overall and 6-6 in non-strike games despite starting quarterback Mark Malone’s 46.4 passer rating. Tony Dungy’s opportunistic defense had scored 5 touchdowns. Even Joe Greene was back in Pittsburgh as defensive line coach.

Joe Greene, Joe Greene Steelers assistant coach

Joe Greene during his time as defensive line coach. Photo Credit: Steelers.com

The Steelers began the off-season by committing to moving on from Malone, and thus began my days of scouring the Washington Post sports section for any hint of news. The Steelers shipped Malone off to San Diego for an 8th round pick, flirted with trading for Jack Trudeau with the Colts (Indy also wanted Louis Lipps – killing the deal), until finally bringing in Todd Blackledge.

The pundits pronounced the Steelers as winners in 1988 NFL Draft, and I drank the Aaron Jones Kool aid, thinking his prediction of 20 sacks was realistic. Chuck Noll declared that winning in preseason was important to him and on cue, the Steelers went 3-1.

  • Then Steelers Nation lost Art Rooney Sr. on August 25, 1988.

While Pittsburgh lost one of its finest citizens, viewed from a 16-year-old’s eyes the Chief’s passing also seemed to signal the start of a new era on the field.

The Steelers 1988 Season – Opening a New Era with a Win Over and Old Foe

And so it was on September 4th 1988 that the Pittsburgh Steelers would play their first game ever without Art Rooney, Sr. against the Dallas Cowboys. Rookie quarterback Bubby Brister won his first start as Earnest Jackson scored two touchdowns giving Chuck Noll his final win over Tom Landry.

A glance at the Post’s Sports section revealed that wins by Cleveland, Cincinnati and Houston had created a four-way tie in the division. The AFC Central would be tough, it seemed, but the Steelers seemed well-positioned to make a run.

  • Or so this naïve 16-year-old thought.

Week 2 brought the Steelers to Washington to face the defending Super Bowl Champions. The game set the tone for the rest of the season.

The ’88 Steelers lost to the defending Super Bowl champions by 30 to 29 as Super Bowl MVP Doug Williams threw for over 400 yards. It is tempting see the close score and conclude that Steelers combined a lucky turnover with a few garbage time scores to make the outcome look a lot closer than it really was.

  • The opposite is actually true.

The ’88 Steelers actually went toe-to-toe with Washington, as Brister and Louis Lipps hooked up to burn Darrell Green for an 80-yard touchdown early. Brister did it again by connecting with Dwight Stone for a late 72 yard score. Brister ran for a score of his own, but Harry Newsome bobbled a snap costing Pittsburgh an extra point. (Video courtesy of Steel City Star.)

That extra point didn’t seem to mean much as the Steelers held a 9 point lead going into the 4th quarter, but alas, the defense couldn’t hold as Williams led Washington to not one, but two scores.

That formula repeated itself throughout the season as the loss at RFK started the Steelers on a six-game losing streak.

Nothing went right for Pittsburgh. Bubby Brister got hurt and coaches couldn’t choose between Todd Blackledge and Steve Bono as a replacement. It didn’t matter. Both were terrible. Harry Newsome suffered four blocked punts of his six blocked punts during the steak.

As the losses mounted, pundits demanded that Chuck Noll step aside. Things reached a fever pitch in week 8 as Terry Bradshaw joined the chorus.

The Steelers responded by exploding for a 39 to 21 win over the Denver Broncos that included six Gary Anderson field goals and 2 Rodney Carter touchdowns. Rod Woodson led the defense with 10 tackles, a forced fumble and an interception. The day also saw Greg Lloyd’s first start and first ejection.

Carter, who rushed for over 100 yards, also completed a halfback option pass. When reporters quizzed Noll about this, he quipped that he’d gotten the idea in a letter from a fan.

  • The win over the defending AFC Champions, failed to morph into a midseason rally.
Bubby Brister, Reggie Williams, Craig Wolfley, Merril Hoge, Steelers vs Bengals Riverfront Stadium

Reggie Williams sacks Bubby Brister. Photo Credit: Cincinnati Enquirer

The 1988 Steelers lost their next four games. The Bengals demolished them 42 to 7. The Steelers hit rock bottom in the mud at Cleveland Stadium the week before Thanksgiving as Newsome suffered another blocked punt and Mike Webster sailed one snap well above Newsome’s head and another came in so low that Newsome couldn’t handle it.

That left the Steelers in the thick of the Aikman derby i.e. the right to draft Troy Aikman. The only question was whether Pittsburgh had hit rock bottom.

Thanksgiving Interlude as Steelers Sit @ 2-10

Dan Rooney was not happy. He grabbed Ed Bouchette pf the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in the coffee room and declared, “I want to get it across that I’m not taking this situation alright.”

The story went “viral,” or at least it was picked up by the Washington Post, and it certainly caught the attention of the young 16-year-old whose daily highlight came at about 6:45 in the morning when the Post had something on the Steelers.

Rooney minced no words, explaining to Bouchette, “I don’t think we can say all is well and good. At times [Sunday] we played alright, but stupid plays took us out of the game.” Rooney then criticized Noll’s decision to punt on 4th and a foot at Cleveland’s 44. And of course he was not happy with the punting errors.

Having grown up outside of Pittsburgh I was unacquainted with just how unique the Rooneys were. So the most part, the uncharacteristic nature of Rooney’s frankness went over my head.

I was at least as focused Rooney’s observations that “At times we played alright,” and “I think we have some pretty good players” and his assertion that the 1988 Steelers were better than their 2-10 record.

That’s what the 16 year-old in me had seen from Monday morning newspaper summaries and ESPN NFL PrimeTime clips. The losses to Cincinnati and Cleveland had been ugly sure, but the Steelers had led against the Jets and Buddy Ryan’s Eagles until losing at the very end, just as they done at Washington. Earlier in the season, after recovering not one but two on sides kicks, they’d given the Bills a run for their money too.

Add those should haves, could haves and might haves together, and that would transform the Steelers record from 2-10 to 6-6.

Offensive mainstays such as Earnest Jackson and Frank Pollard had been benched in favor of Merril Hoge and Warren Williams, with Hoge earning his first 100-yard game in the loss to the Jets. On the defensive side, Rod Woodson was already establish a Hall of Fame trajectory, Greg Lloyd was making a name for himself, as were fellow members of the Steelers 1987 draft class Hardy Nickerson and Thomas Everett.

  • While he never said it explicitly, those were the players Dan Rooney had been referring to.

But perhaps the one who was the most to that ’88 team was a player who hadn’t been on the field since week 4….

The 1988 Steelers “Unleash Hell in December”

History geeks will remember week 3 of the 1988 Steelers season as their near upset of the Bills. But the game also marked the first start of an unheralded 2nd round guard from Kentucky.

Unfortunately, that left guard injured his knee when his uncle Art Still fell on it, costing him the next 8 weeks of the season. Few noticed his absence.

  • But Chuck Noll noted his return as he made Dermontti Dawson his starting right guard coming out of Thanksgiving.

The Steelers opened December with a 16-10 win over the 3-9-1 Kansas City Chiefs. A week later they went down to the Astrodome and flipped the script of the season. (Video courtesy of Steel City Star.)

 

The a game that saw the lead change 10 times, saw both teams return kicks for touchdowns, while Bubby Brister connected with Louis Lipps for touchdowns of 80 and 65 yards. Finally, with the Steelers down 34 to 31, Bubby Brister capped off a 4th quarter comeback with a 16 yard touchdown pass to Merril Hoge.

A week later irony caught up with the Steelers, as Mark Malone who logged his final win in Pittsburgh a year earlier against the Chargers, led San Diego to a 20-14 win over the Steelers in his final start as an NFL quarterback.

The Steelers closed the 1988 season at Three Rivers Stadium, with Chuck Noll hosting his mentor Don Shula. Many wondered if it would be Noll’s final game in Pittsburgh. (IT did, in fact, turn out to be Mike Wester’s final game in Pittsburgh.)

  • Chuck Noll was never wont to pep talks, but he share before the game, “I re
    Mike Webster, Don Shula Steelers vs Dolphins 1988, Mike Webster last game Steelers

    Mike Webster talks to Don Shula before his final game with Steelers. Photo Credit: Gene J. Puskar, AP via Pro Football Talk.

    ally want to win this on.”

His players responded. Dwayne Woodruff, the defense’s lone Super Bowl veteran, opened the scoring with 78 yard pick six of Dan Marino. Louis Lipps rushed for a 39-yard touchdown on a reverse. Gary Anderson kicked four field goals, Rodney Carter rushed for a touchdown and Darin Jordan made another pick six as the Steelers won 40-24.

Finishing 5-11 brings no bragging rights, but it at least allowed me to do a bit of “How’d Miami do yesterday” trash talking in Driver’s Ed with avowed Miami Dolphins fan named Frank.

21 years before Mike Tomlin would utter his infamous “Raise hell in December” promise the 1988 Steelers did just that. We’ll never know how much credit Dermontti Dawson’s return deserves for that turn around, but injecting future Hall of Famers into your starting line up does tend to improve things.

’88 Steelers Set the Stage to “Shock the World”

As soon as the season ended Dan Rooney made good on his midseason comments to Ed Bouchette. Things got tense. Chuck Noll almost resigned. But, with an assist from Joe Greene, Noll and Rooney continued to talk, agreed to changes, and The Emperor remained.

Rooney, who once commented that he and his wife Patricia wanted Chuck Noll to raise their kids of anything ever happened to them, clearly didn’t want to end on a bad note.

  • But Rooney wasn’t simply making an emotional decision.

In his autobiography Rooney remarked that 1988 was the year “Chuck really showed his greatness” with his post-Thanksgiving rally following a 2-10 start. As Rooney remarked, “I thought – our whole organization thought – better days lay ahead.”

The 16 year old fan rooting for the team from in suburban Maryland agreed. A year later, the 1989 Steelers vindicated us both. No, they didn’t win the Super Bowl, but they fulfill Bubby Brister’s promise to “Shock the world.”

But that is another story….

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