Tag Archives: Greg Lloyd

Nick Herbig Extension Shows Steelers Drafting Has Turned a Corner

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Omar Khan kicked off minicamp by opening his checkbook as the Steelers re-signed Nick Herbig to a 4-year contract extension worth a reported 100 million dollars including over 40 million in guaranteed money.

The immediate focus of Steelers Nation is if and how Herbig’s new deal impacts the futures of T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith, but the bigger picture behind Herbig’s extension is what it signals about the team’s direction.

Nick Herbig, Steelers vs Bengals

Nick Herbig strip sacks Joe Burrow. Photo Credit: Chaz Palla, Tribune-Review

Early Herbig Extension Signals End of Steelers Draft Drought

The Steelers drafted Nick Herbig in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft. He’s now entering the final year of his rookie contract, and Omar Khan opened the off season by listing Herbig as a player he wanted to re-sign before he reached free agency.

  • This is not something Steelers Nation is accustomed to — at least not in recent memory.

But once upon a time, things were different in Pittsburgh. In the spring of 1993, the NFL’s first year free agency, owners were tripping over themselves throwing money at players, trying to buy a Lombardi.

In Pittsburgh Dan Rooney and Tom Donahoe took a different approach, quietly extending players like Dermontti Dawson and Greg Lloyd who were entering the final years of their contracts.

  • That practice became standard Steelers operating procedure for the next two and a half decades.
  • But the maturation of the Steelers 2018 draft class marked a turning point.

Terrell Edmunds, Mason Rudolph, Chukwuma Okorafor, Diontae Johnson, Alex Highsmith and Pat Freiermuth were only the players from the Steelers 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 draft to get second contracts.

Alex Highsmith, Tom Brady, Steelers vs Buccaneers

Alex Highsmith strip sacks Tom Brady. Photo Credit: Barry Reeger, HJ News.com

Highsmith, Freiermuth, Johnson and Rudolph were the only ones to the Steelers re-signed while they were still playing on rookie contracts, and out of that group only Highsmith and Freiermuth got long-term starter deals.

In contrast, the Steelers have already re-signed Herbig, and want to ink new deals with Joey Porter Jr., Keeanu Benton and perhaps Darnell Washington this summer.

  • Word is they would have given Broderick Jones his 5th year rookie tender had he not been hurt.

Barring injury or an unanticipated regression, Omar Khan will likely take a similar approach with several members of the Steelers 2024 Draft class next spring.

The Steelers playoff drought started with the loss to the Patriots in the 2017 AFC Championship game. Their quality of their drafts dipped precipitously starting in 2018 and continued through the rest of Kevin Colbert’s tenure.

  • But Herbig’s early extension shows that the Steelers draft drought is over.

The Steelers not only have a draft pick going into his 4th year who is worthy of a long-term extension, hopefully Herbig is the first of many.

Let’s hope that Herbig and the rest of his draft class make some playoff rain with Mike McCarthy.

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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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Steelers Re-Sign T.J. Watt – Why Watt Was Worth It

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The Pittsburgh Steelers have resigned T.J. Watt to a 3-year contract extension worth $144.05, including $108 million in guarantees. The deal makes T.J. Watt the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history and will keep him in Pittsburgh through the 2028 season.

  • Smart Steelers observers expected this deal to get done.
  • Speculators mused about chances of a long-term hold out or even a trade.

Score one for the Smart Steelers observers.

The Steelers locker room has voted T.J. Watt the team MVP a record five times. They did it after the 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023 and 2024 seasons. Minkah Fitzpatrick won the award in 2022 – when Watt missed close to half of the season with injuries.

T.J. Watt also won NFL defensive player of the year award in 2021. Clearly, this is someone Art Rooney II, Mike Tomlin and Omar Khan are wise to keep in the Steel City.

T.J. Watt, T.J. Watt sack record. Tyler Huntley, Steelers vs Ravens

T.J. Watt ties the NFL sack record. Photo Credit: Karl Roser, Steelers.com

Why Watt is Worth It

T.J. Watt could retire today and remain a surefire Hall of Famer. With 121 games under his belt he has 108 sacks. For comparisons sake, James Harrison who is third on the list, had 80.5 in 177 career games.

  • Yet, despite his resume, some have suggested that resigning T.J. Watt was unwise.

They point to the overall decline in sack production in edge rushers who are over 30, Watt will turn 31 this year. Others point to the steep drop that his brother J.J. Watt experienced after age 29 and 8 years in the league – T.J. has just played his final year.

  • And they’ll also point to Watt’s own injury history.

He missed much of the first half of 2022 with injuries and took several games to find his rhythm when he returned. Watt remained healthy through the 2023 season, only to get injured in the regular season finale against Baltimore – he missed the playoffs and the Steelers missed him in that loss to the Bills. And in 2024 Watt never missed again, but did play much of the later season with an undisclosed injury that limited his effectiveness.

  • Injury is a risk with all NFL contracts and that risk increases with age.
  • And Father Time remains undefeated in the race between athletic ability and age

If the Steelers had any doubts about resigning T.J. Watt (they didn’t), perhaps the story of another 31 year old linebacker is most instructive. During the 1993 off season Dan Rooney and Tom Donahoe made an under the radar signing of a 31 year old from the Los Angeles Rams.

Kevin Greene, Stan Humpheries, 1993 Steelers free agents, 1993 Steelers free agency

Kevin Greene sacks Stan Humphries in 1993. Photo Credit: AP, via al.com

For a short time he held the distinction of having signed the largest contract in Steelers history (Greg Lloyd one-upped him a few weeks later.) His name was Kevin Greene, and Greene along with Greg Lloyd transformed Pittsburgh into Blitzburgh.

Greene played 3 years, and during the 1995 season, went as far as predicting his own departure in the Steelers Digest, explaining that Jason Gildon was ready. Indeed, Super Bowl XXX was Greene’s final game in Black and Gold.

The Steelers let Greene walk because they’d groomed Gildon as a replacement – in the pre-Heinz Field days the Steelers had to be very targeted with their salary cap dollars. But that wasn’t the only reason.

The other was that, giving a large contract to a then 34 year old outside linebacker seemed insane.

Yet Kevin Greene had the last laugh, adding another 52 sacks (or one less than Lloyd’s career total) in four seasons with the Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers.

  • This scribe won’t be surprised if T.J. Watt follows in Kevin Greene’s footsteps.

But the difference will be that Watt will do so in Pittsburgh.

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Pittsburgh Steelers 2025 Draft Needs @ Outside Linebacker – Fair

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The Steelers started the 2024 season with two studs starting at outside linebacker, another stud in the making behind them, and yet another high round draft pick who appeared on the verge of realizing his potential behind him.

  • So the Steelers were set, right?

Not so much. By week 6, their fifth string outside linebacker was making his second NFL start – and this was a guy who did not even dress in weeks 1-4.

With that experience in mind, how should outside linebacker play into Pittsburgh priorities in the 2025 NFL Draft?

T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, Pittsburgh Steelers

T.J. Watt celebrates with Alex Highsmith. Photo Credit: NFL.com

Steelers Depth Cart at Outside Linebacker: The Starters

Just how good is T.J. Watt? Well consider this: During the Steelers 2024 season, critics were down on Watt because he “only” registered 11.5 sacks and 6 forced fumbles.

For comparison’s sake, during the Steelers 1994 season Greg Lloyd enjoyed a career high 10 sacks and 6 forced fumbles. That performance got serious commentators to wondering whether Lloyd pivoting towards authoring a Hall of Fame resume. (Alas, injuries robbed Greg Lloyd of a shot at Canton.)

  • T.J. Watt is the NFL’s best outside linebacker. Period.

Alongside T.J. Watt the Steelers have Alex Highsmith. Highsmith’s best year came in 2022 when he had 14.5 sacks. Since then his sack production has declined, but he’s been a strong against the run and has proven to be an effective counter-weight to Watt.

Steelers Outside Linebacker Depth Chart: The Backups

Nick Herbig stands behind Watt and Highsmith, and all Nick Herbig simply does is make plays. Herbig didn’t simply begin recording sacks and forced fumbles when he began getting playing time as a rookie, he does it at opportune times such has his strip sack of Joe Burrow in the Steelers road win over the Bengals.

If Herbig continues to improve at his current rate, this time next spring we could potentially be in a debate about whether he’s made Highsmith expendable.

The Steelers have brought back 2024’s fifth string linebacker Jeremiah Moon, after declining to give him the veteran minimum. However, before he was hurt early in the season, the Steelers had been working DeMarvin Leal in at outside linebacker.

Little has been heard of Leal from the team, although he has promised 2025 will be his redemption year.Pittsburgh Steelers, NFL Draft, Pittsburgh Steelers Draft Needs Scale

The Steelers 2025 Draft Needs @ Outside Linebacker

Omar Khan has said he hope T.J. Watt will be a one jersey player, which means something as he’s someone who holds a lot of sway in making that happen. Alex Highsmith’s contract runs through 2027. And Nick Herbig has two years remaining on his rookie deal.

The Steelers appear to be set at outside linebacker.

But, as to 2024 showed, injuries can deplete depth in a hurry. The Steelers will carry four outside linebackers, and neither Moon nor Leal is certain to earn a roster spot, so the Steelers need at outside linebacker going into the 2025 NFL Draft must be considered Fair.

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Steelers Last Win in Philly Gave Mike Nixon 15 Minutes of Fame

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Sunday December 15th, Mike Tomlin will attempt something that neither Bill Austin, nor Chuck Noll nor Bill Cowher ever did:

  • Lead the Pittsburgh Steelers to victory on the road in Philadelphia.

While Philly fans are loyal, there’s no question that when it comes to Pennsylvania’s two football teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers are the Keystone State’s 800-pound gorilla. The Steelers lead the Lombardi count 6 to 1 and have appeared in the Super Bowl 8 times compared to 3.

And of course the Steelers lead the Eagles in other measures such as games won since the NFL-AFL merger, division titles, playoff appearances, wins etc. And the Steelers count on a nationwide, no, global fan base.

  • That’s great. But the Eagles OWN the Steelers when they play in Philly.

The last time the Steelers won a game in Philadelphia was at Franklin Field on Sunday, October 24, 1965 during Mike Nixon’s lone season as coach. 21,602 days have passed since the Steelers clocked that milestone, in case you really, really want to know.

The Steelers are 0-10 in at Philadelphia since 1965, but it isn’t just their 59 year losing streak in the City of Brotherly Love:

  • Bad things happen when the Steelers play in Philly.

In 1997 alone, a trip to Philadelphia marked the end of Greg Lloyd’s Steelers career. Heck, the last time the Steelers quarterback threw touchdown pass in Philly was when Kordell Stewart connected with Will Blackwell. (The drubbing the Steelers suffered in Philadelphia 2022 saw Chase Claypool throw a TD to Derek Watt, but Claypool isn’t a QB.)

Much Has Changed Since the Steelers Last Win in Philly

A lot has changed since Steelers last win in the City of Brotherly Love.

Their last win came 360 days before my older sister was born (she’s a Ravens fan, but we still love her just the same) so suffice to say I have no memory. And although my parents were newlyweds living in Pittsburgh in 1965, they’re not much for sports so its no use asking them.

  • But thanks to the Magic of Google Newspaper Archives, we can glimpse of what it was like then.

In 1965, man on the moon was more fiction than science. In fact, the headline of October 25th Pittsburgh Press tells us that the Gemini Mission has been Scrubbed as Agenda Fails. The Post-Gazette led with Gemini story too. Except the Post-Gazette tells us Gemini Launching, Space Docking a ‘Go.’

The first Gemini Space rendezvous occurred later that December, but it was supposed to happen in October. (The lesson then, as it is now, is that you need to read beyond the headlines.)

Just below that story, the Post Gazette tells us that UK Prime Minister Harold Wilson is off to Rhodesia for talks with the white settler government who was vying for independence. “Rhodesia” is now best known (at least in Argentina) as a chocolate bar, and the country in question is Zimbabwe.

The Pittsburgh Press devotes about a 1/3 of its front page to Vietnam coverage, and talks about the record low 25- degree temperature Pittsburgh experienced that weekend. It also informs us that the Civic Arena turned its first profit for the first time since it opened in 1961.

Digging into the Post-Gazette you see that Giant Eagle is selling Roast Pork Butt for 49 cents per pound. The same add tells us that a 9 oz package of Scallops would set you back 89 cents.

Not to be out done, A&P is selling “Long Bologna” for 49 cents a pound and Jane Parker Large Apple Pie for 39 cents (normally it would have cost 49 cents, the ad assures us). In between the two adds, you learn that you could have bought a Polaroid Swinger Camera for $19.95.

Yes, times have changed. But has enough changed for the Steelers to recapture some of that 1965 magic?

Mikey Nixon’s 15 Minutes of Fame

Art Rooney Sr. was notoriously bad at hiring head coaches. Yet even he knew Mike Nixon wasn’t the man for the job. After Dan Rooney accepted/forced Buddy Parker’s resignation during the 1965 preseason, Art Rooney reportedly called Nixon, told him he was going to offer him the job but encouraged him to reject it because he wasn’t ready.

Nixon ignored The Chief’s advice, accepted the job and then preceded to lose his first five games as Steelers head coach. Game six brought the Steelers to Philly, and thus began Mike Nixon’s 15 Minutes of Fame.

  • The Steelers beat the Eagles that day, 20 to 14.
Jim Bradshaw,

1960’s Steelers safety Jim Bradshaw. Photo Credit: Steelers.com

But by the look of the box score, it was an UGLY win. Quarterback Bill Nelsen went 6 of 16 for 79 yards. Running back Mike Lind also got 16 carries, managing 30 yards, but he did catch 2 passes for 11 yards including a touchdown.

The highlight of the day, and one would presume the season, came in the 2nd quarter when safety Jim Bradshaw returned an interception 82 yards for a touchdown, which was one of 3 picks for a total of 101 yards.

The Steelers would win again the next week 22 to 13 over the Dallas Cowboys back at Pitt Stadium. So Mike Nixon can hang his hat on the fact that he’s one of the very few head coaches who went undefeated against Tom Landry during his career.

Alas, after beating Landry, Mike Nixon’s Steelers lost their next 7 games finishing the season 2-12, and Nixon got fired.

Nixon did enough to impress Eagles coach Joe Kuharich, who hired him as an assistant coach, giving Nixon three years of gainful employment before he faded into a footnote in Steelers history.

  • Can Mike Tomlin repeat Mike Nixon’s success in Philly?

He faces long odds. The Eagles take a 9 game winning streak into this game, and look to be a lock for berth in the NFC Championship.

But Russell Wilson is 4-0 playing in Philadelphia, including a playoff win. And I’ll wager Russell Wilson will pass for more than 79 yards and Najee Harris will run for more than 30 (well, he’d better.)

Who knows? Maybe Fitzpatrick can stir up a little “Minkah Magic” and produce an 82 yard pick six. If he can, the Steelers stand a strong chance of taking an 11-3 record into their next game against the Ravens in Baltimore.

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Trip to Philadelphia = Unique Measuring Stick for 2024 Steelers

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The 2024 Pittsburgh Steelers might have started 10-3 with the AFC North lead, but as everyone knows, they face a brutal stretch against the Eagles and Ravens on the road followed by the Chiefs at Acrisure on Christmas.

As starting safety DeShon Elliott explained, “It’s just going to show us how good we can be.”

Elliott is right. And perhaps the game against the Eagles at Philadelphia offers the most unique measuring stick. The Steelers haven’t won in Philadelphia since 1965, when Lyndon Johnson was President and man on the moon was science fiction.

It isn’t just that the Steelers have lost in Philly, it how they’ve lost:

  • In 1979 the Eagles dealt the defending and future Super Bowl Champions their first loss
  • In 1997, the Steelers only lost by 3, but they also lost Greg Lloyd for good
  • In 2008, the Steelers only lost 15 to 6 but Ben Roethlisberger took 9 sacks
  • In 2016, the Steelers lost 34 to 3 and were lucky to get that field goal
  • In 2022, the Steelers lost 35 to 13 bringing the Steelers to 2-6 at the bye

That 2022 loss adds extra relevance to this Sunday’s match up. The final score doesn’t indicate just how lopsided that game was. Neither does the fact that the Steelers were “only” down 21-10 at the half.

Kenny Pickett, Haason Reddick, Steelers vs Eagles

Haason Reddick hits Kenny Pickett. Photo Credit: John Geibeiler, Eagles.com

That 2022 loss to the Eagles was the worst ass-kicking the Steelers have suffered in the post-Roethlisberger era. Philadelphia played like a team headed to the Super Bowl – as it was. The Steelers played like a team positioning itself a top 5 draft pick, which they weren’t.

Shortly after the game Steel City Insider’s Jim Wexell took time out to assure citizens of Steelers Nation that there was a bright side. He drew attention to Jalen Hurts’ journey with the Eagles from a 4-11-1 team in ‘20, to an 9-8 team in ’21 to the then-undefeated that finished the season playing for a Lombardi.

The focus of Wexell’s article was to draw a potential parallel between Hurt’s and Kenny Pickett’s development. Obviously Kenny Pickett will be on the Eagles sideline this week, but at the team-level the metaphor still holds.

Just glance at the Pro Football Reference box score from that game, and you’ll see just how much has changed.

  • The Eagles sacked Pickett six times that day
  • A.J. Brown torched the Steelers for 3 TDs of 27 yards plus
  • Miles Sanders gashed the Steelers for 78 yards and an 8.6 yards-per-carry average
  • T.J. Watt missed this game – Malik Reed and Ryan Anderson took his place
  • The Steelers only touchdown came on a Chase Claypool to Derek Watt pass

The Steelers will bring a changed roster to Philadelphia and the points you see above fuel the reasons why they made many of those changes:

Nick Herbig, T.J. Watt, Steelers vs Jaguars

Nick Herbig and T.J. Watt. Photo Credit: Karl Roser, Steelers.com

Not only will T.J. Watt will play but the Steelers will get Nick Herbig and Preston Smith on the field alongside Watt and Alex Highsmith not because they need to, but because they want to.

The Eagles have made their own changes. The biggest one involves Saquon Barkley a running back so good he literally leaps past defenders while running backwards.

The biggest change is the one we haven’t discussed yet – Russell Wilson will be the Steelers signal caller. Wilson not sports a Super Bowl ring but also a 4-0 record playing in Philadelphia, including a playoff win.

No matter how you slice it, the Steelers have improved their roster since that ugly beating suffered on Halloween Eve just over two years ago. Has Pittsburgh beefed up enough to break a 59 year losing streak against an almost certain Conference Championship participant?

It is time to find out.

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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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Steelers 2024 Hall of Honor Class Celebrates the Cowher Era

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Congratulations to Dick LeBeau, Casey Hampton, Willie Parker and Jason Gildon for their induction into the Pittsburgh Steelers 2024 Hall of Honor Class.

While induction into the Steelers Hall of Honor represents a tremendous individual honor, the class of 2024 is a testament and tribute to the Bill Cowher era, with each man offering his own distinct contribution.

Let’s look how each man fits in.

Steelers 2024 Hall of Honor Class, Dick Lebeau, Casey Hampton, Willie Parker, Jason Gildon

Who was Casey Hampton?

The Steelers drafted Casey Hampton, aka “Big Snack” in the first round of the 2001 NFL Draft after trading down with the Dallas Cowboys. Casey Hampton would go on to appear in 174 games and start 164 games for the Steelers over 12 years, winning two Super Bowls along the way.

How Hampton Embodies the Cowher Era

In an on-line chat Ed Bouchette once observed that the nose tackle’s knees are the fulcrum that the success or failure of the zone blitz rises and falls upon. (Or something like that.) A central tenant of the Zone Blitz was to stuff the run, thereby setting third and long situations.

  • While this is less important in today’s game, in the ‘90’s and for the 00’s this was critical.

And with Casey Hampton in the middle, the Steelers effectively shut the middle of the field down, forcing opposing coaches to abandon any hope of “running through the tackles.”

Who was Jason Gildon?

Every era of Steelers defensive football seems to have star that was even unknown in his own era. In the 1980’s it was Keith Willis. In the 1990’s Jason Gildon occupied that role.

The Steelers drafted Gildon in the 4th round of the 1994 NFL Draft and even as a rookie he got reps in the rotation behind Hall of Famer Kevin Greene and legend Greg Lloyd. In his first two years, Gildon only started one game, but amassed 5 sacks. During the Steelers 1995 season Kevin Greene himself said that Gildon was ready to go.

Gildon took over as the starter in 1996 and kept a strangle hold on the position, holding off challengers like Mike Vrabel. By the time he left the Steelers after the 2003 season, he’d amassed 77 sacks, which stood as a team record until James Harrison broke the record in 2016.

How Gildon is Representative of the Cowher Era

In the 1990’s the concept of “Next Man Up,” was a bit different in Pittsburgh. Before Heinz Field opened Steelers struggled compete in free agency. So they’d have to draft with any eye towards replacing starters whom they knew they couldn’t afford. Such was the case with Jason Gildon and Kevin Greene.

Who was Willie Parker?

Dan Rooney Jr. saw Willie Parker in college and urged the Steelers to give him a chance. They did. He finished his rookie year by authoring his first 100 yard game, closing the Steelers 2004 season with a win over the Bills.

A year later Jerome Bettis was almost literally passed him the torch in the season finale. Next Parker was seen galloping for 75 yards in Super Bowl XL, setting a record that stand today. Parker played through the 2009 season, earning another Super Bowl ring along the way.

How Willie Parker Represents the Cowher Era

When you think of Bill Cowher’s Steelers, you think of Jerome Bettis, Rod Woodson, Carnell Lake and Ben Roethlisberger first. But think a little deeper and you remember guys like Darren Perry, Yancey Thigpen, Orpheus Roye. Guys that were either late round picks or undrafted who nonetheless rose to play critical roles on their teams. Willie Parker is one of those players.

Who was Dick LeBeau?

Dick LeBeau joined Bill Cowher’s inaugural staff in 1992 and served for three years as his secondary coach, working in unison with Dom Capers and Marv Lewis to perfect the Zone Blitz scheme.

Dick LeBeau, Troy Polamalu, Hall of Fame, Larry Foote

Dick LeBeau and Troy Polamalu in December 2012. Photo Credit: Jason Bridge, USA Today.

LeBeau rose to defensive coordinator in 1995, helping guide the Rod Woodsonless unit through to Super Bowl XXX. A year later in 1996 he’d again lose his best defensive player, Greg Lloyd, on opening day but the Steelers still fielded a dominant defense.

LeBeau returned to Pittsburgh in 2004, helping the Steelers field the NFL’s number 1 defense. In 2005 he got his first Super Bowl ring in Super Bowl XL as his unit held the Seahawks to 10 points and produced a critical turnover that set up the Antwaan Randle El to Hines Ward game-icing touchdown.

How LeBeau Symbolizes the Cowher Era

Dick LeBeau is emblematic of the Cowher era in a number of ways. First he was a key architect of a defensive scheme that dominated the NFL for two decades. He was also someone who left only to “come home again” a tendncy which began in the Cowher era and has continued.

 

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Hidden Risk? Do Art Rooney’s “Time to Get Some Playoff Wins” Comments Set the Bar Too Low?

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Pittsburgh Steelers President Art Rooney II gave his annual end-of-the year press conference this and there was one quote that landed as music in the ears of many citizens of Steelers Nation.

James Harrison, Art Rooney II, James Harrison Art Rooney Handshake, James Harrison 2nd retirement

Art Rooney II & James Harrison shake after the Steelers 2017 playoff win over the Chiefs. Photo Credit: Steelers.com

When asked about the Steelers historic playoff drought, Rooney bluntly declared:

Yeah, I think there’s an urgency. I think everybody, myself, Mike, guys that have been on the team for a while, T.J., Cam, everybody, we’ve had enough of this. It’s time to get some [playoff] wins.

Art Rooney II seldom speaks to the press. When he does he says very little. But those words carry a tremendous impact – after all, after the 2004 season ended in another AFC Championship loss it was Rooney who declared it was time for a Super Bowl. And the 2005 Steelers brought the Lombardi back to Pittsburgh.

The response on social media was swift and decisive. Here’s one example:

And this is understandable.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have not won a playoff game since Chris Boswell kicked them out of Kansas City and into the AFC Championship in January 2017. That’s a long time. To put that in context, even after the Super Steelers faded, Chuck Noll never went more than four years without a playoff win during the 1980s.

  • Yet here’s Mike Tomlin looking at 7 years and counting since his last playoff win.

So while it is good that the Steelers brass embraces the elephant in the room, there is a flaw in Rooney’s response. Notice that Rooney simply said, “It’s time to get some [playoff] wins.”

  • That risks setting the bar too low.

In 1992 when Bill Cowher returned to Pittsburgh to coach the Steelers, he offered a change of pace and he did so immediately by declaring that his goal for his rookie season was to win the Super Bowl.

Chuck Noll had started the 1990 and 1991 seasons saying similar things, talking about having “Championship caliber talent” with players like Rod Woodson, Greg Lloyd, Dermontti Dawson and Merril Hoge in mind. But Cowher delivered his remarks with a difference – he really believed it.

And that caused reporters openly snicker and rolled their eyes.

Yet Cowher’s 1992 Steelers took the league by storm and entered the playoffs as the AFC’s first seed. Those Steelers of course didn’t win the Super Bowl, and Bill Cowher faced a long road litter with AFC Championship losses to get to Super Bowl XL.

  • But his goal remained constant.

And setting winning the Super Bowl as the standard for success paid dividends in 2004 when Ben Roethlisberger arrived. Injuries to Tommy Maddox forced Ben Roethlisberger into the line up in week 2 and the franchise never looked back.

  • When the playoffs arrived, the Super Bowl was the goal and the expectation.

That left no room for a “We’re just glad to have won 14 straight games with a rookie quarterback and be in the AFC Championship” mentality. Winning a Super Bowl was the only success metric.

I’m sure if you asked Rooney a follow up question, he’d affirm that winning the Super Bowl is his goal and he was simply acknowledging that wining playoff games is a perquisite to a Lombardi.

  • So there’s no reason to overact here.

But Rooney and everyone else must be mindful that comments like “its time get some [playoff] wins” can carry unintended consequences.

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5 (Not So) Random Reflections on the Final 3 Weeks of the Steelers 2023 Season

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Welcome back! Steel Curtain Rising has been dark since the s loss to the Colts before Christmas.

Although I was in the United States for the last three weeks of the regular season, I only caught ½ of a the Steelers last game. In another point of my life, that would have been unacceptable. But this time, it was OK. I’ll detail the reasons why at the end.

Of course I’ve followed the Steelers on a daily basis, watched highlights from each of their three victories, and the overall experience has left me with 5 insights to share.

Mason Rudolph, Steelers vs. Seahawks, Najee Harris

Mason Rudoph and Najee Harris during the Steelers 2023 win over the Seahawks. Photo Credit: Karl Roser, Steelers.come

1. You Should Trust Your Instincts

Instinct informed me that things had taken a bad turn the moment Kenny Pickett got hurt against the Cardinals. And instinct held a lot of truth. The Steelers imploded on both sides of the ball following that failed 4th and one attempt.

  • Worse yet, they suffered a weather delay.

My guts screamed for me to do something else rather than wait out the storm until the game resumed. But I didn’t want to sacrifice time as I wanted to get my article written in time to publish Monday morning.

The Steelers of course found a way to lose against the Patriots. Just as Chuck Noll beat Bill Belichick in his retirement finale, Billy B. leaves the Patriots having owned the Steelers. The Steelers were playing the Colts 3 days before I was set to leave for the States.

My wife had wanted to pack on that Saturday (traveling light is not an art we’ve yet to master), but I begged off, wanting to watch the game in part to ensure I could get the post-game article written. I could have watched the game on delay and perhaps accomplished the same thing.

  • Alas I did not. (Yeah, hindsight is 20/20.)

And the Steelers posted one of their worst efforts of the Tomlin era. What a waste of time. (My wife would agree. Enthusiastically.)

2. You Should Trust Your Instincts. Until You Shouldn’t

The Steelers would play 3 games during the second Christmas I’d spend in the US since 2000. That last year I made a point of trekking to the legendary Purple Goose Saloon on Christmas Eve to watch the 2000 Steelers finale against the San Diego Chargers.

  • I made the right decision.

The Steelers won and then I got to watch Bubby Brister come in for Daunte Culpepper and, in his final game in the NFL, once again keep the Steelers out of the playoffs. But I knew I was headed to Argentina and visits to the Purple Goose would be spare after that (I got to the Goose two more times.) And I made it home in plenty of time for Midnight Mass, where the beloved Fr. Adam Kostic would deliver his final Christmas eve sermon.

Tom Moore, Bubby Brister, 1989 Steelers

Tom Moore and Bubby Brister at Three Rivers Stadium in 1989. Photo Credit: Locallife.com

In 2023, watching the Steelers wasn’t a priority. I’d planned to see the Bengals game. But COVID had other ideas. As I was sitting at the Dr.’s office Patient First in Aspin Hill, Maryland as the Steelers were taking the field against the Bengals.

I couldn’t see the game, but my WhatsApp exploded with commentaries from the Steelers Groups I’m in. It was obvious things were going well.

  • That was welcome. And surprising.

But only to a point. I’d thought back to the December 26th Steelers-Panthers match up, the penultimate game of the 1999 Steelers. The Steelers started slowly, then when the snow hit Jerome Bettis took over Three Rivers Stadium, and the Steelers dominated thereafter.

They lost next week – this was the games that saw Bobby Shaw’s Superman shirt and Levon Kirkland getting muscled out of bounds by Neil O’Donnell on an interception return. So I chalked the win over the Cincinnati Bengals up as a blip.

  • The Steelers New Year’s eve game against the Seahawks didn’t pose much of a quandary.

The Steelers never win in Seattle. I remember the 1993 Steelers post-Christmas game there, where Jon Vaughn (who? That’s the point) gouged a flu stricken, Greg Lloyd-less Steelers for 131 yards (John L. Williams tacked on 86 more, for good measure.)

I was better from COVID and my wife wanted to spend some time in downtown DC. So to the District of Columbia we went.

  • So I thought nothing of missing the game and, viola, the Steelers won.

I was in New York City for the regular season finale. The wife of my good friend from high school was the curator of an art exhibition in Jersey and invited us to the opening. Needless to say we went. We made it back to the hotel in time for me to catch most of the 2nd half against the Ravens.

I was impressed. The previous two weeks hadn’t been a mirage. I’m glad I caught Diontae Johnson’s interception, Eric Rowe’s forced fumble and Markus Golden’s sack.

3. Trust Mike Tomlin, Not the Pundits

Everyone knows that George Pickens had been a lighting rod for criticism. And for good reason. The guy mailed in when he wasn’t featured on a play. His failure to block for Jaylen Warren was inexcusable. His response was worse.

Listening to legends Ed Bouchette and Vic Ketchman on Jim Wexell’s podcast during COVID isolation, I fully agreed that the Steelers needed to cut their losses with Pickens. Indeed, I had the time but not the energy to write an article saying the Steelers should bench him for the balance of the season.

  • Once again, it is a good thing Mike Tomlin doesn’t listen to me.

Mike Tomlin has a way with young men. He’s far from infallible (see Martavis Bryant). But he can often shepherd them on the path to maturity. For now at least, he’s done it with George Pickens. Pickens burned the Bengals, singed the Seahawks, and then delivered some devastating blocks against the Ravens.

Yeah, Mike knew what he was doing.

4. The Steelers 3 Quarterback System Works

Self-styled NFL personnel experts argue that salary cap dynamics dictate that investing in a veteran backup quarterback is a waste. As for the third string quarterback? Most people will tell you he doesn’t matter.

  • Most people are wrong.
steelers 2019 season, T.J. Watt, Mason Rudolph, Maurkice Pouncey, Zach Banner

The Pittsburgh Steelers sharpened their focus on team in 2019. Photo Credit: Karl Rosner, Steelers.com

Omar Khan opened the 2023 off season saying that the Steelers had, “Left the door open for Mason Rudolph.” Few paid attention. Yet, when the Steelers resigned Mason Rudolph it was treated as a “surprise.”

And Rudolph looked to be nothing more than a clip board holder. Until he wasn’t. The NFL is all about stepping up when you get your opportunity. And Mason stepped up. For the first time since he arrived it Pittsburgh, you could see why Kevin Colbert had a first round grade on him.

Oh, and even before he came on gang busters in his first start since the tie vs the Lions in 2020, Mason Rudolph had already proved something else: The Mike Tomlin has ushered in the Golden Age of Steelers 3rd string quarterbacks.

5. Take a Page for the Rooney’s: Focus on Family

Dan Rooney, Dan Rooney legacy, Dan Rooney Lombardi Trophies, Dan Rooney obituary

Dan Rooney sitting in front of the Steelers 5 Lombardi Trophies. Photo Credit: Steelers.com

If watching Steelers games wasn’t a high priority when I arrived in Maryland, it became an even lower one quickly. Between COVID, my sister-in-law’s father losing a brief battle with pneumonia (and Donald Hay was a great guy) and some other issues, it clear was that I should follow Dan Rooney’s lead: Focus on the family.

I distinctly remember one of his sons being interviewed, it may have been Dan Rooney Jr. but I can’t be sure, explaining that not only did Dan Rooney focus on academics rather than sports when it came to bringing up his children, he made time to speak to each of his 9 children about their day every evening during dinner.

The same child also mentioned that he didn’t even know what his father did for a living until he was in his pre-teen years. That’s because Dan Rooney, at his core, was a family man. Dan always put his family first.

  • I took that lesson to heart on this trip, focused on family and missed three Steelers wins because of it.

And I’m confident that, looking down from heaven, both Dan Rooney and his father Art Rooney Sr. would wholeheartedly agree with me that this was the best decision I could have made.

Go Steelers. Let’s upset the Bills 1989 style!

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