Tuesday marked the anniversary of the Steelers’ first game in franchise history. Then known as the Pirates, Pittsburgh lost to the New York Giants, 23-2, on Sept. 20, 1933. A week later, Pittsburgh got its first-ever win by defeating the Chicago Cardinals 14-13 at Forbes Field.
Seth Walder of ESPN ripped George Pickens’ route tree. “You know who has an *awful* route portfolio? George Pickens,” Walder tweeted. “Literally 25% deep fades (highest of any player), 19% gos (4th-highest) and 18% hitches (16th-highest). Yuck.” In two games, Pickens has caught two passes for 26 yards on just six targets.
Rocky Bleier thinks the Steelers’ defense underperformed in Sunday’s loss to the New England Patriots, especially considering that they are the highest paid defense in the league. “The offense put 14 points on the board, so don’t point fingers on who should be the starting quarterback,” Bleier said. “Fingers should be pointed on why the defense gave up 17 points to the Patriots.”
Former Steelers running back Merril Hoge said on Ben Roethlisberger’s Footbahlin’ podcast that Mitch Trubisky’s inconsistencies date back to college.
Former Steelers cornerback Bryant McFadden said on the Zach Gelb Show that the Steelers’ entire offense has been disappointing and hard to watch. Bryant thinks if the Steelers’ offense struggles in a loss to the Browns on Thursday night, then Kenny Pickett will probably start in Week 4 against the Jets at Acrisure Stadium.
Steven Ruiz of The Ringer had an interesting tweet on the Steelers quarterback situation. “Either Tomlin is really stubborn about playing rookies or Kenny Pickett was a waste of a pick. Trubisky is giving the Steelers *nothing* right now.”
According to Scott Kacsmar, the Steelers’ 2021 offense scored 49.3% of their points in the fourth quarter, which is the highest percentage in the 16-game era (not including overtime scoring).
Steelers international content manager Maria Rodriguez was profiled by NFL.com. Rodriguez is responsible for a lot of the Steelers marketing to Spanish-speaking fans, and spearheaded the effort that had running back Najee Harris in Mexico for the 2022 NFL Draft. The Steelers are in consideration for a regular season game in Mexico in the coming years.
STEELERS SCHEDULE
The Steelers will have a walkthrough that is closed to the media.
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AROUND THE AFC NORTH
The Cleveland Browns 13-point blown lead in the final 1:22 to lose to the Jets 31-30 on Sunday hasn’t happened in 21 years. According to ESPN Stats & Info, NFL teams had won the last 2,229 consecutive games when leading by at least 13 points in the final two minutes. The last team to blow such a lead? The Browns in Week 9 of the 2001 season against the Chicago Bears.
According to Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network, the Browns have identified and plan to ban a fan who threw a bottle that struck owner Jimmy Haslam late in Sunday’s loss to the Jets. Haslman has owned the Browns since 2012. He previously was a minority shareholder of the Steelers.
Browns running back Nick Chubb felt that he cost Cleveland the game against the Jets by scoring a touchdown instead of going down to run the clock out.
AROUND THE NETWORK
Pitt and Aliquippa cornerback Darrelle Revis was a first-time eligible nominee for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
