The Steelers had the week off to basque in the glory of a 6-2 start to the season, first place in the AFC North, and most importantly the uncovering of an actual professional quarterback.

With the schedule the Steelers were dealt by the NFL, who must hate them, I said 6-2 at a minimum was an absolute must. Here we are.

The next 9 games are: at Washington, Baltimore, at Cleveland(Thursday), at Cincinnati, Cleveland, Philadelphia, at Baltimore(Saturday), Kansas City(Wednesday), Cincinnati.

The Cleveland and Cincinnati games don’t look as difficult, but division games are always daunting. Washington is no easy task anymore, the Ravens games are always blood baths, and the Chiefs and Eagles are Super Bowl contenders. The added bonus is the Eagles game is on one day less rest, and the Christmas Day game against the Chiefs is on 4 days rest. Oh, and the first Cleveland game is on four days rest.

Unpleasant.

Thanks to the good start and general weakness of the AFC as a whole, the Steelers will have to work hard to not make the playoffs. But can they hold on to win the division?

I am not saying they will, but I am saying they have every reason to believe they can.

It always starts with the defense and TJ Watt. The defense has been very good, and I think they can be even better. I would love to see Mike Tomlin move Minkah Fitzpatrick closer to the line of scrimmage. So far this season Fitzpatrick is playing very deep to protect against the big play. While that is safe, Fitzpatrick made his money making impact plays. Playing 20-25 yards from the line of scrimmage basically forfeits the chance of Fitzpatrick making a big impact.

Aside from that, so far so good.

Nick Herbig will return from injury to provide more depth at rush end to give Alex Highsmith and TJWatt more breaks to stay fresh. Rookie linebacker Payton Wilson is having a big impact. He flies to the ball, can cover, and can tackle. His development allows Elandon Roberts to play more just on run downs.

The plays Fitzpatrick isn’t making are being made by newcomer DeShon Elliot. Joey Porter is becoming a really solid lockdown cornerback. Rookie free agent Beanie Bishop has proved worthy as a nickel back. Cam Sutton returns from suspension to add depth there.

The defense has not been perfect. From time to time, teams gash them with the run. Opposite Porter is Donte Jackson, who gets burned a little too often.

All in all, the defense has only given up more than 20 points once to date. That was just 24 points. That is getting the job done. An argument could be made that Pittsburgh should be 8-0 with that kind of defense.

They are not 8-0 because the offense hasn’t always held up its end of the bargain. Justin Fields started the first 6 games at quarterback. Fields was adequate; adequate enough to go 4-2 as the starter. But there were clear shortcomings in Fields’ game. He doesn’t make reads quickly enough, lacks confidence throwing into tight spaces, and could never get the offense into a rhythm.

Fields does have strengths, two of them. His legs. He essentially is like having another running back on the field. That paid dividends from time to time. It still could, if the Steelers gave him a package. Particularly at the goal line.

Russell Wilson is the professional quarterback that has been missing in Pittsburgh for the past four years. A physically limited Ben Roethlisberger, Mitch Trubisky, Mason Rudolph, and Kenny Pickett —and add in Matt Canada— left the offense stagnant. And that was on its best days.

Wilson looks confident, his cadence sounds confident, and his sideline demeanor displays confidence. No doubt he will have a bad game or two along the way. Every quarterback does. His ability and willingness to throw the ball down the field and into tighter windows has completely opened up this offense.

George Pickens looks like a kid in a candy store since Wilson took over. Darnell Washington is being used like the behemoth weapon he is. Calvin Austin suddenly looks like a quality number two receiver. Even Van Jefferson looks marginally revitalized.

Maybe most importantly, the running game has opened up because of the passes down field. Najee Harris is running like a guy that should have had his fifth year on his contract picked up. He is powerful and now is hitting actual holes with authority. Jaylen Warren is back and providing that change of pace that was so important last year.

Let’s give a nod to the offensive line, where some young players have stepped in for injured starters and played really well. If Broderick Jones would be playing at the level he started with last year they would really be cooking.

Can the team continue playing this well?

I don’t see why not.

The offense finally looks like an honest to goodness NFL offense. Nobody on the Steelers remaining schedule has a defense that should make them quake. Plus, starting center Zach Frazier will be back. This improves the starting lineup and the depth along the line. I would love for the Steelers to pick up a wide receiver before this afternoon’s trade deadline. I no longer think it is a must have.

Barring the dreaded injury bug, the defense should continue to play well. The offenses they will see in the second half will be far more challenging. The Steelers defense has been prone to slow starts and occasional lapses. The Ravens, Chiefs, Eagles, Bengals, and Commanders offenses will make them pay. Still, even on bad days the Steelers defense only gives up 20-24 points.

With the remaining schedule, winning the division won’t be easy. Certainly a playoff berth in a rather putrid AFC should be expected.

Could this be the year Mike Tomlin finally wins another playoff game? That also should be the expectation.

For players like Cameron Heyward, TJ Watt, and Russell Wilson the drive to not only win a playoff game but reach the Super Bowl should be high. Heyward signed the year after the Steelers last Super Bowl appearance. Watt has yet to win a playoff game. Wilson would love to stick it in the doubters’ faces. These players all have a legacy that would go up a notch with a Super Bowl.

Sure, I have my doubts. One playoff win in 13 years will do that to a guy.

Then I look at the quality of the AFC and the quality —can you believe we are using that word— the Steelers are playing at and I say, “Why not?”

What say you, Coach?

 

 

Two Cent Takes

College Basketball(mini preview)

~ACC

  • Cooper Flagg and Duke will be dynamic. Flagg could be best player at Duke since Zion Williamson. They are the favorite here.
  • North Carolina will be the only team to challenge Duke.
  • Wake Forest and Clemson are tournament teams.
  • Miami, Virginia, and Louisville are bubble teams.
  • Notre Dame could be the team to rise unexpectedly.

~Big East

  • Creighton is my favorite here due to Ryan Kalkbrenner and the addition of swingman Pop Isaacs.
  • There is no way UConn can threepeat. Right? Right? Yea, I wouldn’t put it past Danny Hurley either.
  • Marquette and St. John’s are tournament teams, and Rick Pitino’s squad could surprise nationally.
  • Villanova may reach depths we haven’t seen in quite some time.

~Big 12

  • Kansas is my favorite, but Houston will be right on their heels. Kansas has a complete roster while Houston is the toughest team.
  • Baylor and Iowa State will be Final Four quality teams as well.
  • Arizona may not like what they find here after playing in a soft Pac-12. 
  • Cincinnati and TCU seem like bubble teams.
  • Can Bobby Hurley survive another poor year at Arizona State.

~SEC

  • Alabama and Nate Oats have to be the favorite in the SEC. They will be led by the potential player of the year Mark Sears.
  • The SEC has 9 teams in the preseason top 25.
  • Look out for Mr. Calipari and Arkansas. 
  • Tennessee, Auburn, Texas A&M, and Texas should all be tournament teams.
  • Kentucky, Florida, and Mississippi are bubble teams.

~Big Ten

  • Up for grabs. Gun to head I will pick Illinois.
  • Purdue will be different but good.
  • UCLA will be a tough newcomer. I’m a big Mick Cronin fan. He got some good transfers.
  • Indiana is the mystery team. Brought in some great talent. Probably more talent than anyone else. But Mike Woodson is still the head coach, and that worries me.
  • Rutgers should be tournament bound. Two of the best freshmen in the country including another Ron Harper offspring, Dylan.
  • USC will be one team to keep an eye on. An entirely remade roster with a guy that knows how to put things together and motivate. The Trojans are a bubble team.
  • Michigan State is the other team to watch. Tom Izzo is coming to the end. He is a square peg in the round hole that is the new era of college athletics. His message doesn’t resonate with the new breed players.
  • Penn State will be lucky to get to .500. Ace Baldwin will have to be an absolute superstar to lift this team any higher. Their are two freshmen that will give hope to the future.

~Best of the rest

  • In no particular order: Gonzaga, Grand Canyon, Princeton, Boise State, Dayton, St. Louis, and Saint Mary’s

~Gun to head Final Four picks

  • Duke
  • Kansas
  • Arkansas
  • St. John’s

Kansas will win it all. Take that with a grain of salt. I can barely remember where all the transfers ended up.

NFL

~Dennis Allen was fired by New Orleans. Not a shock.

~Mike McCarthy has to be next. Dallas is a train wreck. Don’t believe me, ask Dak Prescott, who is now out.

 


 

~Detroit is winning the Super Bowl aren’t they? They sure look like the best team in the NFL right now.

~How ‘bout those first place Cardinals? Wait, what? You mean little Kyler Murray has a team in first place at the half way point? Crazy.

NBA

~Joel Embiid says he has done too much for Philly to have fans say he doesn’t want to play. I have a solution, Joel: play. This guy is such a joke.

NHL

~Put your shovels away. Sidney Crosby has two goals in each of the last two games. The Pens won both.

College Football

~The odds are Miami will finish undefeated and SMU will be 11-1. They will face off in the ACC Championship Game. Both teams best win will be at Louisville. Looking at how ridiculously easy both teams’ schedules were, this should be a play in game.

~Penn State and Indiana have played ridiculously easy schedules. Yet, it is becoming a foregone conclusion that both teams will get in with losses to the only tough teams on their schedule. Indiana can end that chatter by beating Ohio State.

~Don’t look now, but Coach Prime and Colorado may just win the Big 12. And if they do, does a one loss BYU get left out of the playoffs?

~The Texas A&M loss last week didn’t help Notre Dame’s strength of schedule argument. And remember, the Irish have the worst loss of any potential playoff team.

~Ole Miss needs to beat Georgia at home to secure a possible playoff berth. It would be Ole Miss’s only good win, and would help offset the bad loss to Kentucky.

~Georgia gets Ole Miss and Tennessee back to back. Because of the difficulty of their schedule, three losses doesn’t automatically knock Georgia out.

~Tennessee could pick up a second loss at Georgia in two weeks, and then would have to beat pesky Vanderbilt on the road to avoid a third loss.

~LSU and Alabama will play each other Saturday in what amounts to an elimination game.

~Texas and Texas A&M play on the final weekend of the season. An A&M loss knocks them out of playoff consideration. A win and the committee will have a mess on their hands. Even though they will want to take all of the SEC teams, they won’t be able to.

The Weekly Shiny Penny

The Eagles are Super Bowl contenders in large part because of the magic of Saquon Barkley. He may have performed his best trick on Sunday with this mystical move.

 

 

A Penny For My Final Thought…

Wrong Part I

It is important to admit when one is wrong. I have been wrong a lot this college football season.

In my preseason preview I said USC would reach the playoffs. In fairness, after two weeks my prediction looked very good. Not so much the past seven weeks.

But, hey, to paraphrase USC head coach Lincoln Riley the Trojans are only five plays away from being undefeated. They pay the man 10 million dollars per year for self analysis like that.

Here’s the thing. He ain’t wrong.

I am a lifelong Trojans fan and I have suffered through the Ted Tollner, Paul Hackett, and Clay Helton fiascos. Helton was the most recent of those failed tenures and it was pure torture. However, I have never suffered through a more frustrating year than this.

USC isn’t good enough to be a national title contender, but neither do they have five loss talent. Yet, here we are.

The Trojans have had fourth quarter leads in all of their games. In the five losses, even after crucial interceptions in all of those games, USC had the ball late with a chance to win or the defense had a chance to hold off the opponent. They lost them all.

Are you aware how difficult that is to do? They have blown five fourth quarter leads against opponents ranging from very good to poor. Five losses by a total of 19 points. It is totally mind boggling.

Miller Moss is just not good enough at quarterback, yet Riley refuses to give Jayden Maivea an opportunity despite outbidding Georgia for his services.

Riley’s coaching has been less than stellar as well. From bizarre run/pass splits for a team that has consistently run the ball well to curious clock/game management. For obvious financial reasons, Riley isn’t going anywhere. Nor should he.

Believe it or not, this team is getting better. The defense is light years better than the Swiss cheese versions fans saw the past two years. The young offensive line is showing improvement. Due to injuries on defense, some good, young players are getting their chance to shine. Plus, if he can hold it together, Riley has the makings of a top ten class in recruiting for next season.

This season has tested the patience and blood pressure of every Trojans fan. My prediction looks ridiculous, but not as ridiculous as you might think.

Wrong Part II

Last week I claimed Penn State would not only beat Ohio State, but win a national title.

Well, my buddy Big Game James failed me on part one of that prediction and leaves me feeling silly for even thinking the second part of the prediction.

Franklin is a showman. He acted like he was disgusted when his players planted the flag at midfield in the Coliseum after beating USC. That was him putting on a show. He is a player’s coach and the players know it. It turns out that win doesn’t look all that great. Don't tell Franklin.

Saturday, Penn State got a pick six on defense to jump out to a 10-0 lead. Shaky Ohio State quarterback Will Howard was rattled and Beaver Stadium was rocking. The Nittany Lions offense mustered only three more points. Twice they came up empty from inside the five yard line.

The second of those occasions would have tied the score late. Unfortunately, the always creative offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki conjured visions of Joe Paterno by running up the middle with the same play design three times in a row before running a pass play that had zero chance of working. It was truly bizarre. The Nittany Lions best player, Tyler Warren, never saw the ball.

The other thing that became abundantly clear is Penn State has one of the worst wide receiver groups in college football. If tight end Tyler Warren wasn’t there, Drew Allar would literally have to dump every pass to a running back. The receivers are simply rarely open. 

 

 

If you take all the turnovers out of the scenario, Ohio State was two touchdowns better than Penn State. Penn State couldn’t score. Penn State couldn’t stop the run when it needed to. Penn State was lucky Will Howard was his usual average self because they couldn’t cover the receivers very well.

It turns out the USC game was a portend for Penn State. USC was able to run and pass on the Penn State defense. The only difference was Penn State scored in that game because USC chose to leave Tyler Warren uncovered for basically three quarters.

Penn State will make the playoffs barring an upset —and don’t sleep on that trip to Minnesota— and they have Lincoln Riley’s ineptitude to thank for it.

The worst part of Saturday’s Happy Valley meltdown was after the game. James Franklin could have gone straight to the locker room. But, no.

 

 

This was after Franklin was robustly booed before the band played the alma mater.

Why the frustration?

 

 

It just feels like Franklin has reached his ceiling at Penn State. That was not a great Ohio State team, so if not now when will it ever happen? Under Franklin, Penn State has not played difficult schedules. Typically their season boils down to two games, Ohio State and Michigan. Because of USC’s ineptitude, this season boiled down to one game. Franklin failed again.

What happens when the schedule twists like it did to Georgia in the SEC this year. Penn State could have a year where they get Ohio State, Oregon, and other teams that are good that particular year.

Franklin talks a lot. He acts like a petulant child far too often, then says he understands the fans’ frustration. Maybe he does, but he sure doesn’t have an answer for fixing it. Much like Riley, James Franklin is going nowhere.

Maybe USC and Penn State fans need to get the glory days out of their heads and accept their lot in the college football pecking order.

It brings to mind one of my favorite memes.

USC fans can ask Lincoln Riley to be accountable and quit making excuses. Penn State fans can ask James Franklin to stop acting like a petulant child and start winning big games.

 

 

And that goes double for those of you asking me to make better predictions.

Just my two cents…