Category: Steelers Wire News

Steelers vs Bengals: 3 big reasons to worry this week

Despite their record, the Steelers cannot take the Bengals lightly.

Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

The Pittsburgh Steelers have had an extended break heading into this week’s game with the Cincinnati Bengals. On paper this one seems like an easy one for the Steelers despite being a road game as the Bengals sit at 0-10 and Pittsburgh is fighting for a playoff spot. But as we’ve seen from the Steelers this year, nothing is easy.

Here are three big worries this week.

The Bengals have nothing to lose

The Bengals have officially been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs this week with their loss to the Oakland Raiders. This is a team playing literally with nothing to lose. That’s dangerous, especially for a team like Pittsburgh who has gotten off to slow starts all season long.

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AFC playoff picture: Steelers currently No. 8 in the conference

The Steelers are losing ground in the AFC playoff race.

With all the meaningful AFC games in the books for Week 11, we can take another look at the AFC playoff picture as it pertains to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Just a week ago the Steelers were sitting in the No. 6 seed and held a wild card spot.

However, just one week later, after a crushing loss to the Cleveland Browns, the Steelers find themselves in eighth place in the AFC and losing hope on the season at 5-5.

Here’s the current AFC ranking.

1-New England Patriots 9-1

2-Baltimore Ravens 8-2

3-Buffalo Bills 7-3

4-Indianapolis Colts 6-4

5-Kansas City Chiefs 6-4

6-Houston Texans 6-4

7-Oakland Raiders 6-4

8-Pittsburgh Steelers 5-5

This list really illustrates just how bad the loss to the Browns was. Even if the Chiefs lose on Monday night to the Los Angeles Chargers they would stay ahead of Pittsburgh. The Steelers do have a win over the Colts should that come into play.

Pittsburgh has a very soft schedule to finish the year minus the Ravens and Bills. If the Steelers can go 4-2 in the final six games and beat the Bengals, Browns, Cardinals and Jets it would secure a 9-7 record. Is this enough to make the playoffs? Unfortunately, it won’t be up to them.

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Zach Banner’s cult status reaches apex with NFL Shop ad

Zach Banner is one of the most likable players in the NFL.

The Pittsburgh Steelers fanbase has turned reserve offensive lineman Zach Banner into a cult hero. Banner is the team’s sixth offensive lineman and plays a lot of snaps in that role. When the PA announcer says “No. 72 is reporting eligible” the crowd goes crazy. The team decided to capitalize on Banner’s popularity by setting him up in the most epic NFL Shop ad of all time.

If that picture doesn’t make you want to buy those pajamas nothing will. Banner might be the most popular backup offensive lineman in the NFL and all the hype aside, he really is a good football player.

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Steelers RB James Conner among finalists for Art Rooney Award

The Steelers winner for the Art Rooney Award is running back James Conner.

The NFL announced the 32 team winners of the Art Rooney Award. This is an award given to a player who displays outstanding sportsmanship on the field. The candidate from the Pittsburgh Steelers is running back James Conner. The winner is given the award based on a vote of NFL players.

Here’s the full list of the 32 finalists.

» Arizona Cardinals C A.Q. Shipley
» Atlanta Falcons WR Julio Jones
» Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson
» Buffalo Bills LB Lorenzo Alexander
» Carolina Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey
» Chicago Bears DB Kyle Fuller
» Cincinnati Bengals DE Sam Hubbard
» Cleveland Browns RB Nick Chubb
» Dallas Cowboys CB Byron Jones
» Denver Broncos LB Von Miller
» Detroit Lions QB Matthew Stafford
» Green Bay Packers CB Tramon Williams
» Houston Texans QB Deshaun Watson
» Indianapolis Colts WR T.Y. Hilton
» Jacksonville Jaguars DL Calais Campbell
» Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes
» Los Angeles Chargers LB Thomas Davis Sr.
» Los Angeles Rams S Eric Weddle
» Miami Dolphins C Daniel Kilgore
» Minnesota Vikings DE Danielle Hunter
» New England Patriots WR Matthew Slater
» New Orleans Saints T Terron Armstead
» New York Giants DL Dalvin Tomlinson
» New York Jets DL Steve McLendon
» Oakland Raiders QB Derek Carr
» Philadelphia Eagles QB Carson Wentz
» Pittsburgh Steelers RB James Conner
» San Francisco 49ers T Joe Staley
» Seattle Seahawks LB K.J. Wright
» Tampa Bay Buccaneers LB Lavonte David
» Tennessee Titans C Ben Jones
» Washington Redskins RB Adrian Peterson

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WR Terrelle Pryor makes it clear he wants to play for the Steelers

Terrelle Pryor is practically begging the Steelers to give him a shot.

Terrelle Pryor was an athletic quarterback at Ohio State but transitioned to wide receiver in the NFL. Pryor now finds himself without a team and healthy in his ninth season. And according to his Instagram, the team he wants to play for are the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Pryor made it very clear the hometown Steelers are the only team he wants to play for an if you give him 10 targets a game he will be a Pro Bowler.

I would hope the Steelers would seriously considering bringing Pryor into the fold. Now that he’s healthy he might be the best free-agent receiver on the market. You pair that up with the fact he’s highly motivated to be a Steeler and it just makes too much sense.

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Myles Garrett to appeal indefinite suspension

Myles Garrett is planning to appeal the suspension from the fight against the Steelers.

According to NFL reporter Ian Rapoport, Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett plans to appeal his indefinite suspension for his part in the fight with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday night.

Garrett’s argument, according to Rapoport, is that there is no clause in the CBA to allow for an indefinite suspension based on something that happens on the field.

This situation could get pretty sticky. The NFL is likely to try to make the case that what Garrett did was outside of anything the league has dealt with before which warrants a stiffer penalty. The reality is we’ve seen things similar to this happen before and there’s never been an indefinite suspension.

I fully expect to see Garrett’s suspension cut back, perhaps still running to the end of the season but they remove the part about forcing Garrett to apply for reinstatement before he is allowed to return.

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AFC Playoff picture: Steelers fall back after loss to Browns

Pittsburgh is on the outside looking in as of now in the AFC playoffs.

The Pittsburgh Steelers got their Week 11 game out of the way early but things didn’t go according to plan. Pittsburgh fell 21-7 to the Cleveland Browns, dropping their record to 5-5 on the season. This loss not only knocks the Steelers out of the playoffs as of now, it complicates the process of them getting back into it.

Here are how the AFC playoff standings sit

1. New England Patriots (8-1)
2. Baltimore Ravens (7-2)
3. Houston Texan (6-3)
4. Kansas City Chiefs (6-4)
5. Buffalo Bills (6-3)
6. Oakland Raiders (5-4, tiebreaker over IND)
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7. Indianapolis Colts (5-4)
8. Pittsburgh Steelers (5-5)
9. Tennessee Titans (5-5)

At this point, the Steelers have to rally after an embarrassing loss, figure how to get their game back on track and hope for a lot of things to go their way. Pittsburgh holds the tiebreaker over the Colts, should it come to that and still have the Buffalo Bills on their schedule for this season.

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Steelers S Minkah Fitzpatrick fined for taunting vs Rams

The NFL didn’t appreciate what Minkah Fitzpatrick did on the way to the end zone against the Rams.

According to NFL reporter Tom Pelissero, Pittsburgh Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick was fined $10,527 for taunting the Los Angeles Rams as he jogged in for a touchdown two games ago.

Fitzpatrick scooped up a fumble forced by defensive tackle Javon Hargrave and scampered into the end zone. On the way to the end zone, Fitzpatrick looked back and waved to the Rams defenders in pursuit. This didn’t draw a flag by the officials at the moment but when the league reviewed the play felt like Fitzpatrick took things too far.

Steelers shuffle bench players on 53-man roster

The Steelers added a wide receiver and running back on Saturday.

The Pittsburgh Steelers did their usual weekly roster shuffle a little ahead of schedule this time around. With injuries at running back and wide receiver, the Steelers made a pair of moves on Saturday.

Gone are linebacker Jayrone Elliott and running back Tony Brooks-James. In their place are running back Kerrith Whyte Jr. and wide receiver Deon Cain.

Whyte played his college ball at Florida Atlantic and was a seventh-round pick of the Chicago Bears in 2019. The Steelers signed Whyte from the Bears practice squad.

The Steelers signed Cain from the Indianapolis Colts practice squad. Cain joined the Colts in 2018 but before he could show off his speed and athleticism he tore his ACL.

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Steelers a no-show at Colin Kaepernick’s workout

Many teams showed up for Colin Kaepernick’s workout but Pittsburgh wasn’t one of them.

More than two dozen teams sent high-level representatives to Atlanta on Saturday to watch former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick do a private workout hosted by the league. One of the teams that did not send a representative — according to beat writer Joe Rutter — are the Pittsburgh Steelers.

You might have thought Pittsburgh would at least do their due diligence and have someone at the workout. With Ben Roethlisberger out for the season, Pittsburgh is getting by with Mason Rudolph and behind him Devlin Hodges.

Rudolph had by far his worst game of the season last week against the Cleveland Browns. Rudolph struggled even before losing wide receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster and Diontae Johnson. Rudolph had four interceptions, three of which fall firmly on Rudolph’s shoulders.

Did the Steelers make the right decision not sending anyone to Kaepernick’s workout or are you satisfied with the quarterback depth chart going forward?

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