Tag: Steelers

Steelers add massive NT from Bengals

The Steelers got some help at defensive tackle with the addition of Domenique Davis.

Lost in the pair of trades the Pittsburgh Steelers made on Tuesday was the sneaky addition of defensive tackle Domenique Davis to the team’s practice squad.

Davis is a 6-foot-2, 326-pound defensive tackle from Division II UNC-Pembroke. The addition makes sense for a Steelers team with only five defensive linemen currently on the roster. Pittsburgh recently placed backup nose tackle Montravius Adams on IR leaving them without a backup and leaving the Steelers exposed in their run defense.

No one is saying Davis is going to suddenly resurrect his career with Pittsurgh but his body type fits what the Steelers are looking for and he should have ample opportunity to earn reps.

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Breaking down Packers’ trade of Preston Smith to Steelers

A breakdown from both sides of the Packers’ trade of Preston Smith to the Steelers.

The Green Bay Packers are trading veteran edge rusher Preston Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a seventh-round pick in the 2025 NFL draft, according to multiple reports. The deadline deal sends an experienced pass-rusher from Green Bay to Pittsburgh while allowing the Packers — a contender in the NFC — to recoup the draft capital used to acquire quarterback Malik Willis and make changes in playing time at defensive end over the second half of 2024.

What does the deal mean for the Packers and Steelers?

Here’s a quick breakdown of the trade from both sides:

Why trade makes sense for Packers

Packers Wire: While a respected locker room leader and a capable player at a key position, Smith checked a lot of boxes as a trade candidate, even for a contending team like the Packers. Smith turns 32 later this month. He has only 10 pressures and 2.5 sacks in nine games this season. He played only 21 snaps — including five pass-rushing snaps — last week. He was taking up snaps that could go to developing younger players such as 2023 first-round pick Lukas Van Ness and third-year veteran Kingsley Enagbare. He is not expected to be around in 2025 and isn’t a fit financially past this season. Add it all up, and the Packers might feel fortunate to get a seventh-round pick at the deadline. Experienced as a standout outside linebacker in the 3-4, Smith wasn’t nearly as productive as a 4-3 defensive end to start this season. He’ll get a chance to return to the 3-4 in Pittsburgh. The Packers are certainly taking a risk by trading away a veteran at a premium position, especially considering the lacking production of the position group overall. There’s no guarantee Van Ness or Enagbare (or even Arron Mosby or Brenton Cox Jr.) will be productive or reliable players opposite Rashan Gary, and the Packers need more from their pass-rushing front, not less. Van Ness just became a very important player for the Packers in 2024. Can he start showing signs of a breakout? He’s been concerningly quiet through nine games of his second season.

Why trade makes sense for Steelers

Curt Popejoy, Steelers Wire: The Steelers love guys like Preston Smith. High-character football players who play with high effort and can do a little big of everything. His size and play style works well for a team always looking for ends who can set the edge and defend the run. He is an ideal rotational guy as an edge rusher. This is especially true with the team working to get Nick Herbig back into the lineup. This is a great low risk, high reward move that should really solidify the defensive front.

Bills could climb to second in AFC with win vs. Dolphins

Bills could climb to second in AFC with win vs. Dolphins

It’s typically bad for the Buffalo Bills when the divisional-foe New York Jets win a football game.

Thursday night in Week 9 is the exception.

With the Jets’ win over the Houston Texans in primetime, the Bills leapfrogged up past the Texans and currently sit in third place in the American Football Conference standings. The Texans dropped to fourth.

First place in the AFC belongs to the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs. For the Bills to catch up to them they would need a few weeks and some things to go in their favor.

Sitting between the Chiefs and Bills are the Pittsburgh Steelers in second place. Given that the Steelers have a bye this week, the Bills could overtake their spot at number two in the AFC by the end of the weekend.

All it would take is a win over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.

With the Bills favored to win their home game against Miami, there’s a good chance they can move up to second in the conference by just Week 9 of the season. That’s not too shabby for a team that was supposed to be in a “rebuild year.”

Read our three keys for a Bills win on Sunday that would propel them up in the standings.

Former Wisconsin quarterback excels in 2024 NFL season debut

Former Wisconsin quarterback excels in return to NFL field

Former Wisconsin quarterback Russell Wilson made his 2024 season debut on Sunday night, throwing for 264 yards and two touchdowns as the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the New York Jets 37-15.

It was Wilson’s first official game action as a Steeler. He was inserted into the lineup on Sunday after Justin Fields led the team to a 4-2 record through six weeks. The contest was Wilson’s first NFL appearance since a public fallout with the Denver Broncos led to his benching in December 2023.

Related: ESPN FPI updates Wisconsin football win chances for remaining 2024 schedule after win over Northwestern

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin’s decision to start Wilson over Fields despite the team’s early success was a significant gamble. That gamble looked foolish through the first few drives of the game as Wilson started two of eight passing for 19 yards.

More game action was all the Wisconsin legend needed to find his rhythm, however. Wilson finished the contest 16 of 29 passing for 264 yards, two touchdowns, zero interceptions and a 66.3 QBR. He also added a rushing touchdown on a one-yard sneak.

Wilson’s return means the Badgers are back to having a former quarterback starting in the NFL. It also means the return of Wilson’s famous Sunday Night Football introduction:

The Steelers are back in action on Monday Night Football next week against the New York Giants. Wilson performing well during another primetime slot could see the narrative surrounding his play continue to shift in the positive direction.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes, and opinion.

Steelers injury updates: 2 key Steelers lost in win vs Jets

Donte Jackson and Montravius Adams were both injured in Sunday’s win.

After the Pittsburgh Steelers 37-15 win over the New York Jets, head coach Mike Tomlin addressed the media about the win and offered a brief update on the injuries that occurred. He noted several players had what Tomlin likes to call bumps and bruises associated with play and lost noted two more significant injuries.

Tomlin followed up on cornerback Donte Jackson and defensive tackle Montravius Adams. Tomlin said Jackson had a shoulder injury and was unable to return and Adams suffered a knee injury and missed the remainder of the game.

Jackson’s absence opened the door for James Pierre and the Jets took advantage of the mismatch. For Adams, the Jets made a strong effort to run the ball without the backup nose tackle in the rotation but the rest of the defense stepped up to fill in the gaps.

Tomlin will offer an update at his usual Tuesday press conference when the team begins preparations to take on the New York Giants.

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Report: Chargers showing interest in acquiring WR Mike Williams

The Chargers need a top-end talent at the wide receiver position, and Mike Williams would make a ton of sense.

The Chargers are among three teams showing interest in trading for wide receiver Mike Williams, according to The Athletic’s Diana Russinni.

The other two teams are the Steelers and Saints.

Williams played his entire career with the Bolts before being released this past offseason to clear up cap space.

Across seven seasons with Los Angeles, Williams posted 309 receptions for 4,806 yards and 31 touchdowns. He averaged 15.5 yards per catch.

Williams, who is coming off a knee injury that he suffered last season, has 10 catches for 145 yards in six games with New York.

A reunion between Williams and the Chargers would make sense. They have one of the least efficient passing offenses in the league, and while that stems from a few different factors, they lack a top-end wideout.

Furthermore, Los Angeles doesn’t have a weapon to threaten the deep parts of the field. Even with DJ Chark coming back in the fold, Williams and Justin Herbert had great chemistry in that area of the field during their time together.

So if the price is right, Joe Hortiz would wise to make a move for Williams.

Steelers scouts swarm Week 6, Ohio State vs Iowa: Finding future stars

The Steelers are preparing for the future! Pittsburgh sent out scouts to witness some of College Football’s best from Ohio State and Iowa.

From Omar Khan aggressively pursuing a trade for Davante Adams to preparation for next year’s draft, there is a lot to love about this team’s future. Pittsburgh’s scouting team is looking to keep the ‘Khan Artist’ happy with the CFB matchups this week.

It was reported on Saturday morning that Pittsburgh was one of ten teams to send personnel to scout the Ohio State vs Iowa matchup. Pittsburgh made a decision, one that only a select few of these ten teams made, to send more than one scout to the game.

Several dominant and key players from next year’s draft will be showcasing their talent in hopes of becoming top draft selections, such as Ohio State’s WR Emeka Egbuka, EDGE Jack Sawyer, RB Quinshon Judkins, OT Josh Simmons, CB Denzel Burke, and EDGE JT Tuimoloau, to name a few. The University of Iowa also has some aspiring 2025 NFL Draft prospects, like OG Sebastian Castro, DB Xavier Nwankpa, and RB Kaleb Johnson.

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Arthur Smith on Justin Fields: ‘Almost took the game over’

Pittsburgh OC Arthur Smith spoke very highly of Justin Fields’ Week 4 performance, especially his second-half.

While some fans are debating who the true QB1 is in Pittsburgh, offensive coordinator Arthur Smith appears to be a massive fan of Justin Fields’ poise and playmaking ability.

Smith is definitely someone you want in your corner when you’re engaged in a quarterback competition—or possibly winning one like Fields is.  Well, almost everyone thinks he’s beating out Russell Wilson.

While fans wish for Fields to remain the starting quarterback, their pleas fall on deaf ears, as head coach Mike Tomlin feels the quarterback competition is yet to be decided.

However, Smith nor Fields were blind to his own statistical output in Week 4—throwing for over 300 yards, rushing for over 50, and adding three total touchdowns to cap off his elite performance.

Fields will need to end this QB controversy once and for all against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 5, and at least he’ll have his offensive coordinator supporting his every move.

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Russell Wilson looks healthy enough, but what’s the real story?

Is Russell Wilson’s calf injury as bad as Pittsburgh is making it out to be? Or, is this dramatized and only the tip of proverbial iceberg?

‘To Russ, or not to Russ, that is the question’ (Shakespeare, maybe?)

What on earth is going on with Russell Wilson’s calf injury? It appeared that Wilson was simply being held out of the Steelers’ regular-season debut for precautionary reasons, but missed the next three Weeks straight. Even though Justin Fields looked deflated through the first two weeks of the season, Wilson continued to nurse his injury while the latter earned the team’s trust with consecutive elite performances in Weeks 3 and 4.

Russell Wilson isn’t the only player with an “injury” designation that has fans scratching their heads, as many also ponder why WR Roman Wilson hasn’t played either:

Could this be some sort of PR stunt for the Steelers QB, in which the team provides Wilson with an alternative option to avoid facing the humiliation of losing the quarterback battle to Fields?

We may never find out exactly what is happening with the pair of injured Wilsons in Pittsburgh, but Mike Tomlin sure loves to keep his cards close to the vest.

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Derwin James on playing style after suspension: ‘I ain’t going to change s***’

Derwin James is one of the hardest-hitting players in the league and he doesn’t plan on changing that, even after getting suspended.

Derwin James was suspended for this past Sunday’s game against the Chiefs for repeated violations of the playing rules.

The hard-hitting safety returned to practice Wednesday and said that the punishment he received would not force him to change his playing style.

“No, it ain’t going to change s**,” James said, per ESPN’s Kris Rhim. “It’s definitely not going to change nothing. Like I said, I’m just going to go lower. I’m not going to change.”

James will focus on hitting players underneath where they are holding the ball.

“I’m not going to keep paying 700, 800 thousand [dollars],” James added.

James was hit with an unnecessary roughness penalty and suspension for a hit he made on Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth in Week 3. He appealed the suspension, but hearing officer Derrick Brooks upheld it.

James has five unnecessary roughness penalties in his past 18 games, the most by a defensive player in that time span. All were to the head with his shoulder or helmet.

James will return to the playing field in Week 5 when the Chargers travel to Denver to face the Broncos.

In three games, James has 21 tackles and a sack.