As if the Steelers’ rotten performance of late wasn’t enough, they aren’t getting any help in the AFC either. After losing three straight games to the Colts, Patriots and Cardinals, the Steelers are now in last place of the AFC North and in 10th place of the AFC.
That’s because of the six AFC teams that entered the weekend 7-6; the Steelers and the Broncos are the only ones that lost to fall to 7-7. The Bengals, Texans, Bills and Colts all improved to 8-6 with wins.
As of now, the Cleveland Browns have the top wild-card slot at 9-5, followed by the Bengals and Colts in the other two wild-card spots.
The Texans and Bills are in eighth and ninth, respectively, followed by the Steelers and then the Broncos. The Steelers host the Bengals next week. The Steelers beat the Bengals in Cincinnati four weeks ago, 16-10.
But that was quarterback Jake Browning’s first start replacing an injured Joe Burrow. In the three games since then, Browning has thrown for 354, 275 and 324 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions. The Bengals have won all three games.
Then again, given how the Steelers are playing, is it even worth tracking the AFC playoff picture at all?
Bradshaw blasts O-line
To borrow a line from Chuck Noll, the Steelers’ problems are many. And they are great.
According to one of Noll’s former players, the Steelers’ biggest problem is the offensive line. Appearing on the Fox pregame show Sunday, Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw blasted the blockers up front. In a big-picture conversation about the entire future of the Steelers, Bradshaw shined a light on that unit.
“They have got to draft offensive linemen and protect their quarterback. Kenny Pickett is the answer at quarterback. You’ve got running backs who can run with the football but you’re not giving them a crease. You’ve got to improve that offensive line,” Bradshaw said.
Meanwhile, Howie Long refused to believe the Steelers would fire Mike Tomlin as head coach. He merely advanced the argument that the team would hire an innovative offensive coordinator and go from there next year.
Michael Strahan inferred that if any head coaching change were to be made, it’d happen because Tomlin would want to leave, not the other way around.
Bradshaw insisted Tomlin would prefer to stay to try and rebuild what the organization once was.
I insist that’s never going to happen, and maybe the best route for both Tomlin and the Steelers is to investigate that trade talk that has been percolating of late. Such a result may be the best option for all parties involved.
Sharpe point
Since we are on the topic of Mike Tomlin — and, honestly, over the past three weeks, when hasn’t that been the case — one well-known national commentator is turning up the heat.
Former NFL tight end Shannon Sharpe says the Steelers are in need of an overhaul. And it doesn’t sound like he is excluding the head coach from that equation.
Appearing on his video stream “Nightcap” with former NFL wide receiver Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, Sharpe said of Tomlin, “The Steelers are about championships. We gotta stop rewarding, ‘Oh, he’s above 500.’ That’s not why they pay you $8 (million) to $9 million to be above 500. They pay you for championships and to get the team in the playoffs, make a deep playoff run. When was the last time the Steelers made a deep playoff run?”
Johnson seemed to be a bit taken aback by that query. So let me answer that. The last time was 2016. They made the AFC Championship game that year. Since then, Tomlin’s team has not won a playoff game. And if they miss the playoffs this year, it’ll be the fourth time since then that they have failed to qualify for the postseason at all.
So, in other words, Shannon Sharpe is right.
No, I didn’t particularly enjoy typing that. And you probably didn’t enjoy reading that.
But, again, Shannon Sharp
Fleury and Filip
While former Penguins’ goalie Marc-Andre Fleury is getting all of the attention with the Minnesota Wild coming into Pittsburgh on Monday night, another netminder with Penguins ties is the one who is really tearing things up.
Former Pens’ prospect Filip Gustavsson is on a hot streak right now. He has won three straight games by final scores of 3-0 (at Seattle), 3-2 (at home versus Calgary) and 2-1 (at home versus Vancouver). Those last two results were shootout victories with Gustavsson stopping 35 shots both nights.
A lot of that success is since former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’ coach John Hynes took over on the bench for Minnesota.
Gustavsson is 4-1-0 with a 1.37 goals against average and a .951 save percentage in December.
It’s not certain that Fleury will get the start against the Pens. Minnesota has back-to-back games on the road, with a date Tuesday in Boston.
Via the Pioneer Press on Sunday, Hynes said of the goalies, “I know that they’re going to split. I don’t want to say the games yet.”
The Wild have won seven of their last nine games. They are 12-12-4. The Penguins have lost five of seven and are 13-13-3.
BeDeviled
The Robert Morris hockey team is heading into the holiday break on a rough note. The Colonials hosted 13th-ranked Arizona State (13-3-4) on Saturday and Sunday. The Sun Devils came to Neville Island with 20 power-play goals, second most in the country.
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