Man! Even at 5-0, Steelers fans can find a way to be mad about something.
Eh, let me be a little more accurate about that.
Man! Even at 5-0, I can find a way to make Steelers fans mad about something.
Yeah. That’s more like it. You’ll see that in this week’s “U mad, bro?”
And you’ll see a little preemptive rage toward the Ravens before next week’s game.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
In the comments section of my Monday morning “First Call” post, someone named “TWP Resident” thinks I was being too generous toward the Tennessee Titans in my evaluation of their offense after their overtime win Sunday to improve to 5-0.
“The author has clearly not taken into account that the Titans were playing a 1-4 Texans team that almost beat them. If it wasn’t for a poor coaching decision, to attempt the two point conversion instead of kicking the extra point, the Titans would have lost, and would be 4-1.”
I can assure you that “the author” did take that into account.
Did “the anonymous commenter” take into account that same Texans team was leading at Heinz Field until there was 6:24 left on the clock?
Or that the (now) 1-4-1 Eagles were within two points of the Steelers with three minutes left at Heinz Field two weeks ago?
I can also assure you “the anonymous commenter” did not.
On Wednesday, I posed a question of how worthy the Steelers are of increased hype after the beatdown of Cleveland last Sunday.
The “Amish Butcher” has an answer. He posted in the comments section, too.
“They have a better team than both the Titans and Ravens and there’s definitely a chance they win both. After that, there’s only a home game with the Ravens left. That’s it. What? You think Josh Allen or old Phil Rivers has something for this D? Andy Dalton? Joe Burrow? One-legged Alex Smith? Gardner Minshew? Lol!”
You’re right. They are going 16-0. Maybe 15-1, at worst. It’s clear as day.
As NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell should just stop the regular season right now, set the playoff bracket accordingly, and award the Steelers the top seed in the AFC.
Actually, forget that. Just play the Super Bowl next week and avoid any more coronavirus scares. Obviously, the Steelers will sweep through the AFC playoff bracket without allowing a touchdown. Not even worth a conversation. They get the AFC bid.
Hmmm. So who should we place from the NFC? Seattle? Green Bay? How about Tampa with Tom Brady?
I mean, he’ll be nothing without Bill Belichick, right?
By the way, Josh Allen, Sam Darnold and Robert Griffin III “had something” for the Steelers down the stretch last season. So don’t get too far ahead of yourself.
A guy named “RWalker” did not like the idea Mark Madden advanced on our “Madden Monday” podcast of trading JuJu Smith-Schuster for a Devin Bush replacement at inside linebacker.
“Trading JuJu is just (plain) stupid if anyone is thinking that! He is the main guy that is getting double teamed now, which opens it up for the other guys eventually. They will have to start covering the other guys, which will allow JuJu to get more balls his way.”
As I said in the piece, I wouldn’t trade Smith-Schuster either. I can’t think of an inside linebacker who would be affordable under the Steelers’ salary cap—and worth acquiring if he’s that cheap.
Especially not for Smith-Schuster, who is still, at least, serviceable. Also, with Diontae Johnson frequently hurt, trading Smith-Schuster would leave you dangerously thin at wide receiver.
But Mr. “RWalker” and others need to stop with the “he’s getting double teamed all the time” excuse. We heard it last year. We are hearing it this year as well. If Smith-Schuster needs Chase Claypool and Johnson to flash every week so defensive coordinators give him single coverage, then you are going to have to admit something you really don’t want to admit.
That Twitter-defenders of Antonio Brown were right.
That Smith-Schuster only put up the numbers he did in 2017 and 2018 because A.B. was taking all the coverage. And, by extension, that Smith-Schuster can’t be a No. 1 target without help.
So, by all means, keep advancing that notion. But you may wanna wash out your mouth with soap afterward. Because you’ll be spitting the same hot take that Brown’s internet trolls used on his way out to Oakland.
Yuck. Lifebuoy.
Meanwhile, Alex is on board with the idea of replacing Bush with an established veteran player. He just doesn’t want to trade Smith-Schuster. He’d prefer using a “first or second” round draft choice to do it.
“Eric Kendricks of the Vikings or Deion Jones of the Falcons if those teams are willing to move them. Especially Jones who’d be a more mature version of Bush and would be perfect for us. Zach Cunningham of Houston or Myles Jack of the Jags. All these guys have speed and some are good in coverage. Others are at least ok and they’d help fill the void.”
I wouldn’t trade a first- or second-rounder. The franchise just traded their first-round pick last year for Minkah Fitzpatrick, and they’ll have at least two more years of Bush under contract when he comes back. Plus they traded up to get him.
Furthermore, in a year in which they are already going to have to replace multiple people on the current roster, I’m in no mood to trade away high draft choices.
I mean, even if they got Jack, you’re talking about a commitment of $31.2 million in salary spread over the last three years of his contract.
And, finally, Wayne emailed to comment about Ravens defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale.
Martindale got all huffy because the Cincinnati Bengals kicked a field goal to spoil a shutout.
“Maybe ‘Wink’ should go back to hosting game shows like ‘Tic-Tac- Dough!’ Last I checked there was no NFL rule about kicking a field goal before the end of a game. Probably lost bonus money for a shutout. So this made it Tic, Tac NO DOUGH.
No class yelling something across the field. Good for Cincy. Shame on Wink.”
Wayne accomplishes three things I never thought I’d see in this weekly post.
1. A reference to Tic-Tac-Dough.
2. A pun worse than anything I would ever try.
3. Support for the Cincinnati Bengals.
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at [email protected] or via Twitter. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
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