Link to Article at Steel City Blitz 

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What if you looked at the Steelers depth chart from a slightly different standpoint? What if it included expiring contracts?

Would it change your perspective on where the Steelers should direct their attention 1st this offseason?

A snap shot of the Steelers current depth chart, along with notations on contracts slated to expire in the next 14 months appears above. Players marked with # are scheduled to be UFAs in 2017. I did not include players due to be restricted or exclusive rights free agents at the end of 2016.

People are visual by nature. When you look at the depth chart this way it, rather than just considering where you may believe the team needs improvement, it becomes clear where the Steelers personnel priorities lie before free agency and the draft. Whatever moves the Steelers make must take into consideration expiring contracts.

If you leave those places on the depth chart blank, where a UFA occupies that spot, it becomes even more clear.

Read the rest of this entry »

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That is making the rounds on social media is a fabrication. I post this in an effort to keep the people that frequent this page from believing and proliferating nonsense. Validating stories like this makes our fanbase look, well … stupid.

To set the record straight I’ve never addressed Saturday night’s game or Burfict’s actions to the media, let alone Twitter. Complete hearsay

— Dr. Joseph Maroon (@DrJosephMaroon) January 12, 2016

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Having a post game chat.

A post courtesy of an SCB reader. I’m sure that BGINTN knows her. Tennessee is small and everyone knows everyone there, right?

@SteelersFanTN: 
Yeah @REALPACMAN24, the @nfl should look at the the problem of coaching staff being on the field. #SMH #ShutUp

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http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/9605551-74/boykin-lake-defensive#axzz3ty8aR3h9 

By Mark Kaboly

For weeks, Brandon Boykin was saying that all he needed was an opportunity, and when that opportunity presented itself, he was “1,000 percent sure that I am going to do what I have been doing the past three or four years of my career.”

Who knew the key to that opportunity ultimately was held by defensive backs coach Carnell Lake — with, of course, coach Mike Tomlin signing off on it?

Lake said Thursday, as the Steelers prepared for Sunday’s key AFC North game against the Cincinnati Bengals, that he was the one who thought it was “about time” to give Boykin more playing time.

Or, in this case, any playing time at all.

After Boykin, a player the Steelers traded a conditional fifth-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles for in training camp, made the “1,000 percent” proclamation in late October, he didn’t take a defensive snap over the next four games until Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts.

“To be honest with you, I just thought it was about time, and Coach Tomlin agreed,” Lake said. “We made the change to help the unit out and give the unit some energy and provide productivity in the end, and that’s what happened. I thought it was time, and we got the changes made.”

The Steelers reduced first-year starter Antwon Blake’s playing time by nearly a half and inserted Boykin into the slot, where he played 40 of the final 52 snaps against the Colts on Sunday and came up with a key interception and pass breakup.

That rotation will stay intact Sunday against a much more dynamic Cincinnati offense highlighted by receivers A.J. Green, Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu and tight end Tyler Eifert.

“I liked it, I think it helps us,” defensive coordinator Keith Butler said. “Our guys were getting worn out this time of year. We played a lot of football games, including five preseason games. Those guys have never played that many snaps in a season.”

Lake said the reason he didn’t pull the trigger earlier with Boykin and Blake was a matter of his coaching philosophy, even if the Steelers allowed three consecutive 300-yard passing games.

“I don’t like to do knee-jerk reactions, especially when I have young guys and they are trying to learn,” Lake said. “You have to give them the opportunity to make mistakes and learn from it and grow. If you shuffle the deck all the time, then it doesn’t allow for that or breaks down the player’s confidence.”

But with Blake struggling with his tackling (he leads NFL cornerbacks with 23 missed tackles, eight more than the next highest) and giving up splash plays, Lake knew it was time to alter things. Plus, it gave Blake more of a chance to focus on special teams.

“I remember my first year starting,” Lake said. “It was a lot. You get over the hump, but your productivity slides a little bit, so I wanted to make sure before it became a real problem that we could do something about it.”

Still, the situation is fluid. While Boykin played well against the Colts, he’s sure to be tested in a number of ways by the Bengals, including the running game. Cincinnati’s power back is Jeremy Hill, who has 588 yards and eight touchdowns.

“Every player on their defense is going to have their spots, and they are going to have to stand up and buck up and handle their business,” Lake said. “Each player comes with something he has to deal with. Boykin has his, just like the rest of the guys, and we are going to have to address those issues and (make sure) they get the job done.”

Boykin, one of the smaller corners in the league at 5-foot-10, 182 pounds, scoffed at the notion he can’t stand up to the run game even though he mentioned teams trying to run at him at times.

Boykin had 112 tackles in three years with the Eagles, including 102 solo while playing the majority of his plays as the slot corner.

“It’s never been a problem,” Boykin said. “I missed a tackle last game, but I missed like four or five tackles in my career. Anytime you have a defensive back in the run position, they are going to use that to see if you can tackle. Once they see that you can tackle, they don’t mess with it.”

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My buddy Richie S. comes to Portland on a Monday and the only time I can see him is during the Steelers Monday Night game vs. the Chargers. So basically, I told him that was what we were doing. There wasn’t really even a, “Hey, how do you feel about this?” type of suggestion floated out to Richie. I said, “This is going on.” He said, “Sounds like fun!”

Richie shows up, cheers for the Steelers, has a good time. It’s evident from the TV coverage (and subsequent stories that Rivers went to a silent count during a home game) that Qualcomm Stadium has been taken over by Steelers fans. Jonny has been sack tapped the week before as a good luck omen (long story). All seems right with the World. Steelers win. We go home because we all have to work the next day.

Fast forward 24 hours and Richie gets outed by my buddy Matt T. as a Raiders fan. On the one hand, after finding out that Richie was actually a Raiders fan, I thought to myself, “What the hell? I would never put on the shirt of another team and cheer for them, no matter how much I liked one of their fans.”
Then, “Oh, what the heck? We won. Why question it? Maybe it was because Richie finally left the Dark Side. The football gods must have rewarded us with our first West Coast road win in a decade due to my intervention in his sporting life.”

Fast forward again to this past weekend. Richie texts me about how our two favorite teams are playing.
I respond with, “You only get one team, Richie.”
He responds with, “That would be the one.”
I knew then that we would win. I was absolutely certain that the football gods would punish Richie’s wishy-washy, flip floppiness with a Raider loss. Then mid 1st quarter, Dan sack taps Jonny with his Terrible Towel and the outcome was all but completely certain.

I felt pretty bad about goading Richie into turning his back on his favorite team and fellow fans for a second….

Well, no I actually didn’t. It just seemed like a polite thing to write. But, you all know me and realize statements like that are BS. So, nevermind.

Fast forward again to the Sunday. Steelers are up 35-28 and cruising toward a victory, I’m teetering between whether I should send a conciliatory text to Richie or just taunt the heck out of him for showing some fair weather fan tendencies, thus sending his team on the path toward defeat at the Steelers’ hands.

And then,…. Aldon Smith stumbles while trying to tackle Roethlisberger and lands on Ben’s left foot. Watching the replay, I was sure that Roethlisberger’s foot was broken. Hoped not, but really thought it was.

It turns out that Big Ben’s injury was only a sprain. He will probably miss a week, but Monday morning on his radio show said that he is not counting himself out this week versus the Browns.

Just the same, I probably should have waited to gloat until it was over. That’s what I get.

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I really am expecting Ben Roethlisberger to be improved Sunday versus the Raiders by comparison to last week’s game versus the Bengals.

Another week of recovery time on that bone bruise in his left knee should, in theory, give him the confidence he needs to follow through completely on his throws from his plant leg.

Unfortunately, my buddy Earl had to point out that he thought Ben historically had a rough go of it in his second game back as well. So I started digging. Sure enough, Earl, the buzzkill that he is, was right.

In fact, when you look at Ben’s first two games back from injury over his career, the picture isn’t a pretty one.

Ben is 33 and I would like to believe that after the 2011 debacle in San Francisco, when he tried to play on one leg after leaving the Factory of Sadness 10 days before in a walking boot, that he now waits until he is at least close to healthy before coming back. Maybe this game will buck the trend. His first 2 games back in 2012 were losses. However, his own stat lines in those games were not too bad, as you can see above.

Ben looked very good on the first drive this past Sunday. On the second drive, Geno Atkins brushed past, hitting Roethlisberger in the knee, and Ben was never the same again. His throws floated and lacked zip. It was obvious that while he was making good decisions about when and where to put the ball, his body was not up to the task of delivering what his mind wanted it to. Ben was not Ben. The tight windows that Ben can typically deliver the ball into were too tight for a guy who could not put enough on the ball because he couldn’t drive through his plant leg when delivering it.

Let’s hope that his knee has healed enough for his performance to more closely match his own standards this week.

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IT’S BUMBLEBEE WEEK!!!

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