Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol. 37 - Number 6 i Steelers Digest

Their problems, whatever they are, have not been fixed. They have talked about fixing them, they have vowed to do the necessary work to fix them. But when it comes time to play a game, it’s clear their problems have not been fixed. Three games ago, the Steelers were 10-3 and sitting atop the AFC North with a 2-game lead over Baltimore, with a mathematical chance to compete for the top seed in their conference. Everything they had talked about achieving and had worked for months to get into position to achieve, all of it was right in front of them and completely in their control. But now they’re on a three-game losing streak after a 29-10 defeat on a Christmas Day that was anything but merry. Even though this…

For the second consecutive season, the Steelers enter the playoffs off a losing record in the month of December. Unlike last season’s three-game losing streak, this year’s contains a silver lining. Or at least one that provides us better perspective. Last year, the Steelers lost to, in succession, teams with a combined record of 11-26 (.297) at game time. This year, the Steelers lost three in succession to teams with a combined record of 34-8 (.810). Of course, even two consecutive games in December is reason for analysts to lack confidence in a playoff team, but by even the most basic analysis we see that last year’s team lacked a proven leader at the all-important QB position. This year’s team has that, along with a legitimate winning backup in Justin…

It was neither easy nor particularly pretty,. But it was revealing, and while some of what was revealed will engender confidence, there will be some that will create doubt. The significance of any or all of that will be left to each individual to determine, but since the NFL is a bottom line business and the bottom line of the Dec. 8 exercise at Acrisure Stadium was Pittsburgh 27, Cleveland 14, what took place deserves to be recognized as an accomplishment. Now it’s on to the next one. But before that’s allowed to happen, the drama titled “Steelers vs. Browns, the rematch” will be dissected and rehashed and what-if’ed to death. And how you end up feeling about these Steelers and what their 10-3 record says about them and their…

✦ WE ARE INCREASING THE AMOUNT OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT IN EACH ISSUE. We will now incorporate unique editorial pieces from experts like radio sideline reporter Craig Wolfley, Steelers Radio Network host Mike Prisuta, as well as Matt Williamson and Dale Lolley of Steelers Nation Radio. These editorial voices join 3 favorites like Bob Labriola, Teresa Varley and Jim Wexell. ✦ NEW FEEL, LOOK AND DESIGN. Your eight issues per year will feature a card stock cover and an updated design look. ✦ 3 EXCLUSIVE CONTENT AND PHOTOGRAPHY. Each Steelers Digest will include news and images that will be found here first. Many photos and articles will only be seen in the Digest! Subscribe now for yourself or your favorite Steeler fan! 1 YEAR 8 ISSUES $34 30% OFF Newsstand 2…

There are so many adjectives that have been used to describe Steelers defensive tackle Cameron Heyward, but his teammate and fellow defensive lineman Larry Ogunjobi might have nailed it better than anyone ever has. “His energy, his passion, his approach to work,” said Ogunjobi as he started to describe Heyward. “He’s a guy that never really has a bad day regardless of what’s going on. “He always just puts his best foot forward and he’s an integral part of the defense. He’s the heartbeat.” The heartbeat. That’s not something that is thrown around lightly, as it comes with responsibility, passion, love and desire for the game of football. But it’s exactly who Cameron Heyward is. The heartbeat of the 2024 Steelers. When told of the description, Heyward smiled. “I take…

For Larry Ogunjobi, being ‘the first’ is something that just seems to be a part of his life. Ogunjobi was a member of the University of Charlotte’s first-ever recruiting class and played for the 49ers in their inaugural season. He was the first from the school to play in the Reese’s Senior Bowl, he made the first tackle for a loss in school history and was also the first one from the school to be named to a national award watchlist when he was named to the Chuck Bednarik Award and Outland Trophy watchlists. Ogunjobi was even asked by his college coach, Brad Lambert, to be the first in school history to wear ‘No. 49,’ representing the school’s nickname of the ‘49ers.’ It’s no surprise, with the impact he made…

Never this season has it been more important for the Steelers to adhere strictly to the 24-hour rule. That’s the rule where teams are allowed just 24 hours to celebrate or mourn the just completed game before turning their attention to the next one. Because of where they are in their schedule and what they have immediately in front of them, what happened in Philadelphia is of no consequence. The 27-13 loss to the Eagles dropped the Steelers to 10-4, but they still have a 1-game lead in the AFC North, and because Miami and Indianapolis both lost on Sunday, they clinched a playoff spot in the AFC. But because they have that 1-game lead in the division, the Steelers can clinch the AFC North with a win in Baltimore.…

From the notebook of a sportswriter who’s trying to free his mind from a conundrum that developed while watching the Three Losses of The Gauntlet: • Conundrum: a confusing and difficult problem or question. • So, the Steelers lack offensive playmakers. If we hadn’t already realized that – which, actually, I hadn’t fully, since I had held out hope for some to become playmakers, out of respect for those who acquired them – we realize it now, especially after watching them play without George Pickens. • That’s why it made sense that the front office had tried so hard to add a veteran wide receiver throughout training camp and then up until the trade deadline. Mike Tomlin once explained that since wide receivers had been so plentiful in college football…

Sometimes it’s not that complicated. Sometimes the cliché actually is what tells the tale. So it was in Baltimore on Dec. 21 when the Ravens prevented the Steelers from clinching the AFC North Division and instead clinched a spot in the 2024 playoffs for themselves with a definitive 34-17 victory, an outcome that was facilitated by turnovers they committed and takeaways they squandered. ‘Tis the season for gift-giving, and the Steelers were overly generous with an opponent far too talented to need such largesse. Whenever these teams meet, and it has been this way at least twice a season every season since 1996, the games are always physical and closely contested. Turning to numbers to support “closely contested” reveals these: the last nine and 15-of-the-last 19 were one-score games. And…

The interior of the defensive line is not a place for the faint of heart or the long of tooth. Cam Heyward is certainly not faint of heart, but he is 35 years old, although you’d never know it by the way he has been playing in what is his 14th NFL season. In the 13th game of his 14th season, Heyward had 3 tackles, and 2 of the team’s three sacks in a 27-14 win over the Browns at Acrisure Stadium that raised the Steelers record to 10-3 and made their lead of Baltimore in the AFC North an even 2 games with 4 to play. One of those sacks came on a play that began as a third-and-6 from the Steelers 21-yard line in the fourth quarter, and…