Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol. 38 - Number 3 i Steelers Digest

The NFL compiles a stats packet each week during the season that it makes available to media outlets, and the final page contains offensive and defensive rankings for each of the 32 teams. There are 17 offensive categories, and in last week’s packet, the Indianapolis Colts ranked in the top 7 in 16 of the 17 listed categories. Not coincidently, the Colts also employ the best running back in football. Jonathan Taylor, and he is doing historic things at the position in 2025. Taylor came into the game with 12 touchdowns, a total that was better or tied with 4 other teams. Taylor also was on pace to lead the NFL in carries, rushing yards and rushing touchdowns – what’s referred to as a running back’s Triple Crown. Since Taylor…

When Aaron Rodgers first signed with the Steelers this off season, and the quarterback arrived for minicamp, some of his teammates were a little hesitant to approach him before he approached them. A few admitted they were starstruck, some slightly intimidated, some just not sure what to say. After all, this is a four-time NFL MVP during his 18 seasons with the Green Bay Packers, who drafted him in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft. A Super Bowl Champion. A future Hall of Famer. And when it comes to stars in the NFL, there aren’t many who are more of a household name than Rodgers. As one player said with a smile, ‘It’s Aaron ‘freaking’ Rodgers.’ Those feelings and days quickly passed, though. Because what everyone realized rather…

Steelers legends returned to their homefield and were honored at halftime of the Steelers’ win over the Indianapolis Colts. The team was celebrating its 20-year reunion after winning the Super Bowl XL Championship in 2005. But there weren’t all good times. Some of the older veterans analyzed what it took to get over the hump. JOEY PORTER (drafted in 1999) Did you know it was going to turn around during those bad years? “Yeah. We were searching for a quarterback. Let’s be honest. Those teams that were bad, our defense was growing. Our defense was steadily climbing, but we were searching for a quarterback. So it turned right away, as soon as we got Tommy Maddox.” Even at 6-10 in 2003, you believed you were still just one player away?…

The storyline was an obvious one, and it had been scrutinized and analyzed all week. Then the Sunday night kickoff allowed it to build to a crescendo for the packed house at Acrisure Stadium and a national television audience. After 18 seasons in Green Bay that included 4 MVP Awards and a Lombardi Trophy, Aaron Rodgers was about to play against the team that made him a first-round draft pick in 2005, that made him the starting quarterback and face of the franchise in 2008. Rodgers had made a lot of history wearing the Packers colors, and his first game against his former team was going to give him a chance to make a little more. With a win on Sunday, Oct. 26, Rodgers would have joined Brett Favre, Peyton…

Jaylen Warren has brought a smile to Aaron Rodgers’ face ever since training camp. And after the Steelers played the Packers, the game after Warren had rushed for 127 yards against the Bengals, Rodgers was asked this simple question: Why? This time, Rodgers laughed out loud. “Just the way he’s so dynamic with the football,” Rodgers said. “He’s hilarious out there on field, because he’s such a sweet guy. Just some of the things he’s thinking about from time to time are amazing. He’s just always so positive out there. But I love being in the huddle and being out there in the shotgun next to him, and then just kind of watching him go.” One play against the Packers, in particular, amused Rodgers. And, no, it wasn’t the 17-yard…

For Cole Holcomb, the 2023 season was a new beginning. The only problem was, it ended before he had the chance to enjoy it. But that is now in the past, and Holcomb has another fresh start, one that he earned through hard work and determination. That is why his teammates voted him the Steelers 2025 recipient of the Ed Block Courage Award. The award is voted on by the players and given to a teammate who has shown courage either coming back from an injury or a life-altering situation. Holcomb will receive the award at the 2025 Arthur J. Rooney Courage House Luncheon on Nov. 11 at Acrisure Stadium. That 2023 season had started off with great promise for Holcomb. After signing as an unrestricted free agent, Holcomb was…

Thanks to their 23-9 victory over the Cleveland Browns on Oct. 12 at Acrisure Stadium, the Steelers are 4-1 and sitting atop the AFC North. They have a 3-and-a-half game lead over the preseason favorite to win the division, and a 2-and-a-half game lead over the team that has won the division twice in the last 4 seasons. They have been improving steadily during the first six weeks of this particular season, and their offense is not just along for the ride for the first time since Ben Roethlisberger retired. None of the above would be true if not for Aaron Rodgers. In the win over the Browns, Rodgers completed 21-of-30 (70 percent) for 235 yards, with 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, and a rating of 115.3. But as I’ve written…

From the notebook of a sportswriter who is covering a team leading its division by two games at the halfway point in the season: • And who thought last week he was covering a team leaning in on the No. 1 overall draft pick. • Tough times in Pittsburgh, obviously, after a couple of poor defensive performances. Even Mike Tomlin recognized the heat by saying, “It was a tough week, but we certainly deserved it based on the last performance.” • Again, first place by two games. • The Steelers defense righted the ship and coordinator Teryl Austin might sleep well for a night or two. His 4-3 defense was a unique twist in taking away Jonathan Taylor. Tomlin was asked whether this – with Malik Harrison playing off the…

“Steelers Style 2025 – Here We Give,” the team’s annual fashion show featuring players and their families showing off the latest fashions, recently took place at Stage AE. With its theme of the Wizard of Oz’s ‘There’s No Place Like Home,’ there was a true Pittsburgh feeling in the air as the show Followed the Yellow Brick Road through the football season. Steelers Style, which is presented by Amazon, Neighborhood Ford Store, PNC, UPMC and UPMC Health Plan, was co-chaired by Art and Greta Rooney and Mike and Kiya Tomlin. “It is exciting to do this, because I feel like each year collectively and even in my fashion design part, we try to step it up and just do bigger and better,” said Kiya Tomlin. “So, it’s always a new…

Their wide receiver tandem is the best in the NFL, but their offensive line is not. Their franchise quarterback was a spectator for this Thursday night game on Oct. 16 and will continue to be until sometime in December because of a toe injury, but that might be the safest place for him because the “pass protection” has allowed an average of 49 sacks over the previous 5 seasons. So it would seem that the best way to deal with this aerial circus is to go after the quarterback through the offensive line and cut the proverbial head off the snake. Perfect. With their replacement quarterback being a 40-year-old man who was neither elusive nor fleet of foot even as a 23-year-old rookie, and with him facing a defense that…

When he injured a hamstring late in the win over the Minnesota Vikings on Sept. 28, the estimates for Patrick Ramsey’s ability to return varied, but none of them were so optimistic as to predict he would be able to play in the Steelers’ next game, which was to be Oct. 12 vs. the Cleveland Browns. That belief seemed to be holding true, because following the bye, Ramsey was a non-participant in practice on both Wednesday and Thursday, but he did return on Friday and was a full participant in the final on-field session before the Browns game. Still listed as questionable on Friday, Ramsey had his injury designation rescinded by Saturday, and the questionable label was removed at that time as well. And so when the Steelers and the…