Ben Roethlisberger sheds more light on Steelers’ headset issue against Patriots

While some have second-guessed the Steelers’ clock management late in the first half, Tomlin said he had “no real issues from our perspective”.

Tomlin defended the decision to call a double-pass option in the first quarter that resulted in a loss of eight yards against the Patriots. The Steelers were moving.

Maybe he really doesn’t care about the clamor, the verbal exhaust, the opinion divide, the national debate on whether he’ll avoid Robert Griffin III Syndrome and reinvent himself.

Roethlisberger talked about that play and what offensive coordinator Todd Haley had to say about it after the game. Antonio Brown will continue to play lights out while Pittsburgh still searches for a second receiver to break onto the scene. He was dropped for a loss and the Steelers failed to score any points at all when Josh Scobee pushed a field goal attempt wide.

“I’ll take bad call”, Haley said after Thursday’s practice. This is now Fox’s #3 team and the very solid Laura Okmin usually works with them on the sidelines.

The kind the Steelers spent the offseason trying to avoid. The defense will have to be much tougher to halt the high-flying Pittsburgh offense. Yet the Steelers ranked only seventh in points due in part to their struggles – particularly early in the season – of turning long drives into touchdowns. Good for fantasy owners. “Everything he’s seeing, he’s seeing the same way I am, the coaches are and the rest of the running backs are”.

“We like some of the things we’ve seen from both guys”, Tomlin said.

The Steelers are 4-1-1 against the spread in its last 6 games. Heyward-Bey was about to be a Wheaton vulture last week until he caught a touchdown with his foot on the end zone line rendering it out of bounds.

The newest addition to the Pittsburgh Steelers secondary might not play this week, as they get set to go against the San Francisco 49ers. “But we just don’t do the same things that got us down there”. Pittsburgh will try to get itself into the rhythm of the season this week against San Francisco (1-0), which was physical if sloppy in a 20-3 victory over Minnesota on Monday. “It can be frustrating”. This Monday, the 49ers didn’t seem to have an issue with it, dismantling the Vikings and shutting them down completely. However, the Steelers’ front seven were able to shut down the running game and limit the Patriots to 80 total rushing yards.

Bryant isn’t eligible to return until Week 5 after violating the league’s substance abuse policy, and Bell will sit out Sunday while completing his own suspension under the same rule, leaving their teammates with a little less margin for error. Usually when that happens across an entire unit containing All-Pro caliber players at key positions, the strength of that unit alone can help a team win enough games to put itself into contention over the course of an National Football League regular season. “We’ll have a chance to pass rush, but we have to have good pass-rush lanes”.

Breaking news out of Thursday’s practice regarding Brandon Boykin and several other players’ status for the game Sunday. Cortez Allen is questionable with a head injury. S Mike Mitchell (hip) and LB Sean Spence (hamstring) were full participants. My comment: Yes, I continue to be a sucker for the home underdog, even after the Raiders burned me to a crisp in that exact situation last week vs. Cincinnati.