At his weekly news conference yesterday, coach Mike Tomlin readily acknowledged that the Steelers are to blame for their precarious playoff chances, but said as well that the only thing they can do about it is to beat Cleveland on Sunday and hope the Patriots and Dolphins lose their games. That’s the only scenario that puts the Steelers in the playoffs and it won’t be easy. The Dolphins play against a Buffalo team that is dealing with the life-threatening loss of safety Damar Hamlin while the Patriots play the Jets, whose season crashed thanks to five straight losses.
The Steelers have won five of their last six games, including three in a row, but they lost the last time they played the Browns, on September 22nd.
Tomlin says they will need to do a better job of containing Cleveland’s twin running back combo of Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. Chubb ran for 113 yards in that September game.
The Browns were only 6 of 16 in third down conversions in the first meeting in September, but five of those six conversions happened in the first half. Tomlin says the defense can’t allow that this time around.
Browns star defensive end Myles Garrett is having another monster season. Tomlin says like the Steeler’s TJ Watt, Garrett has to beat blocking schemes designed specifically to stop him.
The Damar Hamlin situation remains perilous. The Buffalo safety, who went into cardiac arrest during Monday’s night’s game in Cincinnati, remains in the hospital in a medically induced coma, according to family members.
Mike Tomlin said it’s a personal issue for him since he has known Hamlin since Hamlin was about 12 years old. Tomlin admires the former Pitt and Central Catholic star.
Cornerback James Pierre remains in concussion protocol. Linebacker Myles Jack is limited by a groin injury and safety Minkah Fitzpatrick will be limited this week by his ankle sprain.
The Steelers often bring in players for tryouts, with the possibility of signing them to either the practice squad or lining them up to sign a futures contract after the season. Yesterday, they brought in tight end Thaddeus Moss, the son of Hall of Fame wideout Randy Moss, and offensive guard Mike Panusiak, who was a defensive lineman at Michigan State.
NFL
The NFL says the game between the Bills and the Bengals won’t be resumed this week. The league has made no decision regarding the possible resumption of the game at a later date. It also said it hasn’t made any changes to this coming weekend’s schedule.
Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper has had a discussion with University of Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh about taking over the Panthers head coaching job. In the NFL, Harbaugh coached the 49ers to the Super Bowl, losing to his brother John’s Baltimore Ravens in 20 in 2013.
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