By Bob Smizik | Monday, 12:30 am. The decades-old slogan that the NFL loves and which begins, ``On any given Sunday,’’ is losing some of its steam this season, what with there being so many dog teams in the league. But even if it’s true that on any given Sunday there’s a whole...
By Bob Smizik | Sunday 5:30 p.m. It was a return to yesteryear as well as last year. Like the old days, the defense bailed out the offense and the Steelers took a gigantic step in the right direction yesterday at Heinz Field with a 27-17 win over the Minnesota Vikings. The more than 65,000 people who...
Minnesota -- how could a team with horns on its helmet call "tails?" -- won the toss and elected to receive. The temp is up to 55, and the sun makes it feel warmer. Game on. FIRST QUARTER 1:03 p.m.: The Vikings gave the defense three very different looks, including a little no-huddle. And you...
8:07 p.m.: Meanwhile, back at the ranch. . . . One-hundred ninety-three days later -- and, man, did those pass quickly -- the Super Bowl Polamalu finalists returned to kick-start their 2009 preseasons. A touchback, a nowhere run from a one-back, and the defending champYinz weren't exactly off to...
By Bob Smizik | Monday, 12:45 a.m. It would be an exaggeration to say everyone and his brother has a mock draft posted on the Internet. But not by all that much. Hundreds, if not thousands, feel the need to go public with a prediction on what will happen when the NFL sits down to the ultra-serious business...
By Bob Smizik | Posted at 10:05 a.m. Mike Tomlin says he wants no talk of repeat, but with all due respect to the coach that’s the subject today. Under any circumstances it is difficult to repeat as Super Bowl champion. One injury, one off-year by a key player or a couple of bad bounces can turn...
Ya know, like smorgasboard. Oh, yeah, that style of buffet is so last century, huh? Ben Roethlisberger: On the lacking Steelers' red-zone offense: "[It] has to improve. We moved the ball last time, we converted on third down, we had some success in the no-huddle. They key is getting down there...
4:15: Deferring on the road? Hmmmm. Interesting choice. 4:17: Sorry, CBS' Jim Nantz, but a one-point defeat of Tennessee on the road in Houston isn't The Upset of the Year. But, for Steelers fans, it either means the Titans feel vulnerable just in time for the playoffs. . . or they'll be...