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...
By Bob Smizik | Tuesday, 12:30 a.m. After a stretch of games against two of the many awful, awful teams in the NFL, the Steelers get back to reality Sunday when they play the undefeated Minnesota Vikings. Compared to the past two weeks, when victory was all but assured and the usual edge that accompanies...
By Bob Smizik | Monday 12:15 a.m. The conventional wisdom of the day seems to be that the Steelers were merely playing down to the level of competition, which is why they did not beat the Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns by, say, 50 points. Sorry, I’m not buying that. After beating the Browns...
By Bob Smizik | Thursday 12:30 a.m. The state of officiating in major American sports is reaching alarmingly low levels. Just as athletes seem to get better and better, the people charged with judging competition get worse and worse. Just this past weekend two miserable calls, not widely criticized,...
By Bob Smizik | Wednesday, 8:15 a.m. The rotator cuff injury that will sideline defensive end Aaron Smith for the remainder of the season is a staggering but not fatal blow to the Steelers chances of repeating as Super Bowl champion. Smith will be keenly missed. There is no one person or group who can...