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5 Burning Questions on the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Tomlin Shuffle

Is SidelineGate obscuring tensions between Roethlisberger and Haley? Will Ike Taylor get torched by Wallace? What should Pittsburgh do if Le'Veon Bell cannot play vs. Miami. Answer these, and other Burning Questions on the Pittsburgh Steelers.

By Hombre de Acero
Is SidestepGate obscuring another Roethlisberger-Haley Rift? You make the Call!
Is SidestepGate obscuring another Roethlisberger-Haley Rift? You make the Call!
Karl Walter

The Pittsburgh Steelers fought down to the wire vs. the Ravens on Thanksgiving, but ultimately 2 critical Steeler errors meant the men in Black and Gold would go home from Baltimore empty handed. The Steelers may be 5-7 and on the fringes of the AFC Wild Card race, but Steelers Nation must first resolve these 5 Burning Questions before moving on to the Miami Dolphins....

1. By this point, everyone has seen the Tomlin Sideline Shuffle. KDKA's video appeared to be pretty damming. Yet, as Alan Robinson indicated:


Mike Tomlin acquitted himself pretty well, and yet another video has surfaced to support the Steelers coach. What do you think of Tomlin's Side Step? Was it intentional? What do you think of the NFL's fine and "Maybe a draft pick" punishment?

2. For the past three weeks we've seen the Lions, Browns and Ravens aggressively target Ike Taylor and enjoy a lot of statistical success. Is Taylor losing a step? And if so, is there any hope the Steelers can contain Mike Wallace?

3. The word is that Le'Veon Bell is passing his concussion protocols well. Yet, that can and has changed. If Bell can't go should the Steelers enter the Dolphins game with only Felix Jones and Jonathan Dwyer? If not what move should they make?

4. Offensive line and injuries have been frequently subjects of the "5 Burnings" this season, despite of a strong desire to avoid repeats/recycling. Yet some themes simply recurre... Here goes it: The 2013 Pittsburgh Steelers have lost two starting centers, played all active offensive lineman in a number of games, and even acquired new tackles in season only to lose their services before either even played a game.

Do the Steelers simply suffer from Kafkaesque luck with offensive line, or could management do something else to prepare better?

5. Lost in the sound and further of the close loss and the Tomlin Sideline Shuffle, was this piece by Dejan Kovacevic, who reported this quote from Ben Roethlisberger, explaining why he called a timeout at the goal line:

"I went over there to get us out of the play he was going to call," Roethlisberger said. "I knew what play was coming because we had talked on the sideline, so I just wanted to get over there and voice my opinion. I thought we had a better play down there than the one that we were going to do."

The Roethlisberger-Haley relationship consumed a lot of ink in 2012, in 2013 not so much. Nonetheless, does this quote from Kovacevic tell us that these two men still can get on the same page?

There you go folks.

Remember BTSC quiz rules are in effect. Show your work. Look at your neighbor's paper. And by all means make modifications to your test paper after you turn it in.

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