It has been a one-of-a-kind offseason for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2020. The Steelers have finally taken the field in the regular season! It is to check in on all things black-and-gold as the team rolls through their 2020 schedule!
Today in the black-and-gold links article we take a look at how Mike Tomlin is planning on bringing officials into practice this week to hopefully help decrease penalites.
Let’s get to the news:
- The Steelers had 10 penalties in Week 2, will this help?
Mike Tomlin will bring officials to practice in attempt to reduce number of Steelers penalties
By: Joe Rutter, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Frustrated by the number of penalties that extended drives and helped the Denver Broncos nearly come back from a 14-point halftime deficit Sunday, Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin will have officials on hand at practice this week.
The Steelers routinely bring in officials during training camp, and Tomlin has done it during the regular season, too, when he feels the need to have some physical mistakes corrected.
“We need to ratchet up our quality of play in that area and that’s a reasonable approach in doing so,” Tomlin said Tuesday at his weekly news conference.
The Steelers were penalized 10 times for 89 yards in the 26-21 victory. Four pass interference penalties were called, including four in the second half when the Broncos rallied to within 17-14 and had the ball with a chance to go ahead in the final two minutes of the game.
To read the full article, click HERE (Free)
- Kevin Dotson passed his first test with the Steelers, and as a professional.
Kevin Dotson passes 1st test as starter on Steelers offensive line
By: Joe Rutter, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
In his first NFL start, Pittsburgh Steelers guard Kevin Dotson pitched the offensive line equivalent of a no-hitter.
Dotson was asked to provide pass protection for quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on 42 snaps Sunday in the Steelers’ 26-21 victory against the Denver Broncos at Heinz Field.
Roethlisberger was sacked just once, but the pressure didn’t come against Dotson’s spot on the right side of the line. Not only did Dotson help keep Roethlisberger off the ground, he didn’t allow a quarterback hit, pressure or hurried throw.
Pro Football Focus, in its subjective grades, rated Dotson’s performance the best among all guards — veteran or rookie — in terms of Week 2 pass protection.
Not bad for a fourth-round pick from a non-Power 5 school who wasn’t invited to the NFL Combine, missed a week early in training camp with a knee injury and turned 24 just two days before being thrust into a starting job against the Broncos.
Or that Dotson carried the label as a 321-pound road-grading run blocker at Louisiana of the Sun Belt Conference.
“I think I did,” Dotson said Monday when asked if he opened some eyes with his pass protection skills. “The people who know football pretty much know that I am more versatile than being just a run blocker. People who know the position and things like that know I’m not just a run blocker. But it was good to prove it to other people.”
To read the full article, click HERE (Free)
- The Steelers’ defense has been firing on all cylinders. Can it keep it up?
Team effort from the defense
By: Mike Prisuta, Steelers.com
Team effort: It’s been a team effort on defense through two games, but defensive tackle and defensive captain Cam Heyward emphasized today it’s not yet time for a group congratulatory hug.
“It’s only been two weeks,” he noted. “I’m not gonna get ahead of myself and think we’ve accomplished anything.
“We have to be a defense on the rise.”
There remains a great deal of work yet to be done toward that end, but the work the Steelers’ defense has turned in against the New York Football Giants and Denver has been distinguishable by its splash, by its productivity and by its versatility.
Eight players have statistically contributed to the Steelers’ 10 sacks, led by outside linebacker and defensive captain T.J. Watt’s two-and-a-half and nickel cornerback Mike Hilton’s two.
And 10 players have registered at least one of the Steelers’ 22 tackles for a loss (inside linebacker Vince Williams tops that chart with six).
“It’s a positive stat, both of them are,” Heyward continued. “It shows it’s not just one guy doing the work. We like to do this as a collective unit. When one guy gets the sack or the pressure it’s usually because we have a lot of other guys doing their jobs.
“That’s in the passing game. That’s in the running game. We like to communicate a lot, I think doing that allows us to play fast, have confidence in each other.”
To read the full article, click HERE (Free)
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- Ben Roethlisberger Press Conference
.@_BigBen7 speaks about his performance against Denver, the upcoming game against the Texans, @ChaseClaypool's development and more.
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) September 23, 2020
Full ⬇️
- Social Media Madness
Ben Roethlisberger to Chase Claypool for 84 yards and a Touchdown from the Sidelines! #Steelers pic.twitter.com/cxUYBRR5Rr
— BlitzburghVideos (@BlitzVideos) September 21, 2020
Ben to JuJu against the Texans! #Steelers pic.twitter.com/Gi2Jwuui2p
— BlitzburghVideos (@BlitzVideos) September 23, 2020
Extending the play.
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) September 23, 2020
Getting the job done.@_BigBen7 | @Juiceup__3 pic.twitter.com/3GjqWGsHdn
#SteelersNation, you have a chance to get involved in the next @ConvoyofHope event on Monday, Sept. 28 at the Westmoreland Fairgrounds from 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
— Steelers Community Relations (@SteelersCR) September 23, 2020
Visit https://t.co/9bdrzJZ3ti to get involved. pic.twitter.com/pFaAefxIre
.@missi_matthews details what Coach Tomlin said in his Tuesday press conference about player injuries, Chase Claypool, Eric Ebron & more. pic.twitter.com/pZJDqsXxhP
— Steelers Live (@SteelersLive) September 22, 2020