Steelers Outpost Podcast

Quizzical Decisions About Coaches   In this episode Emmanuel Sanders Waxes On AB Manny Sanders was on NFL Game Day week and he had a whole bunch to say about his buddy Antonio Brown.  Although he slings a little hypocrisy in there, Sanders does have insight into AB and he doesn't like what he sees.  We break this down because it's better than reading all the conjecture from people who have never p...

As Alfred Hitchcock once said, "What is drama but life with the dull bits cut out?" And certainly with Antonio Brown there is never a dull moment, which was reinforced by Jesse James who said "Ah man, we are — Kardashians.” The thought that Pittsburgh, a town with its share of troubles and one that has shown resilience in the face of adversity, has a wide receiver who just got a 4-year, $68 millio...

Steelers 16 Bengals 13 OK. We lied. We said that there was no way the Steelers would make the playoffs this year. We said that we weren't going to get invested in this game against the Bengals.   For a while, that was true.  Until it became possible that the Steelers might LOSE and the Browns would WIN in an ironic, cruel twist of incompetency. Then things started swinging our way.  The Steelers t...

Steelers 28 Saints 31 This was a body blow.  This game was starting to give you the belief that the Steelers could sustain a run into the playoffs by taking it to the Saints in the Super Dome.  Of course that hope was extinguished as we entered into the final phase of the game with some costly turnovers, but elements of the demise emerged early in the game with  letdowns on defense and some agoniz...

Steelers 17 Patriots 10 Battling the history of five straight losses to the Patriots, the Steelers  achieved redemption in a surprisingly low-scoring affair.  While there's always something to criticize, this is a victory to be celebrated, to be savored for the rare vintage it has become. 1. Throwback Dirty Steelers Win    a. Wasn’t always beautiful    b. Immediate Pats TD was terrifying / Brady g...

Steelers 21 Raiders 24 Unless you were keyed into Warren Zevon in the late '70s, you might not get the title of this episode (but it's a great song!). Suffice it to say that we are quickly losing confidence in HC Mike Tomlin.   Here's what we talk about in this episode:   Yet Another Loss in Oakland - Tomlin taking some serious heat for leaving Dobbs in while Ben was good to go. Chris Boswell 0/2...

Steelers 30 Chargers 33   This was decidedly one of the worst losses in two years.  We finally stop a prolific offense and QB in its tracks while simultaneously rolling to a 23-7 half time lead, only to revert to our tendency on defense to bend then break and for the offense to sputter.    It was a tale of two halves certainly as the Steelers went 0-7 on third-down conversions in the second half....

Steelers 17 Broncos 24   The race is not always to the swift. In a scene reminiscent of the Tortoise and the Hare, the Steelers stood slouched against the wall near the finish line...one foot on the sidewalk, the other propped against the red brick building, fedora hat tipped forward over the brow and Marlborough hanging jauntily from their lips, figuring that once again, they would saunter from t...

Steeler 20 Jaguars 16 This game seemed inevitable from the start, with the Steelers stumbling to 19 yards and 3:41 TOP in the first quarter, then further disintegrating as Ben threw his customary interceptions (although he only threw three this time). Pittsburgh couldn't see the Jaguars side of the field with a drone until the end of the 1st half when the broached midfield. But lo!! It seemed that...

Two teams in a row with mascots from the cat family...(and don't forget, we already beat the Bengals) In this episode we wrap up the overview of the Steelers overwhelming 52-21 victory over the Panthers. We look ahead to next week's contest when we take on another feline opponent.... the Jacksonville Jaguars.  The Jags have been Pittsburgh's bogeyman. Two humiliating defeats in 2017 against a team...

Steelers 52 Panthers 21 Nerves quickly gave way to pure joy in this contest that saw statistical pornography as the Steelers ran, passed and scored at will over the hapless Carolina Kittens this past Thursday night. We wanted to get a quick show out to share our joy with Steelers Nation.  We'll do a full episode this weekend where we'll provide more context and talk about the story lines.   In  th...

Steelers 23 Ravens 16 Joshua Dobbs gets “Greatest of Today” accolades for his heroics in the 4th quarter. With the Steelers up by only 7 points, its back to the end zone and its HOF QB on the sideline, the understudy entered the game on 2nd and 20.  Under center, he dropped back and found JuJu 22 yards downfield to move the markers and preserve the drive. While no single play determines the outcom...

Steelers 33 Browns 18 The first 16:31 of this contest portended an all-too familiar cataclysmic, post-bye week engine failure as evidenced by 7 yards of offensive production.  Then the languid performance of the Pittsburgh Football Steelers gave way to a resounding, glorious offensive explosion culminating in the decimation of a team that had once challenged the notion of our hoped-for dominance i...

Route AFC North Passes Through Pittsburgh Buccaneers 26 - Browns 23 OT Saints 24-Ravens 23 Chiefs 45-Bengals 10 If you're "math-y" you take solace in Pittsburgh's 12/1000 of a lead over the 4-3 Bengals as the Steelers ascend the AFC North throne through sheer complacency.  In a bye week of satisfying schadenfreude, we saw our AFC-N colleagues all take it on the chin, ending with a delectable destr...

Steelers 28  Bengals 21 Were you losing hope?  Did that penultimate Cincinnati drive, drive you INSANE, just knowing that the Steeler defense couldn't hold back the inevitable Bengal victory.  Did you see the Sword of Damocles slicing its way through 75 yards to give Cincy a 1 point lead with 1:18 left of the clock. Well, you needed to SHALIEVE!  The Steelers did what the Steelers do to animals li...

Steelers 41  Falcons 17 This felt good even though we dominated a cellar-dwelling team. The last time we used "domination" to describe the Steelers, the regular season had not yet begun. Join us as we review how it all came together in this game and whether we can sustain this level of performance. The Ben-AB "wifi" was wonky, but finally hit 4 bars on a class 49 yard shot from Ben to AB for Anton...

Steelers 14  Tampa Bay 26 We revisit the Steelers' 26-14 loss to our mortal enemies, the Baltimore Ravens and to explore whether the majesty of this franchise is fading like the light in the eyes of a loved one who lived a glorious life, but who proves to be a mortal in the end.   This is another demoralizing loss that could legitimately spell doom for the end of the season.  Everyone wants to pin...

Steelers 30  Tampa Bay 27 The Steelers manage to hang on to 30-27 victory over the QB formerly known as Ryan Fitzmagic and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. There was as much to love about this game as there was to hate. Certainly the defense is not showing signs of marked improvement, although there were some entertaining turnovers to watch. The offense is emerging as the irresistible force for which it...

Steelers 37 vs. Chiefs 42 This is what a real life loss feels like people.  It wasn’t last week when we eeked out a tie with the Cleveland Browns, in spite of what Cam Heyward said. This was rib-kicking, gut wrenching, rub-your-nose-in-it failure of the highest order. We have a glimpse of the future and it looks a lot like 2017. It’s hardly worth doing the analysis. We need only pull out the defen...

Steelers 21 Browns 21 The Cleveland Browns were trying to be the perfect hosts… They put out their finest linens, polished the silverware and sat the Steelers down to a banquet where they could feast to their heart’s content.  The Steeler, gracious guests that they are would have none of it. On a rain-soaked afternoon, in the only stadium outside of Pgh where Ben Roethsliberger is the #1 winning Q...

Roster Cut Down On Saturday, the Steelers cut 37 players to get down to its 53 man roster.  The reason you don't listen to the so-called "experts"? No one was calling for Landry Jones to be cut.  More amazing - Josh Dobbs is now the backup for Ben Roethlisberger. Really? We had that dude on the practice squad for the Panthers. We delve into this strange choice as well as the one that valued Jaylen...

Steelers Starters Burnish Blades on Tennessee Titans Steeler 16 Titans 6 It didn't take long for the Steelers to throw off the rust and hurl the Titans a third loss in the preseason. Ben acquitted himself well, going 11/18 for 114 yards and a touchdown. Interestingly, the Steelers defense prevented the Titans from moving past the 50 yard line in their first seven series and in six of those series...

Steelers and the Bermuda Triangle It wasn't as bad as I thought once I reviewed everything play-by-play. However, what is abundantly clear is that we have not solved a holdover problem from last year - the Bermuda Triangle which is the middle of the field and a place that opponents go to automatically pad their passing yardage statistics. It's most likely due to a thin cupboard of inside linebacke...

PRESEASON - GAME 1 STEELERS 31 - EAGLES 14 It's nice to see Boz breakout in this inaugural exhibition game, going 3-3 in FGs and 2-2 in XPs. Other than that, we saw some of the same flaws on defense that we hoped had been addressed, realizing that we didn't uncover the second coming of Ryan Shazier through free agency.  There were some disturbing gashes against the d-line, especially after Jordan...

Training Camp - Who's In? Who's in Trouble? Training Camp Themes Depth Chart Injuries Le’Veon We have  enough training camp data to identify some trends and themes.    We get our first view of competition outside training camp with a pre-season game against the reigning Super Bowl Champions (doesn't it just make you grit your teeth?) Philadelphia Eagles on  Thursday. There are the usual dings duri...