Every Sunday during the offseason I plan on recapping for you seven items related to the Pittsburgh Steelers and the rest of the NFL that may have fallen through the cracks the past week that should be worth your time to read or view. This weekly feature will be entitled “Steelers’ Seven Shots.”
Shot #1 – There’s a very good chance that the Steelers 2018 preseason schedule will be released this coming week and maybe even as early as Monday. Last year the team’s four-game preseason schedule was released on Monday, April 7 and the exact times of those contests followed soon after. The Steelers 2018 regular season schedule is once again expected to be released right before the draft.
Shot #2 – You already know that the Steelers defense gave up far too many completed passes thrown more than 20 yards past the line of scrimmage last season but what you might not know is that the passing yards allowed on those plays were the fourth-most in the NFL. According to Pro Football Focus, only three other teams allowed more receiving yards on passes thrown more than 20 yards down the field than the Steelers did. By the way, a large portion of those completed passes came during the second half of the regular season and while cornerback Joe Haden was sidelined by injury.
Shot #3 – Running back Le’Veon Bell recently played basketball with the La Roche College men’s basketball team. The Redhawks’ Twitter page posted photos from the occasion. For whatever reason it appears as though Bell is back in Pittsburgh training for a while.
Shot #4 – Houston Texans head coach Bill O’Brien was a guest on PFT Live this past week and during his interview with Mike Florio he shed some light on the new lowering of the helmet rule that was passed at the league meetings a few weeks ago. I highly suggest that you click ahead to the 26:35 mark on the audio below to hear his comments on the topic.
Shot #5 – There’s been quite a bit of talk about Oklahoma State quarterback Mason Rudolph the last several days and if you’re interested in learning more about him, Pro Football Focus recently posted a great study of him.
Taking a look at Mason Rudolph across the entire route treehttps://t.co/BMfCfJdI4i pic.twitter.com/1QNRYdudWb
— PFF Draft (@PFF_College) April 6, 2018
Shot #6 – On Friday, Steelers tackle Alejandro Villanueva, along with the organization, donated 10 refrigerators and 25 flat-screen televisions to local veterans living in townhomes. KDKA has all the details.
Shot #7 – Former Steelers cornerback William Gay signed with the New York Giants last week and below is his first interview since that occurred. Gay talks about why he chose to sign with the Giants, his consecutive-games played in streak and much more.
Newest #NYGiants CB William Gay discusses signing with Big Blue and what his 11 years of NFL experience can do for the defense! pic.twitter.com/aQCsckYB5R
— New York Giants (@Giants) April 5, 2018
