The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2021 season is underway, and they are hoping for a better outcome in comparison to last season. After starting out 11-0, they finished the year 1-4 in the regular season, and then lost in the Wildcard Round to the Cleveland Browns, ignited by a 0-28 first quarter.
They have lost a large number of key players in the offseason, like Maurkice Pouncey, Bud Dupree, Alejandro Villanueva, David DeCastro, Mike Hilton, and Steven Nelson, but they’ve also made significant additions as the months have gone on, notably Trai Turner, Melvin Ingram, Joe Schobert, and Ahkello Witherspoon. They also added Najee Harris, Pat Freiermuth, Kendrick Green, and Dan Moore Jr., all of whom are starting.
There isn’t much left to do but to play the games at this point. Even if they play them poorly. They still have a lot to figure out, though, such as what Matt Canada’s offense is going to look like in any given week, or how the new-look secondary and offensive line is going to play.
These are the sorts of questions among many others that we have been exploring on a daily basis and will continue to do so. Football has become a year-round pastime and there is always a question to be asked. There is rarely a concrete answer, but this is your venue for exploring the topics we present through all their uncertainty.
Question: What do we expect to hear from Mike Tomlin on this most lovely of Tomlin Tuesdays?
The Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off of a loss, after which head coach Mike Tomlin promised to use the extra time following a Thursday game to give serious consideration to not only to what they are doing, but who they are doing it with.
But what sorts of options do they even have? After their last loss, they added a defensive tackle off of the New Orleans Saints’ practice squad in Montravius Adams. He has done alright acclimating himself, though there’s a reason he was on a practice squad. They added edge John Simon yesterday, also to the practice squad.
After another bad week for the offensive line, will changes be coming? They just got Joe Haeg off of the Reserve/COVID-19 List. They could potentially get Kevin Dotson and/or J.C. Hassenauer off of the Reserve/Injured List. And here is your obligatory mention of tackle Zach Banner.
Oh, and maybe Robert Spillane is healthy. Buddy Johnson and Marcus Allen already started playing snaps on defense last week. What does that mean for Devin Bush’s playing time? And for the love of all that is good, does anybody know what is up with Joe Haden’s foot?
Stephon Tuitt is not even a discussion anymore. I doubt that they have any intentions of activating him from the Reserve/Injured List at this point, whether he is healthy or not. That’s a done deal. And I’d love to hear some details about it during the offseason, quite frankly, because there’s so much I want to understand. His absence has been glaring, to say the least.
