Fat, Sassy, & Spoiled
Mike Tomlin’s Tuesday press conference following a Monday night win over the Browns almost had more of post-loss postmortem, especially when discussing his moribund offense.
The crowd reaction to that offense -a very audible “Fire Canada!” chant late in the 4th quarter- prompted a line of questioning for Tomlin on Tuesday that ended with what may go down as one of his best answers in 17 years of answering questions as the Steelers Head Coach.
“I appreciate their passion,” Tomlin said of the fans. “I share their passion. We all do. We love our fans, man they inspire us. They challenge us.
It's an awesome relationship, man.”
“We don't run from challenges. We run to challenges. This is a sport and entertainment business. It is our job to win and thus entertain them. And so, you know, we don't begrudge them for that. We want them to be fat and sassy and spoiled. It is our job.”
Call the screen printer, get the t-shirts ready, and set up a table in The Strip, because we’ve got our new shirt ready to go.
And don’t forget the hashtag: #FatSassyNSpoiled
Beaten, Battered, and Bruised
While the defense certainly had moments of vulnerability before Nick Chubb left the game, it would be another blow – or blows – if Elandon Roberts and Minkah Fitzpatrick injuries linger through the week and affect their availability for Sunday night’s game in Las Vegas. Especially with Cam Heyward out for at least seven more weeks and Larry Ogunjobi playing well, but obviously playing through something.
It sounds right now as if further absences won’t be the case, as Tomlin’s description yesterday of both Roberts and Fitzpatrick sounded much less serious than each originally looked on Monday night.
As for a spot that doesn’t seem to be affected by injury but very well should be affected by performance, Joey Porter Jr. finally got some opportunities to play and -wouldn’t you know it- came up big on Cleveland’s final play of the game.
Meanwhile, Levi Wallace spoke postgame of the “track meet” he had chasing Amari Cooper all over the field.
Can I suggest a solution Mr. Wallace’s problem? Perhaps he can move inside as the nickel corner and Joey Porter Jr., taken 32nd over all in the draft, can actually start to play.
U-G-L-Y, This Line Ain’t Got No Alibi, It’s Ugly
Speaking of lack of performance, the Steelers offensive line, which was supposed to have been upgraded over the spring and summer with the signing of Isaac Seumalo and drafting of Broderick Jones, has instead devolved into -at least according to Pro Football Focus- one of the worst, if not the worst in the league through two weeks.
Yet Jones, taken 14th overall in the draft, sits on the sideline while Chuks Okorafor false starts on a regular basis and Dan Moore Jr.
gets the worst PFF grade of any offensive tackle in the NFL. And more importantly than the PFF grades, the offense continues to sputter in both the run and the pass because their line is getting whooped on nearly every play.
Again, just a suggestion, but could Jones be any worse than Moore or Okorafor?