Brief and to the Point ...
Anyone getting tired yet of my constant comparisons between these Steelers and those Stanley Cup champs from a few months back?
Nah, thought not.
Here's another: The kids on this roster, meaning the rookies and others who recently ascended into prominent roles, just ooze poise. They're humble about their place in the hierarchy, respectful of the veterans, but at the same time confident enough — maybe even a little cocky — to carry themselves with the authority anyone needs to succeed.
Cobi Hamilton, a 26-year-old almost-never-was, came down with the overtime touchdown Sunday to beat the Browns. It was his 17th catch in the NFL, all of them coming this season.
His reaction?
Hey, I tried.
Sean Davis, a baby-faced 23-year-old rookie, occupies the next stall in their corner of the Heinz Field locker room. When I left Hamilton for other reporters to try their own techniques, I asked Davis for a moment of his time. And I was politely rejected, for the neatest reason.
"Have to let Cobi have his time," Davis told me. "OK, to wait till he's done?"
Sure, kid, it can wait.
And once we eventually talked ...
... all of that oozed out.
If he doesn't remind older observers of this franchise of a young Carnell Lake, on and off the field, I can't imagine who could. He's hardly alone. Eli Rogers, Bud Dupree, Artie Burns, Javon Hargrave, Ricardo Mathews, Demarcus Ayers ... they're all different, obviously, but they've all got that distinct edge.
And if this group as a whole doesn't remind the local sporting public of the performance, the personalities and the push the Penguins got from Conor Sheary, Bryan Rust, Tom Kuhnhackl, Matt Murray and all the rest, I would feel the same.
"I can see that. I can," Marcus Gilbert said of this comparison. "All these young guys, they came in here and brought us energy, gave us a kick. And they can take care of themselves, too, you know?"
The big man then laughed.
"You going to write a book about this?"
Hm. Maybe a double-sided book that tells a separate tale from each cover but reaches the same climactic conclusion.
• Lawrence Timmons a goner?
Might have looked that way back in August when the Steelers extended Vince Williams' contract by three years. But it can't be looking that way now.
For one, the entire value of Williams' new deal is $5.5 million. That's roughly two-thirds of the $8.75 million Timmons is earning in this, the final year of his contract. Regardless of age or stature, that speaks loudly to the Steelers' view of these inside linebackers' comparative value.
For another, given that Williams was set up early to play quite a bit, it's been one of the season's biggest surprises that he no longer leaves the sideline except for special teams. Even against the Browns, it was Timmons from front to finish.
And yet another: Timmons is 30, and he'll turn 31 in May. He's made 981 tackles. His miles have been hard miles. But anyone appreciating what he's done this season, one of the finest of his career, couldn't conceivably doubt that he's got another year or two in him.
A Troy Polamalu kind of career-closing deal?
It's worth a discussion.
• Focusing too much on Jay Ajayi is a mistake. It's understandable, given that he trampled the Steelers for 204 yards on that steamy mid-October day in Miami, but the defining trait of these Dolphins as they enter the playoffs is this: They're dreadful defensively.
As in 29th in the league in total defense, averaging 382.6 yards allowed per game. Only the Colts, Browns and 49ers were worse. And not by much.
There's a reason for that: Of the Dolphins' 11 highest-paid players on defense, an incredible seven might not play Sunday at Heinz Field, whether due to injury or performance.
• The highest-paid player on that defense, down lineman Ndamukong Suh, also comes with several other descriptive adjectives that aren't so flattering. That's because he's the league's dirtiest player.
So dirty he can make Vontaze Burfict look like a choir boy:
So dirty that LeGarrette Blount offered this after the Patriots crushed the Dolphins this weekend: “He’s a dirty player. He’s always been a dirty player. He’s gonna always be dirty player. There’s no room in the game for that. At some point in time, guys have to defend themselves when he’s doing the things that he does. Hopefully, there’s something to be said about it. But all in all, he got his ass beat. They lost. He went in the locker after the game. We good.”
The Steelers don't need to assault him repeatedly, as they did to poor Burfict a couple weeks ago in Cincinnati. But they'd better keep an eye on him anytime he gets near Ben Roethlisberger. Including after the whistle.
• Mike Mitchell cares a lot about football. He might care even more about protecting his reputation from being labeled a dirty player. No matter what conversation is occurring, win or lose, good mood or bad, he always seems to swing it around to how he hits clean and fair. After the Thanksgiving game in Indianapolis, he talked my ear off on the subject for maybe 10 minutes, and I hadn't even asked.
That probably ought to explain this priceless reaction to that facemask call Sunday:
• There's no way they're losing this game.
• Give it up for the Penguins for pushing back the Sunday faceoff with the Lightning to 5:08 p.m., to allow Pittsburghers to enjoy both games.
They did not have to do that.
They probably did not want to do that.
Think about it: Tampa Bay plays the previous afternoon in Philadelphia. That's going to be a hard, physical game. Faceoff for that is 1:08 p.m., same as the originally scheduled time in Pittsburgh the next day. Mike Sullivan had everything to gain by forcing the Lightning to wake up all battered and bruised and go right to the rink and face the team that'll have the league's freshest legs after this bye week.
With some teams, the fans and the city come first.
• If anyone thought for a split-second that Jim Rutherford would trade Marc-Andre Fleury this season, use this bye week to wash that out for good.
Matt Murray's injury, combined with a very green Tristan Jarry being forced up from Wilkes-Barre, that's the kind of thing that revives scary times in Raleigh, where Rutherford watched his Hurricanes rapidly disintegrate from champion to afterthought, in large part due to Cam Ward getting hurt again and again.
He won't allow it to happen again. And he shouldn't.
• Are we taking Matt Cullen's awesomeness for granted?
• The Blue Jackets have won 15 in a row. They're threatening the 17-game winning streak of the 1992-93 Penguins, the most overwhelming team in franchise history. It's been astonishing. It's been, in its own way, great for hockey to be able to grow in Ohio. Kudos to all concerned, including even John Tortorella. Because this talented group badly underachieved at the start of last season, and it's only now taking flight.
That said, the Blue Jackets have been in existence for 17 seasons. Their next playoff series victory will be the first. They've only made the playoffs twice.
Don't dare say that historic stuff doesn't matter. If you do, there are a ton of people in our nation's capital who will beg to differ.
• Donald Fehr, the NHL Players Association's chief, told reporters Monday at the Winter Classic in St. Louis that he's "never been more optimistic" that the league's players again will participate in the Olympics, these in PyeongChang next year. Gary Bettman, naturally, spoke the opposite while offering increasingly less substance to his stance with each passing week.
He professed to be worried about the cost, roughly $10 million, a pittance in professional sports.
Well, the International Ice Hockey Federation offered to foot the full bill.
He professed to be interested only in going to Beijing in 2022, where the exposure could mean far more money than in Korea.
Well, the International Olympic Committee has powerfully suggested the NHL can't just pick and choose which Games it wants.
Get this done already. The best players in the world want to represent their countries in the biggest sporting event in the world.
• There's nothing about a last-second, 46-yard kick that should diminish Penn State's remarkable, miles-above-expectations football season.
A lot of people in these parts enjoy pointing back to the Pitt loss, and that's immensely cool in and of itself because, ideally, it helps foster a longer-term link between the programs. But the fact is, the Pitt loss might as well have propelled the Nittany Lions because they almost immediately became a stronger team and went on to beat No. 2 Ohio State, take the Big 10 title from Wisconsin and come that close in the Rose Bowl.
No positive spin is needed for that. James Franklin and his program did it right, and they're on the rise.
• Man, Saquon Barkley's going to be a blast on Sundays:
• Has Pitt hired E.J. Borghetti yet to be the new AD?
Or will the search firm not bother searching in Oakland?
• Let's close this week with a pearl from Jed York, the young owner and CEO of the 49ers, who at a testy press conference Monday discussed firing Chip Kelly as coach, Trent Baalke as GM, which will bring about San Francisco's fourth coach in as many years.
York was asked why he, too, shouldn't be dismissed.
"I own this football team. You don't dismiss owners," he replied in the meekest of tones. "I'm sorry, but that's the facts, and that's the case. That's the fact. I'm going to do everything I can to get this right. This isn't about a business and running an operation to make money. We're making sure we're doing everything we can to re-establish this culture."