Brief and to the Point ...
No outcome in NFL history could have been more predictable than a 39-year-old linebacker being stranded on the sideline.
So what, exactly, is the big deal about James Harrison?
Seriously, the Steelers couldn't have made any clearer, beginning way back in Latrobe, that Harrison wouldn't be a meaningful part of the plan for 2017. He barely suited up, he barely participated in any drills, and he barely played in any preseason games until the always-hollow finale in Charlotte. And once the real season started, it only got worse, with Harrison seeing significant snaps only when he lined up opposite the Chiefs' Eric Fisher, who plunges into a seizure upon the mere sight of the number 92.
We knew all this. We saw all this coming. And if we didn't see it, we sure heard it when Joey Porter openly declared in training camp that Harrison would be used as 'a relief pitcher.'
Well, that call to the pen never had to be made. T.J. Watt and Bud Dupree aren't polished products, but both have made their splash, particularly Dupree of late. Anthony Chickillo has been a fine backup. Arthur Moats is still here. All four participate on special teams, and all four have stayed mostly healthy.
Again, what's the issue?
Is it that he might still have something left in the tank?
If that's it, that's a hard sell after Mike Tomlin and the Steelers' staff have had him in their sights, day in and day out, for months and didn't see fit to hand him a helmet more often than not. When the end comes, it comes hard. Harrison's spurts, notably in Kansas City, stand out in the memory, but that's a far cry from the value an outside linebacker needs to offer on the modern 53-man. He wasn't able to drop in coverage -- Watt and Dupree do that about three-quarters of the time in Keith Butler's scheme -- he couldn't help on special teams, and he really wasn't much of an influence one way or the other in the locker room.
(Unless, of course, it's considered a good look to publicly pout about playing time on the same week a fellow linebacker suffered a terrifying, life-altering spinal injury.)
Is it that Harrison went to the Patriots?
Stand atop Mount Washington and shout it through a megaphone: WHO CARES?
This might make for captivating reality-TV-type material, but it'll come with about the same substance. Bill Belichick needs about as much help crossing the street as he does understanding the Steelers' tendencies. He could grill Harrison for a week straight and not come up with anything he and the Patriots didn't already know. The film is there, plus they've had two head-to-heads in this calendar year alone.
Is it more of the weird New England fear, now with the added plot twist that it might be Deebo who proves their undoing in the AFC Championship Game?
If so, even assuming he'd see enough snaps to make a difference, I'll take a real warrior in Alejandro Villanueva over a pretend one ...
... especially after Villanueva just had his way all day with the Texans' Jadeveon Clowney. Aly's the real deal now, a bona fide Pro Bowl left tackle. And he's gotten that way, in part, by facing Harrison's best in practice for years now.
What else could it be?
Anyone?
Harrison's had an exemplary career in Pittsburgh. He was a Defensive Player of the Year, a two-time Super Bowl champion, and the author of one of the great defensive plays in championship history. But he was gone once before, to the Bengals, and he's gone again now in the most easily anticipated scenario imaginable.
On the list of the Steelers' concerns, this move ranks somewhere below beating the Browns.
• Not to belabor the point, but it can't be underscored how little impact this move will have on the locker room. Harrison was no more beloved in there than he was anywhere else. That's not even necessarily a knock. Just his personality.
• If there's a mistake on the Steelers' end here, it was having brought back Harrison in the first place after his 5.5-sack finish to last season. But that's hindsight. That contract was signed before Watt was drafted and after Dupree had just missed half the season to one of those annoying core-muscle injuries. The position looked highly unstable. That's why Moats was kept, too, for that matter.
• The most important development at outside linebacker for the Steelers over the past two weeks has been Dupree's ability to pursue in the backfield once he's cut loose by Butler. The coaches have noticed it, too.
"That's a good feeling, to get that trust," Dupree was telling me Sunday in Houston. "I'll do whatever they ask, but it's fun getting back there."
• The most important development at any defensive position for the Steelers over the past two weeks has been Mike Hilton blossoming into one really promising playmaker.
I know, I know ... he's been doing it since Latrobe. But look at the two dramatically different ways Butler utilized him the the past two weeks -- covering tight ends and blitzing the quarterback are wildly divergent skills -- and he excelled in both.
An X-factor is needed without Ryan Shazier. Hilton offers some of that.
• The Penguins will have had three richly deserved, and needed, three full days off for the NHL's Christmas break before returning to the ice tonight against the Blue Jackets. And they'll look just fine, you watch.
Because none of this is complex. It's a team that won't be able to get through an 82-game schedule as presently constituted without dragging to the finish. They'll get pumped up for an opponent they don't like. They'll look like they've got their legs after a break. And then they'll burst the balloon all over again.
Jim Rutherford's facing one tremendous challenge here, even more than Mike Sullivan.
• This Ian Cole trade needs to happen not long after the NHL's moratorium is lifted. It's not helping anyone right now, and it's not fair to a championship player who's deserved better all through this.
• Bryan Rust's four goals are up there among the Penguins' greatest disappointments this season, but the solution shouldn't be confounding to anyone: He's taken only 59 shots in 37 games, an average of 1.59 per game that's way down from the 1.93 from last season.
...Anyone who recalls how he played when first promoted from the AHL, and teammates practically needed a crowbar to pry the puck from his stick. He'd stubbornly bury his chin into his chest and barrel into the crease and shoot, shoot, shoot.
• Phil Kessel leads the Penguins in goals (15), assists (24), points (39) and shots (139). Which is wonderful and very much to Phil's credit. He's a superstar, and his game's only getting more complete.
But if Kessel's leading this team in scoring in April, this team won't even make the playoffs.
• Speaking of not making the playoffs, have the Pirates made up their minds yet if they want to try in 2018?
WHAT'S BREWING
• Audrey Snyder landed yesterday in Arizona, where she'll spend the week bringing Penn State fans intensive coverage of the Fiesta Bowl. There's a special spot out on the home page for her latest, and that'll be there the whole time.
• Couple of cool hockey pieces on the site this morning: Chris Bradford's been impressed with Sullivan's persistence through this slump and collected some quality quotes about this. And Matt Gajtka sets up the Three Rivers Classic and Robert Morris' outlook.
• Reminder: All of our recurring features -- the weekly ones, plus those in the Daily Fun Thing cycle -- as well as most of our multimedia will take this week off so that our staff can enjoy a little more time off for the holidays. We'll do the same for Morning Java, though the Postgame videos will continue.
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