One of the big questions coming out of the Steelers' 45-42 playoff loss last week was why the Steelers don't run a quarterback sneak in short-yardage situations.
There are two reasons, from what I have been able to ferret out.
First is that the Steelers are obviously concerned about Ben Roethlisberger's health. And that's not just about not getting the quarterback "earholed," as now former offensive coordinator Todd Haley said when asked about it earlier this season. It's also about Roethlisberger's knees. The quarterback has had multiple knee issues over the course of his career so the Steelers don't want him trying to push forward on bad knees as much as they don't want linemen falling on his knees.
The other reason involves center Maurkice Pouncey's size and health. While Pouncey is a great center, his main attribute -- in addition to his leadership and ability to diagnose things -- is his mobility. Pouncey is listed at 304 pounds, but is actually closer to 290 most of the time. He also has had knee and ankle issues in his career.
In fact, it's no coincidence the Steelers haven't run a sneak since 2014. Pouncey missed the 2015 season with a broken leg that required multiple surgeries to fix, and the Steelers haven't run a sneak since.
MORE STEELERS
• The call to fire Haley was made by Tomlin and Tomlin alone. The decision not to make any other changes on the staff was his call, as well. If it doesn't work, the fault will fall on Tomlin. Though defensive coordinator Keith Butler was on staff before Tomlin came to Pittsburgh, Butler was defensive coordinator at Arkansas State when Tomlin made the switch from being an offensive coach to the defensive side of the ball. He made that move because the quicker way to rise up through the ranks in coaching comes for defensive assistants. The offensive coordinator on that team, by the way, was Randy Fichtner. So in 1997, Tomlin worked as receiver coach under Fichtner and in 1998, he was defensive backs coach under Butler. The Red Wolves went a robust 4-8 in 1998. -- Lolley
• The excuses for failure are now out the window for Roethlisberger. As great as the Steelers' quarterback is, he liked to deflect blame for mistakes or bad plays by saying he was only running what was called from the sideline. But, as a 14-year-veteran, he's always been given the freedom to check out of plays. Now, with Haley gone and his hand-picked offensive coordinator, Fichtner in place, Roethlisberger has nobody to blame when things go awry but himself. -- Lolley
• The Steelers will return a ton of talent for the 2018 season and, though most players preferred not to discuss that when I brought it up in the past week, a couple at least conceded that much. But some went further, stressing that the group's got some collective growing up to do, not just with the stuff that's all the narrative now -- social media, speaking publicly, all that -- but also in the football sense. Especially on defense, too many players appeared way too confused by routine assignments, and that's particularly embarrassing when it occurs in the 17th game of the season against a deeply flawed offense. -- Dejan Kovacevic
PENGUINS
• To know what family means to Matt Murray, all you have to do is look at the back of the goalie’s mask which features the flags of Scotland and the Netherlands. Not exactly hockey hotbeds. There have been 21 NHL players born in Scotland, the last being former Oilers defenseman Steve Smith. There have only been four players from the Netherlands, including Murray’s current teammate Daniel Sprong. Murray’s flags are in honor of his parents. His mother is of Dutch descent and his father, Jim, of Scottish heritage. Sadly, Jim Murray died Wednesday in Thunder Bay, Ontario, following an illness. After making the trip to California on Monday, Murray quickly returned home and is out indefinitely. One has to wonder, though, if his father’s condition hadn’t weighed heavily on Matt Murray’s mind this season. He is human, after all. In 31 games and 28 starts, Murray has posted a very pedestrian 2.93 goals-against average and .903 save percentage. After returning from a lower body injury that sidelined him for two weeks in early December, Murray went 5-5, allowing 24 goals. On the ice, Murray is as calm and composed as any goalie and off it, the 23-year-old is mature beyond his years. Look for him to bounce back. — Chris Bradford
• The Penguins had just landed in California on Monday when word from back in Pittsburgh started to spread that the Pirates had traded Andrew McCutchen to San Francisco. Not only do all three Pittsburgh pro teams don black and gold, but the professional athletes who call it home are a fairly tight-knit community. One unnamed Penguin chimed in on the trade, taking a jab at the baseball team’s, let’s say, “thrifty” ownership and loyalty. “He took less to stay, didn’t he?” the Penguin said, referring to McCutchen’s contract which will pay him $14.75 million in 2018. With the Steelers having spit the bit at least a week earlier than anyone expected and the Pirates being, well, the Pirates, a city turns its lonely eyes to the Boys of Winter. No pressure, right? — Matt Gajtka
• Looking at the upcoming trade deadline and every team’s area of need, Ian Cole is seemingly coveted by every team — other than the one who signs his checks and the one he helped to a pair of Stanley Cups. Cole, a healthy scratch for the fifth straight game Thursday night in Los Angeles, has been a consummate pro throughout this ordeal. But, man, I’d love to wonder what he’s thinking as he watched from the press box as the Penguins gave up breakaway after breakaway against the Ducks and Kings. Sooner or later, Cole will draw back in the lineup — you’d think — if only to showcase him for his next team. — Bradford
• Sprong is not the first, nor will he be the last, rookie to sit out a game. Sprong was a scratch Thursday night after being benched for the third period a night earlier in Anaheim. The 20-year-old has done plenty of good things and doesn’t look the least bit out of place playing in the NHL and on the Penguins top line with Sidney Crosby. Sprong is a goal-scorer first and foremost, but you have to shoot to score. Paired with Crosby, the best playmaker of this era, you better shoot. Since his two-goal game against the Islanders on Jan. 5 when he threw six shots on net, he had just five shots in his next four games. That will earn you a seat next to Cole. — Bradford
PIRATES
• The orchestrated comparisons between the current Pirates and the 2013 Pirates -- repeated by Bob Nutting and Neal Huntington as if on cue this week -- provoked this response from one veteran Major League Baseball evaluator and former assistant GM in the business: "The difference between 2013 and now: The major-league coaching staff was good. Jim Benedict carried Ray Searage. Neal Huntington got squashed by Clint Hurdle. Pro scouting had big hits with Marc DelPiano. Latin players were good. No stats. No Bernie."
Most of those references will be self-evident to close observers. Benedict and DelPiano were the highly respected baseball scouts/instructors lured away by the Marlins a couple years ago, that after recommending some of the Pirates' most prominent acquisitions at the time. The reference to "stats" was to the increasing influence of the advanced analytics employees. The reference to "Bernie" was to Bernie Holliday, the team's Director of Mental Strength -- no, really -- and part of that whole "Hoka Hey!" brigade. He's been with the team since 2010 but wasn't nearly as authoritative then as now.
What a franchise. -- DK
The following came in another communication from a baseball official -- outside the team -- regarding the Pirates' front office: "They're either nuts or incompetent or the biggest liars in history." -- DK
• First text I received from one of the current players following the Andrew McCutchen trade: "After the Steelers lost. OMG. ... Just cutting payroll. J-Hay's next." -- DK
• An industry source told me at the Winter Meetings last month the Pirates were shopping Daniel Hudson, but they were waiting to add to their bullpen before unloading the veteran. Well, he's now likely to go with the club adding Kyle Crick and Michael Feliz over the past week. - Lance Lysowski
• With McCutchen gone and Josh Harrison likely the next to go, Sean Rodriguez will likely take over as the leader of the Pirates' clubhouse. I was told by a player at Pirate City last week that Hurdle was thrilled Rodriguez made the short trip to Bradenton for voluntary workouts, so younger players could simply observe his workout routine. - Lysowski
• Before Cole was traded, I approached Ray Searage with a question about Tyler Glasnow's prospects in 2018 and it sure sounded like Searage thinks Glasnow would be better off in the bullpen. - Lysowski