Stephon Tuitt's play last week against Tennessee was a sight for Steelers fans' sore eyes, especially those wondering how the team's defense could possibly be better than the one that finished off last season.
Tuitt's final stat line of two tackles, one sack and two quarterback pressures in the 16-6 win over the Titans doesn't necessarily show just how impactful he was playing just over two quarters in the game.
After he spent the first two plays of the game directly in the face of quarterback Marcus Mariota -- getting a pressure and then a sack -- the Titans began to double-team him. That opened things up for other players to get free runs at the Tennessee quarterback.
And just as importantly, Tennessee's run game produced just 24 yards on 12 first half carries.
"I think that’s where we can take the next step," Cameron Heyward told me. "If we can do that, we can become the best defense. Our secondary can be more free because they’ll understand that the more time they can make pass, we can make (the offense) pay. And that means being dominant in both run and pass. When we’re able to set the edge and eat up blocks yet still make plays off that, that creates mismatches all around."
Heyward was referring to getting All-Pro-level play out of both himself and Tuitt this season. Heyward earned that status last season when he recorded 12 sacks. But Tuitt couldn't follow suit after suffering a torn tendon in his triceps three plays into the season opener at Cleveland.
Of course, that injury limited him throughout the season. He missed just four games but was obviously affected as he recorded just 25 tackles and three sacks.
This from a player who had 54 tackles and 6.5 sacks in 14 games in 2015 as a 22-year-0ld.
The Steelers might not necessarily expect both of their defensive ends to reach double digits in sacks, but if they can get more production out of Tuitt, the defense will be better for sure.
Because he's entering his fifth NFL season, it's easy to forget Tuitt is just 25 years old. And because he didn't start playing football until his freshman year of high school, he's been playing for only 10 or so years.
He's gotten by on his size and strength. Now, he feels he's learning the little things that will help make him great in 2018.
"Well yeah, I have it," Tuitt told me. "I just have to be more consistent. It’s a learning process. I know a lot of people expect you to just get it right away sometimes, but I’m a different type of thinker than the way other people think. People retain information differently. This game, even though it’s not new to me, every year, this process is different. There’s something different, you realize something different every time when the year is over and you’re like, ‘Dang, I should have realized that.' For me and Cam, my goal is to be a good teammate and to go and give it everything I have.
"After the game, win or lose, to know that I gave it my all. That is my goal for the season. I do believe I can be a dominant player. But I think I need to focus on the things I can control and what I need to do to be a better teammate for my team."
MORE STEELERS
• The trade for Ryan Switzer earlier this week was as much about Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster as it is anything else. The Steelers don't want to use either returning punts or kickoffs this season, and the addition of Switzer makes sure that they won't. Is Switzer a great return man? One source told me he's better than anyone not named Brown or Smith-Schuster on the roster. So there's that. But that source wasn't overly excited about the addition, other than the fact it makes the Steelers better because their top two receivers won't be subjected to unnecessary hits. -- Lolley
• The new deals signed by Chris Boswell and Vince Williams last week increased the cap hit for both players in 2018. Boswell was slated to count $2.914 million but will now count $3.2 million against the team's salary cap. Williams' cap hit went from $2.5 million to $3.2, largely because of the $6.2 million signing bonus he received. He also got a $300,000 roster bonus. So all told, the Steelers added $1 million to their cap, leaving them just over $3 million under the cap, even after the Switzer trade. That is right about where Kevin Colbert likes to be going into a season. -- Lolley
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PENGUINS
• Don't expect anything approaching coaching assignments of lines or pairings until the real camp opens Sept. 14. If anyone was going to get any kind of advance notice on that sort of thing, it would have been Jack Johnson. And he absolutely hasn't been told anything by Mike Sullivan or staff. What I'm saying is don't read anything into any combos/matchups that we'll witness these next couple weeks in informal skates. The coaches clearly are intent on either keeping that to themselves or entering camp with an open mind, which probably is for the best given Johnson's arrival, as well as the shuffling of centers and left wingers on the way. -- Dejan Kovacevic in Cranberry, Pa.
• I know some of you weren't crazy about it, but it was cool to catch up with ex-Penguin Brooks Orpik at the Comm Ave. Charity Classic in Boston. He has heard all the questions before with the Pittsburgh-Washington rivalry at an all-time high, but he was candid and honest about his answers, which was refreshing. I was waiting to hear a P.C. answer about his favorite Stanley Cup victory, but he swiftly pointed to the most recent. I think he sees the light at the end of the tunnel -- the trade (salary dump) to Colorado I'm sure aided in that -- and knows the win last June could be his last hurrah. -- Cody Tucker in Boston
• Considering he has only played three full NHL seasons, I was a little surprised at the respect Brian Dumoulin has already garnered from his peers. Was I shocked that his Boston friends think he is a solid player? No. But to hear guys such as Jack Eichel and Brian Boyle rave about the defenseman's poise, skills and instincts, playing arguably one of the toughest positions for a young guy to learn, I had to pry and ask if they were just saying this because they all share a Beantown connection.
They weren't kidding.
"You can call it luck if you want to," Boyle told me when I suggested Dumoulin has had one of the luckiest hockey careers of anyone I have ever covered. "But, there's definitely a reason for that. You need guys like him. They are hard to find." -- Tucker
• The Comm Ave. Charity Classic, which pits Boston College hockey alums against rival Boston University, raised a record $78,432 to go toward ALS research. The Travis Roy Foundation, along with Compassionate Care ALS, put on this yearly All-Star game in honor of former BC sports information director Dick Kelley, who lost his battle with the the progressive neurodegenerative disease in 2004. Roy, a former BU player who suffered a cracked fourth vertebra just 11 seconds into his college career, leaving him paralyzed from the neck down, was featured in an episode of ESPN E60 in 2016. -- Tucker
• This wasn't your daddy's beer-league game in Boston. There were star-studded lineups for both schools, so don't count me as one of the people surprised that an all-time high was raised for ALS research. Kevin Hayes, Noah Hanifin, Matt Grzelcyk, Nick Bonino, Jimmy Vesey, Jay Pandolfo and Charlie McAvoy were just a few of the names to litter the rosters of these historic rivals. Dumoulin said players who are based in Boston feel an obligation to help when called upon. They certainly didn't disappoint. "It's special," Dumoulin said. "It makes me proud, especially since it started because of my friend (Dick Kelley). It's great to see the guys take time to raise money for a good cause. Plus, it's a competitive game, which helps us as players." BU skated away to a 10-5 win on home ice to the chagrin of Dumoulin and the Eagles. The Terriers now hold a 3-1 lead in the series. -- Tucker
PIRATES
• Neal Huntington flew to St. Louis Tuesday morning just to tell Sean Rodriguez in person that the Pirates were going to designate him for assignment. Huntington's had a close professional relationship with Rodriguez since the utilityman was acquired from the Rays in December 2014, and it was Huntington who advocated for the Pirates to trade for him again last August. -- Lance Lysowski in St. Louis
• One veteran told me players weren't happy with the decision, though they understood the reasons behind it. Rodriguez was well-respected in the clubhouse. Every one of his teammates I've spoken to was pulling for him to regain the swing he showed in Cincinnati last month. -- Lysowski
• Jameson Taillon's ascent has coincided with him adding a slider to his arsenal back in May, but he floated the idea to the Pirates' coaching staff during spring training. Trevor Williams is looking to make a similar adjustment for next season. With opponents now aware of Williams throwing those elevated fastballs, he wants to focus on honing his curveball, which he shelved this spring. -- Lysowski
• Chad Kuhl desperately wants to return to the mound this season, even if it's just for a single pitch, as he told me in Milwaukee. Coming off elbow trouble can cause great mental strain on a pitcher, per my many conversations with such players over the years, and most will tell you they have a hard time entering an offseason with additional uncertainty. That said, the Pirates' medical people are resisting, I get the sense, and I'm sure they'll prevail. There are other avenues for Kuhl to take, even if that's just work off a bullpen mound in Bradenton. -- DK
PITT
• If historic trends are to be believed, expect the Panthers to come out on a mission against Albany on Saturday. Nearly every time the Panthers have been pushed by an FCS (previously I-AA) opponent, Pitt has responded the next year with a resounding win over similar opposition. Pitt's first flirtation with I-AA disaster was in 1998, when they only came away with a 48-41 win over Villanova. They didn't play another lower-division team until the opener at Heinz Field in 2001, when they blanked East Tennessee State, 31-0. Other examples include Pitt shaking off a 41-38 overtime win over Furman in 2004 with a 41-0 beating of Youngstown State, while a 45-37 near-loss to YSU in 2015 led to a 28-7 win over Villanova the next year. The only time that wasn't the case? Pitt squeaked by Maine in 2011, 35-29, only to lose the next season to YSU, 31-17. Pitt is 15-1 all-time against FCS teams. — Matt Grubba
DUQUESNE
• It’s only a practice drill, but Duquesne’s guards got quite a perimeter workout during Thursday’s open practice. The players surrounded the 3-point line and began firing up shots, chasing down their own rebounds and kicking out to a new shooter. After 10 made 3s, the players hustled to the other end of the court with outlet passes and began the process on the other end, going coast-to-coast until they reached 80 made 3s. I even managed to get an assist in the drill, passing a long rebound that went out of play back to Tavian Dunn-Martin, who turned and connected on a 23-footer. The Dukes are going to be a guard-led team, and if the drill is any indication, players are going to have the green light to shoot. — Grubba
• Here’s how to make friends with your new teammates. Keith Dambrot picked out big man Dylan Swingle at the end of practice to shoot free throws in a 1-and-1 situation — miss the front end, the team runs for two minutes; miss the second, it’s a one-minute run. The 6-foot-11, 300-pounder from Chillicothe, Ohio was as cool as can be, knocking down the first, hitting all net, and getting a shooter’s roll on the second, which prompted junior guard Mike Lewis II to jump on the rookie's back in playful celebration. — Grubba
RIVERHOUNDS
• For only the second time this season, the Hounds are on a true two-game road trip, traveling directly from Indianapolis after Wednesday’s 2-2 draw with the Indy Eleven to Cincinnati, where they will face East-leading FC Cincinnati on Saturday night. The team is hoping this road trip ends like their previous one, when the Hounds picked up a 0-0 draw at the Charleston Battery on June 23 before knocking off Louisville City FC, 1-0, four days later. — Grubba