"We're getting better, but it's a work in progress."
Those were Cam Heyward's final words to me as the final man left in the Steelers' locker room Sunday night in Cincinnati, and they clearly still weren't enough. Because after I had bid farewell and began toward the door, he called back out for emphasis.
"Work. In. Progress."
Point made. The players need to keep getting better.
But the work can't stop at that level. With the bye week upon us and the Browns still a dozen days away, it's incumbent -- no, actually, given this team's inconsistencies, it's imperative -- that Mike Tomlin, his coordinators, the charred tatters of his special teams coach, and maybe even Kevin Colbert to consider some significant moves between now and then.
A handful off the top of my head:
1. Commit to benching Artie Burns.
That comes across as backward and unproductive, I know, but that young man's a wreck right now. Unless anyone can concoct any other explanation for this:
Tyler Boyd breaks off the line, Burns breaks back, then kind of just gazes around for help while Boyd finds a space the size of Clairton to catch the easiest touchdown of his life.
Maybe it'd be beneficial to put Burns right back out there against Cleveland. Baker Mayfield's a rookie, he's fresh off a 22-for-46 dud, and the danger of being scorched won't be there the way it was against Patrick Mahomes, Joe Flacco, Matt Ryan and Andy Dalton. But the other danger therein is that Cleveland covers up all that's currently ailing him.
Burns needs a reconstruction. And the Steelers need a replacement. If it isn't Coty Sensabaugh -- and here's hoping it isn't -- then maybe Cam Sutton can bump across or, unusual as this would be, Colbert can pull off a trade before the Oct. 30 deadline.
2. Flip the special teams switch.
The kick coverage teams are currently performing as if they'd love to see Danny Smith fired. Which, given the passion he exudes for them and his job, I'm betting they don't. But results are results, and the wrath of the Nation would have fallen hard on Smith and his group had the offense not bailed them out in Cincinnati.
Start by reminding Kameron Canaday that two penalties committed by a long snapper are two more than anyone's ever heard of, never mind in the same game.
From there, take a hard look at personnel and, if they aren't heeding assignments or pursuing with enough vigor, consider at least the possibility that a starter or two can be added in critical situations such as the ones they blew in the second half Sunday.
At least Chris Boswell's healing up.
3. Stop overthinking on defense.
I still can't believe I saw Vince Williams covering A.J. Green deep downfield, much less that Vince was kicking himself for allowing Green a catch near the goal line because, as he told me, "I've got to do a better job on A.J."
No, really, he doesn't. He just needs to operate in a scheme that doesn't do something that stupid.
If Keith Butler's blitzing his defensive backs and dropping his linebackers and that's fooling people once in a blue moon, that's neat. But when Dalton acknowledged afterward that this was helping him -- "There's different looks that you're given," he said -- then it's time to stop being so giving. Put people in positions of strength, let them perform instinctually and, above all, process that this defense is by far at its best when pressuring the pocket.
4. Pick a slot receiver.
James Washington's specialty is supposed to be the 'combat catch,' as Tomlin was calling it all through Latrobe. But I haven't seen much of that since, at least not since Mason Rudolph was dropping popups his way in preseason.
This was a Ben Roethlisberger deep ball Sunday ...
... for which the kid seriously needed to turn and fight for the ball -- you know, 'combat' -- rather than hoping it'd fall to him in stride.
Not sure of an answer here, either, but it's probably Ryan Switzer. Or just not bothering with receivers and deploying multiple tight ends, as Randy Fichtner did most of Sunday. With all due respect to the well-timed pick Justin Hunter threw to spring Antonio Brown for the winning touchdown, he doesn't exactly battle for the ball, either. And Darrius Heyward-Bey doesn't deserve to be out there.
5. Focus.
Can't be repeated often enough. It looks like it gets addressed, and then it isn't. Getting all geeked up for Ryan Shazier's return to Paul Brown Stadium is automatic, but that's got to be there every game and right from kickoff.
Figure it out. Now, thanks to that victory Sunday, there's time.
• I have a hard time wrapping my head around wondering what's an appropriate punishment for Vontaze Burfict's head shot on AB. And that's only because he shouldn't still be in the NFL to be punished.
• To repeat for emphasis: Nothing was called on the field. In a league that's paying such close attention, that's become so flag-happy that the long snapper's got his own laundry.
Maybe if the refs weren't instructed to watch for all the silly stuff and instead focused on legitimate player safety elements, this doesn't get missed by six men wearing stripes.
• So wait, the Chiefs' Tyreek Hill scored a touchdown in Foxborough and sprinted up into the face of the opponents' fans, stood there a moment, then was sprayed with a beer and given the finger ... and this sparked a national conversation?
Stay classy Patriots fans
Spraying beer in face of Tyreek Hill. Oh and the middle finger pic.twitter.com/GHGnHvViYK
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) October 15, 2018
I'm hardly one to defend anything New England, and I definitely respect not allowing fans to throw anything that could hurt anyone. But that's got nothing to do with this.
Players rushing the stands in an opposing stadium are taunting, with the possible exception of a setting where, say, there are a ton of the visiting team's fans visibly there. The players, thus, are looking for a reaction. I mean, there's theoretically no other reason to go. And beyond theoretically, since NFL owners and, by extension, the players are all too happy to collect the revenue from all that alcohol being consumed, there's an understanding that a huge percentage of those fans will be plastered.
To recap, then:
1. Opposing player celebrates touchdown in fans' faces.
2. Fan douses player with beer and flips the bird.
3. Fan is banned for the stadium for life because the player, his agent and a whole lot of whiny people around the country thought this was unusual.
Weird, man.
• While on the topic, Hill's got a lot of gall playing the part of the persecuted over something so silly when he pleaded guilty to punching and choking his pregnant girlfriend in 2015.
• Just getting this one out of the way early: James Conner starts in Cleveland. No matter what, Conner's got to start.
• Justin Schultz's value to the Penguins, long under-appreciated, will never be more apparent than in his looming four-month absence. He's matured into such a smooth, steady defensive player, in addition to all the offense he brings from pure talent. There's no one on the current corps, shy of the peak version of Kris Letang, who can match that.
On top of that, his affable yet unflappable personality has become part of the team's persona. He'll be missed.
That said -- and no, I'm not looking for a positive in a man breaking a leg -- one side effect is that Jim Rutherford could gain as much as $4.8 million in temporary salary cap space, as explained in detail by our Taylor Haase. And given that Rutherford opened the season with eight bona fide NHL defensemen, this was the one position, along with center, where he could afford to lose someone.
Ideally, Schultz returns in ample time for the Stanley Cup playoffs, and Rutherford can apply that cash -- in whatever form it takes -- to reinforcements where needed. It'll be the first time in several seasons he'll have had that chance.
• Loved this line from Rutherford yesterday in his interview with our Chris Bradford, regarding Olli Maatta: "I think in some ways he overthinks the game instead of playing on his raw ability."
That's money. That's Maatta encapsulated. He isn't slow. As I've been writing through these early struggles, he doesn't have an explosive initial stride. So when he gets caught looking or overthinking, he stops skating. And from there, it takes too long to get revved back up.
Also loved this additional assessment from Rutherford: "I’m not concerned about it. It’ ll come."
• The Canucks, tonight's opponent at PPG Paints Arena, will be without Elias Pettersson, the scintillating rookie winger who burst into the NHL with five goals in his first five games. That's because he was bodyslammed to the ice Saturday night in Sunrise by the Panthers' Mike Matheson:
NOW: Mike Matheson has been suspended two games for his hit on #Canucks' Elias Pettersson on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/v00D2FFACT
— Sporting News Canada (@sportingnewsca) October 15, 2018
The NHL suspended Matheson two games yesterday, and I won't take issue with that for a first-time offender.
It's a genuine shame, though, that Pittsburgh fans won't get to see this kid so early in his career. I don't remember every hockey thing I've ever experienced, but I've always reserved a special place for the first time I've witnessed an exceptional young talent. Like Ilya Kovalchuk with the old Thrashers at the Civic Arena, sniping shots from the left dot so effortlessly it was immediately clear this was a star.
There are always two teams out there.
• The Brewers, based in a market two-thirds the size of Pittsburgh, are now two wins away from the World Series after winning Game 3 of the National League Championship Series, 4-0, in Los Angeles.
• Another team, based in a market exactly the size of Pittsburgh, apparently thinks there were other home runs comparable to that of Bill Mazeroski:
On this day in 1960, Maz walked it off with one of the greatest home runs in baseball history. pic.twitter.com/3JnumqVdwy
— Pirates (@Pirates) October 13, 2018
Allowing for the possibility that this tweet was whipped up by some teenage intern with no concept of baseball history or the city's history, I'll also point out that this is part of the price that teams can pay in farming out all of their web properties to the league level. Almost all of what you see from the Pirates online is overseen by MLB.com.
On the other hand, that $50 million check this past spring came from that entity, so never mind.
• Here's my thorough list of the five home runs that were bigger than Maz's, with careful thought applied to their impact, resonance and, of course, the game situation:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
• Enough of that. See everyone at the rink tonight!