One thing that has baffled some regarding the Steelers' offense in recent years is the lack of the use of play-action passing.
Last season, for example, the Steelers ran play-action just 12 percent of the time -- the lowest total in the NFL. That was actually an uptick from 2017, when they ran play-action just 11 percent of the time.
But of Mason Rudolph's 19 passes last week against the Seahawks, seven came off play-action of some type. Rudolph completed 5 of 7 passes for 51 yards and a touchdown off play-action, a passer rating of 131.6.
It seems that as he has aged, Ben Roethlisberger doesn't necessarily like play-action, which can cause a quarterback to have to take his eyes off the defense while performing the run fake. In fact, the Steelers haven't been above 14 percent play-action usage since 2014, when they were middle of the pack at 22 percent.
With Rudolph at quarterback for the rest of this season, the Steelers could return to using it as a weapon more.
"He probably can do it a little bit more," Jaylen Samuels told me of Rudolph. "He’s younger and has more mobility. I think you’ll probably see that a little more. I’m not sure yet. But I think you might see a little more boots and mobile things. Mason can be more of a runner than Ben was."
It's not even really necessary for a team to be running the ball well to use it -- though that doesn't hurt. The Steelers have run the ball just 29 times in their first two games, a number that should increase. But the idea is to freeze defenders, if just for a split second, or better yet, get them coming forward and then throw the ball into the areas they have vacated.
"It can do a lot of things," Alejandro Villanueva told me. "It can ease a lot of pressure on the offensive line. It can keep the defenses on their toes more. It can make big plays. There are a lot of things play-action can do for you, but you have to do it well and it has to be based on the run game."
MORE STEELERS
• Roethlisberger commands a lot of respect in the Steelers' locker room but believe it or not, in his short time with the team, Rudolph has, as well. Teammates are impressed by the young quarterback's desire to get better. He's constantly watching film, throwing the football, working on his craft. "He really wants this," David DeCastro said. It's not easy to command respect in a veteran locker room. And Rudolph has, with his work ethic. He might have his struggles this season, but it won't be because he wasn't prepared. -- Lolley
• While the Steelers aren't being real forthcoming with information regarding Roethlisberger's elbow injury, the general feeling is that his recovery will put him in line to be ready to play in 2020. If, as expected, Roethlisberger needed surgery to repair his ulnar collateral ligament (Tommy John surgery), the recovery time is now anywhere between six to 12 months. Players can resume throwing around four months after surgery. If there is any question Roethlisberger might not be ready to play in 2020, look no further than former Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme. He had Tommy John surgery after tearing his three games into the 2007 season. Delhomme came back and played all 16 games in 2008, leading the Panthers to a 12-4 record. -- Lolley
• One other added bonus of the trade for Minkah Fitzpatrick is the cap space it will provide the next two years. The Steelers are on the hook with Fitzpatrick for a salary of $1.975 million in 2020 and $2.72 million in 2021. Those also are his cap hits since the Dolphins paid his signing bonus. If the Steelers had signed Sean Davis to a contract extension or gone onto the open market to sign a free safety, they would have been looking at a cap hit at least double what they're paying Fitzpatrick in 2020. With nose tackle Javon Hargrave headed to unrestricted free agency after this season and JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Conner headed into contract years -- let alone T.J. Watt's fifth-year option -- the Steelers can use all of the cap space they can get. -- Lolley
PIRATES
• I've been writing for weeks that I hadn't heard Frank Coonelly as being in any kind of trouble. And then, I just heard from a long-reliable source that he's telling people inside 115 Federal that he might be ... although he doesn't know that for certain. If that seems like a mouthful to say very little, so be it. These are tight times for the Pirates, and I'll be sharing in Insider what I hear. That's why we have this feature. Do with the information as one will. -- Dejan Kovacevic
• A separate source says the expectation is that Neal Huntington and Clint Hurdle will both be out and that Coonelly will be out -- maybe on his own? -- shortly thereafter. Like I said, do with the information as one will. I don't share even a fraction of what I hear, just what comes from people who've been reliable in the past. -- DK
• Bob Nutting's at the games. He's around. And he's around despite the games obviously meaning less than nothing. I don't know where the perception took root that he's some absentee owner, but it's never been the case. He has enough real shortcomings in the role, there's no need to manufacture more. -- DK
• One pitcher told me this week at PNC Park that he found out recently he'd been tipping his pitches ... for four months. He didn't use that as a way to explain or excuse his performance in that span, but he nonetheless wasn't happy that he was the one who had to initiate help from video review staff to figure it out. That's generally the domain of the coaches. And in this case, with the incredible specifics that were shared with me that related to precise circumstances, it absolutely should've been caught. -- DK
• No, the Pirates aren't nefariously benching Josh Bell to keep him from hitting some sort of bonus for home runs and/or RBIs. I confirmed this week he has no such thing. And as far as salary arbitration, no arbitrator would be swayed by the difference between 37 and, say, 40 home runs. He'll be assessed fairly, should it come to a hearing. -- DK
• We joke about the Pirates' attendance all the time. It's just too easy. But for the players? Yeah, that stinks to trot onto the field and see more empty seats than people. "You definitely wish there were more people there, ya know?" one player was telling me after a recent game against the Mariners. "Going into next year, a lot of people that are playing here now are going to be back next year and, you know, obviously with spring comes excitement about baseball season. You would hope and think that there's going to be more people there. We were just in Wrigley, and there were 10 times as many people there as there are here. It would be sweet to have that atmosphere here. And we feel we do have young, exciting players and a young, exciting team that's going to be good. So it would be sweet to have that support in the form of people in seats, but it is what it is. What matters is being a pro and showing up and playing hard no matter if there's five people there or 50,000." -- Hunter Homistek
PENGUINS
• Jack Johnson can do the math and understands the situation. He knows the Penguins will have to make at least one personnel move involving someone projected onto the major-league roster before the start of the regular season to get into compliance with the NHL's $81.5 million salary cap. He also realizes he's a guy who could get dealt away to make that possible. "That situation has come up almost every year of my career," he said. "There's always a chance you could be moved. I got moved six months into a seven-year deal in Los Angeles. That could always happen. That's pro sports. You're a name on a locker. It's never personal. It's always business. I understand what I signed up for." -- Dave Molinari
• Although Mike Vellucci, who is coach and GM of the Penguins' farm team in Wilkes-Barre, joined the organization less than three months ago, he's made a positive impression on the people with whom he has worked. "I think Mike is a really sharp guy," Mike Sullivan said. "I was really impressed with Mike at our coaches meetings we had at Nemacolin. He's got a real good presence behind the bench. I think he's going to be great." The Nemacolin meetings Sullivan mentioned have become part of his off-season routine, as Sullivan and members of his staff get together with those from Wilkes-Barre and Wheeling to get in sync for the season ahead. "We accomplished a lot," Sullivan said. "We always do. It's a great three or four days with our whole coaching staff, throughout our whole organization. It's really the only time that the three staffs are able to get together and sit down and actually talk hockey and discuss strategy. We all get on the same page, so we're speaking the same vocabulary with the players. I feel like that's important for us, so our players understand how we're trying to play and the details associated with that." -- Molinari
• Mike Lange, the Penguins' Hall of Fame play-by-play man, is planning to work all the team's home games this season, and possibly pick up some on the road, too. His schedule had been cut back during the past few seasons because of health issues. -- Molinari
• If -- no, more like when -- Sam Lafferty makes it onto the Penguins' major-league roster, whether it's in 2019-20 or some future season, they'll know who is responsible. Themselves. Not for the obvious reason -- that they invested a fourth-round draft choice in him in 2014 -- but because watching Penguins teams around the turn of the century is what inspired him to take up the game in the first place. Lafferty grew up in Hollidaysburg, and football long has been the sport of choice for many boys in central Pennsylvania. But the exploits of guys such as Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and Martin Straka convinced him to investigate playing hockey. "It started when I was like, five or six years old," he said. "I started watching the Penguins in the playoffs and they were doing well. That's what got me curious to start skating and luckily for me, there was an ice rink being built in my hometown at the same time, so I started from there." Those were the first steps down a path that eventually led him to a renowned prep school in Massachusetts, Brown University and, last season, the Penguins' American Hockey League affiliate in Wilkes-Barre. The next step in his career is obvious. And, it appears, almost inevitable. -- Molinari
