Welcome to Week 5 of our new Steelers Live Wire, a round-the-clock feature that offers news that's fast, friendly to use and fun. If you're looking for anything from Week 4, that's right here.
As they say, here we go ...
CLOCK HALTED
Washington's Alex Smith was not credited with a carry, but his "quarterback keeper" at the end of the first half helped get his team a vital and controversial three points en route to a 23-17 win. Trailing 14-0 in the dying seconds, Washington was out of timeouts and Smith suffered back-to-back sacks. When Stephon Tuitt dragged him to the ground with 18 seconds left, it appeared Washington might not have enough time to get the field-goal unit ready for an attempt.
That's when things got weird. As Washington scrambled to get its proper personnel in place, the officials halted the clock with eight seconds remaining. Referee John Hussey announced: "The clock was stopped due to administrative issues. The K-ball (kicking ball) was not near where we needed (it) to be brought in. As a result, the clock was stopped so we could spot the ball."
Dustin Hopkins proceeded to drill a 49-yarder to give Washington a lifeline and cut the deficit to 14-3.
As confusion ensued, the FOX broadcast team brought in its rules expert and former NFL official Dean Blandino for an explanation. "In that situation, when the offense is out of timeouts, you don't want to waste time bringing in the K-ball. Whatever ball they are playing with, put it down, make sure they are set and get out of the way. It obviously worked out in Washington's favor with the clock stopping."
Here's the problem: The ball they were "playing with" was taken from the field. Instead of tossing the ball to an official, Smith carried it to the sideline with him. Did he do it intentionally, knowing it could force officials to stop the clock? Smith denied it. The quarterback said he removed the ball to "speed up the process of ... getting the K-ball on."
Could the officials have assessed Washington a delay-of-game penalty and run 10 seconds off the clock? DK Pittsburgh Sports reached out to Blandino for further explanation. The first question was how rare is it a player in that situation leaves the field with the ball?
"It's very rare," Blandino wrote in a text message. "Normally, they would put the ball down or give it to the nearest official."
Blandino noted by penalizing Washington for delay of game, the clock would have stopped anyway and -- since more than 10 seconds remained at the time of the Tuitt sack -- the visitors would have been able to kick the ball, albeit from maybe five yards further back.
The former official added: The "right thing to do is keep (the) clock running and for (the) crew to get another ball in as soon as possible."
Would it have been in time? We'll never know. But Washington got points out of the drive instead of going to the locker room deflated and down 14-0. The visitors cut it to 14-10 by scoring a touchdown on the opening drive of the second half. -- Reed
NELSON ALSO INACTIVE
3:32 p.m. Monday: The full list of inactives: Chris Boswell (hip), Steven Nelson (knee), quarterback Josh Dobbs, defensive lineman Carlos Davis, offensive tackle Derwin Gray and tight end Kevin Rader. - DK
NO BOSWELL, WRIGHT ACTIVE
1:59 p.m. Monday: The Steelers signed placekicker Matthew Wright off their practice squad Monday, meaning Chris Boswell will not play tonight against Washington. Boswell has been dealing with a hip issue and was doubtful for this game.
The Steelers also activated offensive tackle Jerald Hawkins off the Reserve/COVID List. -- Lolley
IT'S GAME DAY!
3:04 a.m. Monday: It's game day, kids.
The Steelers have a chance to 12-0 and, if they do, they'll clinch a playoff berth. That's obviously not going to trigger some epic celebration, given its clear inevitability for weeks now, but it's probably worth reminding that they haven't made the playoffs since 2017 -- the awful loss to the Jaguars -- and haven't won a playoff game since 2016.
As for us: This Live Wire will remain live through kickoff, at which point we flip over to the game file. Afterward, we'll pop up postgame quotes and news on the game file, Dale Lolley and I will work on our subscription content, then we'll be right back here.
NO DIVISION IN PLAY
4:28 p.m. Sunday: The Browns' 41-35 victory over the Titans just now in Nashville kills the Steelers' chances of clinching the AFC North championship tomorrow. Also, there won't be a playoff clinching today, either, as all three of the teams the Steelers needed to see lose or tie ... won. But hey, it's not as if all that won't happen eventually. It's just that ... you know, the Steelers look like they're lacking focus/energy at times, and maybe a division crowd would've made a difference toward motivation tomorrow. Whatever. -- DK
BOSWELL NOW DOUBTFUL
12:23 p.m. Sunday: Chris Boswell has been downgraded to doubtful to play against Washington after Sunday's walk-through. That means he likely won't play in this game.
The Steelers signed placekicker Matthew Wright to their practice squad earlier this week. Wright will be signed to the active roster and will kick for the Steelers against Washington Monday. Wright has never kicked in an NFL game, though he did kick in the 2019 preseason for the Steelers. -- Lolley
NO NATIONAL BROADCAST
11 a.m. Sunday: The Steelers' game against Washington will not be broadcast nationally.
The 5 p.m. Monday broadcast will be shown in the Pittsburgh, Washington, Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Kansas City, Minnesota, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia and Tampa markets. The game also will be shown on DirecTV. -- Lolley
WALK-THROUGH TODAY
... AND A PLAYOFF BERTH?
2:50 a.m. Sunday: The Steelers will have a walk-through today, 11 a.m., on the South Side, and those are never open to media, so expect no updates on any front. That said, it could be a significant day on other fronts: They could clinch a playoff berth today if any of three teams -- Raiders, Dolphins or Colts -- lose or tie today. Also, if the Browns lose today to the Titans, the Steelers will claim the AFC North tomorrow with a win over Washington. -- DK
BEN, BOSWELL ADDED
TO FINAL INJURY REPORT
2:05 p.m. Saturday: Chris Boswell was added to the Steelers' injury report with a hip issue after not practicing Saturday. He is listed as questionable for Monday's game. The Steelers signed placekicker Matthew Wright to their practice squad prior to their game against the Ravens for just such an occasion, though it's likely Boswell will play.
The news isn't as good for cornerback Steven Nelson. He's doubtful to play with a knee issue. Cameron Sutton would likely replace Nelson. Ben Roethlisberger also is listed on the injury report as questionable because of a knee issue. But Roethlisberger, who was in uniform and on the field for practice Saturday, is expected to play Monday. He didn't participate in practices Friday or Saturday but was coming off a game in which he threw 51 passes Wednesday against the Ravens, so the team is just being careful with the 38-year-old.
The full participation report is below. -- Lolley
WASHINGTON'S McLAURIN
PRACTICES, SET TO PLAY
2:02 p.m. Saturday: Washington's top receiver, Terry McLaurin, was a full participant in practice today and, though he remains listed as questionable with an ankle injury, he's expected to play. Same applies to two other players listed as questionable, defensive end Ryan Anderson (knee) and offensive tackle Morgan Moses (groin).
This team's had a lot of time to heal, not having played since Thanksgiving, and they'll be close to fully healthy for this one. -- DK
T.J. ALREADY MISSES BUD
1:15 p.m. Saturday: T.J. Watt has been without Bud Dupree around for just a couple of days after Dupree suffered an ACL injury in Wednesday night's 19-14 win over the Ravens, but he's already feeling it.
"I miss Bud already," Watt said Saturday. "It's been weird in the short week not having him around. Bud's just an extremely likable guy. He's a very unselfish person. It's contagious. He makes you want to be a better player and a better person."
While the injury happened late in the game -- with just over five minutes remaining -- it still cast a pall over the remainder of Wednesday's game.
"It's very deflating," Watt said. "It's just so much going on. When you hear something like that could happen. Holy smokes. He's in a contract year and he means so much to what we are in our defense. Devin (Bush) was like that too. I have all the confidence in our guys in this locker room that we'll be all right." -- Lolley
TUITT RETURNS
11:45 a.m. Saturday: Stephon Tuitt was activated by the Steelers Saturday morning, after being put on the team's Reserve/COVID-19 List earlier in the week and missing the team's game against the Ravens on Wednesday. He has seven sacks across ten games for the Steelers and would be a welcomed return to the defense, especially after Bud Dupree was lost for the season due to a torn ACL. This also allows Tyson Alualu and Chris Wormley to go back to more reserved roles in the defense. -- Carter
DECASTRO: ALL HANDS ON DECK
10:50 a.m. Saturday: David DeCastro just spoke of the coming challenge with Washington's defensive front. While the Steelers have the most sacks in the NFL with 41, Washington is next with 36 despite not having any individual with more than six.
"That's what makes them great," DeCastro said. "You can't really double-team a certain guy. They're great across the board. Everybody's got to win their one-on-ones when called upon. It's going to take a team effort with Ben getting rid of the ball, receivers catching the ball and us being efficient whether it's a run or pass. They're studs up front, that's for sure. We're gonna have our hands full." -- Carter
FINAL PRACTICE TODAY
3:04 a.m. Saturday: One more practice today for the Steelers in preparation for Monday vs. Washington. That'll run from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Beforehand, we'll hear from David DeCastro -- I'm betting that'll be really good on the subject of the run-blocking -- then T.J. Watt afterward.
Dale Lolley will be at the facility for all of it, and he'll keep you updated right here. -- DK
MORE THAN 10 MILLION WATCHED
2:40 a.m. Saturday: The Nielsen ratings for the Steelers-Ravens thrice-postponed game Wednesday still saw 10.8 million tune in nationwide, which is impressive beyond words under the circumstance. However, it's worth noting that the Thanksgiving game between Dallas and Washington -- after which Steelers-Ravens originally was set to run -- drew 30.33 million, so it's plain to see the damage done by the switches. -- DK
WATT AFC PLAYER OF MONTH
5 p.m. Friday: T.J. Watt was named AFC Defensive Player of the Month for November, the second time this season he's taken home the monthly award. Watt also was won the award in September. Watt, who leads the NFL with 11 sacks, had 5.5 sacks, five tackles for a loss and 17 quarterback hits in the month of November. This is the third time in his career he's won the award. He also won it once in 2019, when he finished third in the NFL Defensive Player of the Year voting. -- Lolley
NELSON MISSES PRACTICE
3:35 p.m. Friday: The official participation report just came out, and Steven Nelson missed practice. Remember, Mike Tomlin said yesterday he's having an MRI on a lingering knee issue. No timetable was attached to that. Cam Sutton would take Nelson's place if he's out Monday. -- DK
WASHINGTON'S TOP RECEIVER
LIMITED IN PRACTICE
3:14 p.m. Friday: Terry McLaurin, Washington's top receiver with 69 catches for 963 yards, was limited in practice today by an ankle injury. Everyone else was a full participant. -- DK
GLIMPSE OF PRACTICE
3:02 p.m. Friday: Just for fun, here's a few seconds of the team-provided footage the Steelers offer to local TV stations from today's practice. -- DK
HADEN WOULDN'T HAVE
PLAYED THANKSGIVING
1:40 p.m. Friday: Joe Haden was banged up with a knee injury coming out of the game against the Jaguars two weeks ago. Haden said the game against the Ravens getting moved from Thanksgiving to nearly a week later on Wednesday helped him: "It helped me out a whole lot. I told them (last Wednesday) if the game was going to be played on Thursday, I wouldn't have been able to go. Sunday would have been 50-50. By Tuesday, I was ready to go." -- Lolley
BEN WON'T SHY
AWAY FROM RECEIVERS
11:45 a.m. Friday: The Steelers had a bunch of dropped passes Wednesday, but Ben Roethlisberger said he won't stop chucking the ball around, as he did 51 times in the 19-14 win over the Ravens. And he won't think about not throwing a guy the ball because he dropped the last one or has had some drops.
"Nothing different needs to happen," Roethlisberger said.
Roethlisberger also said he isn't concerned about the heavy passing load, "I know people beat that dead horse on the run-game alternatives, but whatever helps us win football games is what I want to do," Roethlisberger said.
• On James Washington, who had a big third-down catch late in the game after not being heavily used: "He deserves to get on the field more, and I think we'll see him."
• On Washington quarterback Alex Smith overcoming life-threatening issues: "I know him a little bit and I'm just very proud of him and happy for him." Roethlisberger and Smith are the two leading candidates in the NFL for Comeback Player of the Year.
• On being sacked just 10 times this season and none at at all in the past 199 pass attempts: "I'm going to have to up my Christmas gifts this year."
Roethlisberger's full session is below. -- Lolley
BUTLER ON BUD
10:45 a.m. Friday: The Steelers will have to move on without Bud Dupree, rookie Alex Highsmith taking over, but Keith Butler just said it will take more than one guy.
"It's definitely a big loss for us," Butler said. "The mentality we've always had is next man up. Alex Highsmith has been a good player for us. He's going to have to step up. Ola (Adeniyi) and Jayrone (Elliott) are going to have to step up, as well, because T.J. (Watt) is going to need some rest."
Butler also sounded hopeful the Steelers will get Stephon Tuitt back off the COVID-19 list before Monday. -- Lolley
FICHTNER TALKS DROPS
10:30 a.m. Friday: The Steelers' wide receivers and tight ends dropped a bunch of passes in Wednesday's 19-14 win over the Ravens, a big reason why that game was that close. Randy Fichtner said, "We take catching the ball serious. If you touch it, it should be a catch. I remember Hines Ward had a ball that hit him in the foot one time from Dennis Dixon. He walked by me and I said, 'That's a drop.' He said, 'Yes it is.' "
• Fichtner said the decision to throw in some short-yardage situations came from Ben Roethlisberger. Fichtner said the Steelers were in some no-huddle situations when some of those occurred and Roethlisberger liked what he saw in the passing game, hence the throws instead of runs.
• On the team going 1 of 4 in the red zone against the Ravens: "I'm not going to jump off the bridge yet because we've been a good red zone team."
• Fichtner was asked to compare this year's wide receiver group to what the Steelers had when Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders were young in 2010 and 2011. "I compare it to them being like a fart in a skillet," Fichtner said. "They're bouncing around a lot." -- Lolley
BACK TO WORK TODAY
3:20 a.m. Friday: The Steelers get a day off following the debacle against the Ravens, and it's right back to practice today, noon, on the South Side. Dale Lolley will be on location to cover it, as always, and we'll hear from Randy Fichtner, Keith Butler and Ben Roethlisberger beforehand, Joe Haden afterward. -- DK
EBRON BLASTS NFL
OVER STEELERS' SCHEDULE
1:20 a.m. Friday: Eric Ebron might've dropped every other throw that came his way Wednesday, but he sure didn't sound as if he was looking in the mirror when he went onto SiriusXM NFL Network Radio last night and tore into the league over its handling of the Steelers' schedule.
"We put all of these stipulations in place," Ebron said on the show '17 Weeks.' "Everybody signed up and said, ‘OK, this is gonna be cool.’ Nobody thought you'd play three games in 12 days. Think about that. That’s us. We played Wednesday, we play Monday, and we play next Sunday. Oh my God. They’re trying to see us fail, bro. Welcome to the National Football League."
He then went a lot further.
"I don’t care about a game check. I’m sorry, I know there are people who don’t make the amount of money I do. I know that. So what? I’m sure they don’t want to play three games in 12 days either. ... When we go to the Super Bowl, they just better give us the biggest plane, the best hotel, the top of everything. Like, whatever they did for Kansas City last year, we need to be 30 times better than that when we go. Because that’ll be their makeup to us. They gotta roll out the red carpet for our ass now."
Remember what I wrote after the game Wednesday about Ebron and the Steelers' wide receivers lacking focus? -- DK
RAMON ON TOMLIN
WHEN HE GETS MAD
12:05 a.m. Friday: If you're curious as to how Mike Tomlin might've handled the past 36 hours with his players, I can't recommend strongly enough watching Ramon Foster's remarks on today's Morning Java:
Also, I've got my all-Steelers Daily Shot podcast up, as well:
WASHINGTON'S RIVERA
LAUDS STEELERS' CULTURE
6:44 p.m. Thursday: Ron Rivera, Washington's coach, was asked this afternoon if the Steelers' culture is a model for what he's trying to build in D.C.: "Absolutely. They’ve been able to sustain it. If you go back and look at it, there was a stretch there that was rough for them. But they stayed consistent. They stayed with what they had. They stayed with their model, they stayed with their philosophy, they stayed with their culture. Now look at where they are. Again, they most certainly are one of the teams that you look at. You look at New England, what they’ve built there. Sure, they’re struggling right now, but they try to stay consistent to the way they do things. That’s the most important thing."
Loose, somewhat cynical translation: Don't constantly keep firing everyone. You hear that all over the football world as it relates to the Steelers. -- DK
DUPREE TO IR, BROOKS ACTIVE
3:30 p.m. Thursday: The Steelers placed Bud Dupree on injured reserve, signing rookie safety Antoine Brooks off their practice squad to take his place on the 53-man roster. Brooks has appeared in two games this season, making two tackles. He played 28 snaps in a 36-10 win over the Bengals but has spent most of the season on the practice squad. -- Lolley
TOMLIN IN BETTER MOOD
1 p.m. Thursday: Mike Tomlin was in a slightly better mood today than he was last night in the aftermath of his team's 19-14 win over the Ravens, when he was clearly disappointed with the play of his team as a whole. Today, he singled out a number of players who he felt performed well and helped lead to the victory, including Benny Snell, James Washington, JuJu Smith-Schuster, J.C. Hassenauer and the defense as a whole.
But Tomlin also continued to acknowledge that the team as a whole didn't play well and that needs to change working on a short week with the next game coming up Monday against Washington.
"The urgency needs to be felt," Tomlin said. -- Lolley
NELSON GETTING MRI
12:15 p.m. Thursday: Mike Tomlin said cornerback Steven Nelson is getting an MRI on his knee today. Nelson played and finished Wednesday's game, but Tomlin said Nelson was experiencing some issues that caused the Steelers to send him for an MRI. Stay tuned on that one. -- Lolley
TOMLIN CONFIDENT
IN HIGHSMITH
12:10 p.m. Thursday: I asked Mike Tomlin if he's confident Alex Highsmith, who hasn't played more than 25 snaps in a game this season, is ready to handle an increased workload with Bud Dupree out.
"I am," Tomlin said. "I'm just as confident as I was in Robert Spillane when he had to step in for Devin Bush. I'm just as confident as I was in Kevin Dotson when he was asked to step in. We are ringing Alex Highsmith's bell now." -- Lolley
MRI CONFIRMS TORN ACL
11 a.m. Thursday: An MRI on Bud Dupree's knee confirms the linebacker did in fact suffer a torn ACL in last night's 19-14 win over the Browns. That will mean Dupree is out for the remainder of the 2020 season. Mike Tomlin will talk about the ramifications of the injury at noon today. But it very likely could be the last game Dupree plays for the Steelers.
The 2015 first-round draft pick was playing on the Franchise Tag this season, earning $15.8 million. If that was it for Dupree, he'll finish his career with the Steelers with 39.5 sacks in 81 career games. Rookie Alex Highsmith, a third-round draft pick, will take over for Dupree for the remainder of this season for the Steelers (11-0), who face Washington Monday afternoon. -- Lolley
MEGA-COVERAGE
4:15 a.m. Thursday: One thing Dale Lolley and I don't do is play down to the level of the ... well, subject matter, I guess. Which is to say, we tried really hard to get our subscribers complete premium coverage of all this awfulness, in addition to a slightly riled-up podcast. -- DK
OTHER INJURIES
4:06 a.m. Thursday: Bud wasn't the only one of the Steelers to get hurt, though he was the only one Mike Tomlin cited. (The coach was in a rotten mood and wasn't expounding on much, for full context.) Chris Wormley was hurt -- it was unclear how -- in the first half, replaced for a spell by Henry Mondeaux, but eventually returned. Alejandro Villanueva appeared to hurt his hand in the second half, but he stayed in there.
In all likelihood, Tomlin will update those players today in his press conference at noon. That'll be the team's only formal activity, by the way. The players will be off until a full practice tomorrow. -- DK
BUD LOSES ANOTHER
3:02 a.m. Thursday: As if it wasn't already a rough enough evening for Bud Dupree, he also had a sack taken away. Initially, the official scorers in Pittsburgh -- who sit right near me in the Heinz Field press box -- changed it to Cam Heyward, but then other officials in New York changed it to T.J. Watt, who'd wind up with two. The Steelers disagree and will look to have it changed. -- DK
ULTIMATE TROLL JOB
2:34 a.m. Thursday: Social media savagery from JuJu Smith-Schuster. -- DK
Trying to Avoid Covid Like... 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/8qTI7AXt7d
— JuJu Smith-Schuster (@TeamJuJu) December 3, 2020
MORE HARBAUGH GOLD
2:15 a.m. Thursday: Wait, one more: "Our guys were excited to play. We wanted to play Thursday. We wanted to play Sunday. We wanted to play Tuesday. And we got a chance to play on Wednesday. Our guys want to play. Our coaches want to play. You want to play, that’s what we do. We were looking forward to the game. We were looking forward to the challenge of playing the Steelers, we always do. We just wanted to play."
Not enough?
OK, but this is it, representing his first public remarks on the coronavirus outbreak that ravaged his team like no other in the NFL: "Listen, I think everybody did their best. We didn’t bat 1.000, and nobody did. Nobody does. All around the country, all around the world, you’re not batting 1.000 against this thing. I don’t feel like … It’s not a time to take the accusatory stance. That’s not the position I would take. I’d take the position that our guys fought like crazy, and I’m proud of what they did. ... I would like to talk about the football right now.”
I'll miss him if he's fired. I will. -- DK
HARBAUGH WHINES ABOUT
... UH, DELAY OF GAME?
2:10 a.m. Thursday: From the too-good-to-be-true department, John Harbaugh took issues with the Steelers having a player down in the final seconds of the first half -- which did look intentional, if I'm telling the truth -- rather than faulting himself for the hundred or so ways he still could've killed the clock and put up points.
"We knew we had enough time to run the two plays we wanted to run. The run, we hoped it would score. If it didn’t, we had a quick play pass that would be operated quick. That would be a quick throw, so we’d have time for timeout if that was incomplete," Harbaugh said. "I just feel like, if you’re laying on the ground like that, you’re either injured, or it’s delay of game. So, that’s a pretty clear cut-type of a deal, and that’s how we felt about it."