Post-Colts thoughts

Boy, I'd hate to be working an Indianapols Colts message board right now. I'd detest having to answer questions about how the defense stinks, the team played down to an inferior opponent and the coaching staff doesn't know what the heck it's doing and didn't have the team prepared.

I've been there and done that.

Instead, this week, we can talk about an offense that has now scored 81 points in its past two games, a defense that beat the bejeezus out of Andrew Luck and a coaching staff that came up with a great game plan and has been pushing the right buttons.

All of those things tie together.

The coaching staff has been force-feeding things to rookie receiver Martavis Bryant. Two weeks ago in practice, the Steelers attempted deep pass after deep pass to Bryant in preparation for the game against Houston.

Last week, it was working him on slants, outs and screens.

Who knows what this week will bring. Bryant is still make a mistake here or there, but his presence on the field sure does open things up for others.

Bryant had five receptions for 83 yards and two scores on Sunday, making him the first rookie to catch TDs in back-to-back games since Emmanuel Sanders in 2010, and the first to have a multiple TD game since Mike Wallace in 2009.

Did the coaching staff wait too long to play the rookie? Maybe.

But right now, it seems like they did it at just the right time.

That's seven receptions for 123 yards and three scores in the past two games.

As for the defense, it seemingly hit Andrew Luck every other time he dropped back to pass - though they did allow the Colts some big plays in the passing game.

The reason for that was because the Pittsburgh corners were jamming the Colts receivers hard at the line of scrimmage to knock them off their timing routes and the short stuff they like to run.

That was resulting in some pressure. But when the Steelers didn't get there, Luck was good enough to make them pay. Ben Roethlisberger and company were just better on this day.

Again, that was a solid coaching move.

Finally, head coach Mike Tomlin, who made the decision to get Bryant into the lineup, seems to be making some other correct moves with his lineup as well.

Sunday, it was taking rookie Dri Archer off the kick returns and then benching Cortez Allen after he allowed a third-quarter touchdown pass.

Archer and Allen both seem to be dealing with the same issue - a lack of confidence.

Allen, in particular, is in position most of the time to make a play on the ball. He's just not doing it right now.

But both he and Archer are and will be in the team's plans.

Remember, all of those people who were saying Mike Adams would never amount to anything have been proven wrong as well.

@ Speaking of Adams, how about the way he and the rest of the offensive line kept Roethlisberger clean in this one?

The Steelers dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.

@ I've seen all but one of every game Ben Roethlisberger has played as a pro live and in person.

He played the best game of his career Sunday.

Playing against other top-notch quarterbacks seems to bring the best out in Pittsburgh's quarterback.

Perhaps that's the reason for the Steelers' inexplicable losses at times to "inferior" teams.

Roethlisberger won't need much convincing that next Sunday's game against Baltimore is a big one.

@ Food for thought: Roethlisberger reached 100 career wins in 150 career starts. Only Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana and Tom Brady have also done that.

That's pretty good company to keep.

@ Roethlisberger is now 18-1 at home in his career in the month of October. Who knows why that's the case, but it's certainly a trend worth noting.

So, too, is this one. The Steelers are now 6-1-1 against the spread as home underdogs since 2005. And they've now won five of those games outright.

@ At the midway point of the season:

Antonio Brown is on pace for 120 receptions, 1,700 yards and 14 TDs.

Le'Veon Bell is on pace for just under 1,400 yards rushing to go along with 84 receptions for another 800 or so yards.

Roethlisberger is on pace for 4,700 passing yards with 32 TDs and just 6 interceptions.

Most importantly, the Steelers are on pace to go 10-6.

Yes, this is still a team that has lost to Tampa Bay - and Cleveland, though Cleveland is going to win six or seven games this season, so there's no shame in that.

But it also owns a win over Cleveland, Carolina, Houston and now Indianapolis. That's two division leaders - Carolina and Indianapolis - and two teams that don't have losing records.

Still remaining on the schedule are games against just three teams that are at .500 or better, including two with Cincinnati.

The other four games are against the Jets, Titans, Saints and Falcons.

Those are all very winnable games. Steal one or two of the others, and this turns into a very nice season.

Steelers-Colts thread

As expected Marcus Gilbert is out today for the Steelers. Mike Adams will start in his place.

That will leave Pittsburgh with no reserve offensive tackles.

Cam Thomas will start at nose tackle in place of Steve McLendon, who is also out again, while Brett Keisel gets the start at defensive end.

Also down are Justin Brown, Ike Taylor, Shamarko thomas, B.W. Webb and Landry Jones.

Trent Richardson is active for the Colts, but Ahmad Bradshaw will start at running back. Richardson missed all week in practice with a hamstring injury.

Hakeem Nicks will start at WR in place of Reggie Wayne, who is out, while Ricky Jean Francois gets the nod over Arthur Jones at DT. Jones is healthy.

The weather here is perfect, sunny with a light breeze.

Who I like, Indianapolis version

First of all, there are plenty of key players who will be out of this game.

For the Steelers, nose tackle Steve McLendon is out once again, while right tackle Marcus Gilbert is doubtful with a concussion.

This is interesting because the Steelers don't have a backup offensive tackle on the roster and have only Alejandro Villanueva on the practice squad. I felt they would make a move to at least add a tackle to the practice squad during the week, but they didn't do that, either.

They could activate Villanueva from the practice squad to serve as a backup, but he has mostly played tight end in his time on other teams practice squads.

Center Maurkice Pouncey said he was the next option at tackle last week if something else had happened. As the team's most athletic lineman - though David DeCastro is close - that would make some sense, especially with Cody Wallace as the most experienced backup.

But there's no doubt the Steelers are thin up front.

On Indianapolis' side, Reggie Wayne is out with an elbow injury, while running back Trent Richardson is questionable with a hamstring injury. Richardson, the Colts' leading rusher, hasn't practiced all week, so it's highly questionable that he'll play.

While Ahmad Bradshaw has been more valuable than Richardson, he also has a tendency to get hurt. It will be interesting to see if the Colts are comfortable giving him 20-plus touches.

Now, on to the game itself . . .

This is an interesting matchup in that the Colts have a high-powered offense, but also one that turns the ball over at times. Andrew Luck has thrown 19 touchdown passes - 14 of which have gone to the backs and tight ends - but he also has thrown seven interceptions and lost two fumbles.

As a team, the Colts have turned it over 13 times as a team, which is nearly two times per game.

In contrast, the Steelers have turned the ball over eight times in seven games, while forcing nine. Considering it took the Steelers nearly a month to get their first turnover, the nine turnovers - bolstered by three last week - isn't bad.

The Colts have covered up for those turnovers by shutting down opposing offenses. They have allowed just four third down conversions in the past 41 attempts and are allowing just 26 percent to be converted this season.

The Steelers have been decent on third down this season, converting at a 40 percent clip and have two of the NFL's better third-down players in Antonio Brown and Le'Veon Bell.

With those two, particularly Bell, the Steelers should have some success.

The Steelers are three-point underdogs at home in this game, marking just the eighth time since 2005 that Pittsburgh has been an underdog at home.

In those games, the Steelers are 5-1-1 against the spread, with four wins outright.

Despite all of that, I'll take the Colts to win this one, 31-23

Wednesday food for thought

The Steelers are going to have their hands full with the Colts on defense Sunday.

Not only has Indianapolis allowed just four third down conversions in 41 attempts in their past four games, they have 21 sacks.

Amazingly, the Colts have gotten those 21 sacks from 11 different guys. The Steelers have 10 sacks as a team.

@ Of Indianapolis' 19 touchdown passes this season, 14 have gone to the running backs and tight ends.

That doesn't bode well for the Steelers.

Though Pittsburgh has allowed just 10 touchdown passes this season, six of those have gone to opposing running backs and tight ends.

@ Marcus Gilbert, Steve McClendon and Ryan Shazier did not practice for the Steelers on Wednesday, but they did have a surprise partial participant in cornerback Ike Taylor.

Taylor, out the past four weeks with a broken forearm, was able to go through some position drills and did some running today.

A timetable hasn't been set yet for his return, but he's getting close.

Tuesday with Tomlin

Mike Tomlin didn't have a lot to say at his weekly press conference Tuesday, less than 12 hours after his team defeated Houston, 30-23, Monday night to improve to 4-3.

But he did say that he expects both linebacker Ryan Shazier and safety Shamarko Thomas to return this week from injuries.

Shazier has missed the past four games with a knee injury, while Thomas has been out a couple of weeks with a hamstring issue.

Getting Shazier back for Sunday's game against Indianapolis will be a big boost.

The Colts throw more to their receivers and tight ends than perhaps any team in the NFL, especially near the goal line. Tight ends and running backs account for 14 of the Colts' 19 touchdown passes this season and 17 of the team's 25 total touchdowns for the season.

Shazier's speed and explosiveness could be a factor in helping defend those kind of plays.

@ On his weekly radio bit with a local station, Ben Roethlisberger said that it was Tomlin who called the end around option pass by Antonio Brown that resulted in a 3-yard touchdown pass from Brown to Lance Moore.

I'm told that was not the case, and Tomlin brushed off questions about who made the call to run that particular play, saying only that he takes responsibility for all of the play calls.

It seems silly, but A. That's a play that the Steelers work on all the time because it's one of their core 2-point conversion plays. And B. Offensive coordinator Todd Haley made the play call.

Some have taken issue with the Steelers calling that play at that time.

But this was a team that had been struggling in the red zone. Why not put the ball in the hands of your best playmaker - who was a high school quarterback, by the way - and let him make a play?

Brown is smart enough that he knows to throw the ball away or tuck it and run in that situation if nothing is there.

Sometimes, Roethlisberger baffles me with the things that he says and why he says them.

@ Tomlin said he felt that Brown's touchdown catch in the fourth quarter should not have been overturned.

The play was originally ruled a catch and there didn't seem to be enough to overturn the play. In fact, Brown later tweeted a photo that showed some separation between his feet and the sideline.

A photo by Pittsburgh Tribune-Review photographer Chaz Palla also showed Brown had both feet in bounds cleanly with the ball in his possession.

But Brown stepped over the line when he tweeted the photo and also made a derogatory comment towards the officials.

He will likely draw a fine from the NFL for that.

Post-Houston thoughts

I've been doing this for a long time and have never seen a game turn so dramatically in such a short period of time.

The Steelers went from dead in the water to up 11 points at halftime before the Texans had time to realize what had happened.

Right after the Steelers kicked a field goal with just over three minutes remaining to cut the Texans' lead to 13-3, I tweeted that the best thing to happen at that point was that Houston was going to have to forego the run from its own 20 if it wanted to put more points on the board.

To that point, the Texans had rushed for 99 yards on 17 carries in the first half.

That's exactly what they did as Arian Foster was stopped for a two-yard gain on first down and the Texans attempted passes on second and third down, resulting in a sack and incompletion.

The Texans took just over a minute off the clock and punted the ball back to the Steelers.

Two plays later, Ben Roethlisberger connected with Martavis Bryant for his first career catch, a 35-yard touchdown. And just like that, the momentum had turned.

Momentum in football is funny. And unlike any other sport, it's tough to stop once it gets rolling.

In basketball, you can call a timeout to try to change the momentum. In baseball, you can change pitchers. But in football, it has a tendency to feed into itself.

We've seen that a couple of times already this season happen the other way for the Steelers, who have gotten overwhelmed by a wave of momentum in losses at Baltimore and last week at Cleveland.

This time around, however, it was the Steelers who were riding the wave and the Texans who were rolled over.

@ It was interesting to watch the Steelers make changes on defense and with their receivers like a hockey team doing line changes.

They rotated defensive linemen freely, alternating between a nickel and base defense regardless of what package Houston had on the field - attempting, it seemed, to dictate to the Texans what they would do on offense.

And the receiver pairings were interesting. Often times on third downs, the Steelers would take Lance Moore and Markus Wheaton off the field to bring in Bryant and Darrius Heyward-Bey.

Only Antonio Brown was a constant.

@ A week after being targeted 11 times at Cleveland and coming up with four receptions, Wheaton was targeted just two times and did not catch a pass.

@ Arian Foster rushed for 73 yards on seven first quarter carries. He had 29 yards on his next 13 attempts.

The defense, as a whole, played much better after that first quarter. In fact, 59 of Foster's yards came on five carries on the opening drive.

@ Bryant made an impact in his first game. The Steelers tried four deep passes to him, connecting on just the 35-yard touchdown pass.

But those deep balls helped free up Le'Veon Bell underneath. The Texans tried to cover Bell one-on-one with a linebacker and he made them pay to the tune of eight receptions for 88 yards.

@ That was a gutsy effort by the Steelers offensive line.

Right tackle Marcus Gilbert left in the second quarter with a concussion and Kelvin Beachum and Marquise Pouncey also suffered minor injuries later in the game only to return.

While linebacker Wesley "Ming the" Mercillus was active and made a couple of plays on Roethlisberger with a pair of sacks, J.J. Watt had just three tackles and a sack.

So much for putting Watt in the Hall of Fame by the end of the game, as announcer John Gruden, the king of overstatement, said early on.

Steelers-Texans game thread

The weather tonight in Pittbsurgh is perfect for the Steelers-Texans game, though there is a chance of rain later in the night.

Landry Jones, Justin Brown, Ike Taylor, Shamarko Thomas, Ryan Shazier, Chris Hubbard and Steve McLendon are down for the  Steelers.

Justin Brown takes a seat in order  to get Martavis Bryant on the field.

Jadeveon Clowney is down for the Texans.

Who I like, Houston version

The Steelers are an angry team after being beaten, 31-10, last week in Cleveland.

In the aftermath of that loss, they were called out first by they head coach in a team meeting for not being tough, mentally or physically, and soft by former head coach Bill Cowher and teammate Hines Ward on national television.

The moves by all three were meant to prod this team to play even harder, or, as James Harrison said, "If you don't want to be called soft, don't put soft on tape."

The Steelers won't put soft on tape this week against Houston on Monday night.

But this is a tough matchup for them, especially on defense. Houston does well - run the zone stretch - what Pittsburgh doesn't defend well.

A lot of the talk in this game has centered on how the Steelers will block Texans defensive end J.J. Watt. Look, Watt's good. He's scored three touchdowns this season, though one came while lining up as a tight end.

He's got 20 QB hits this season, but just four of Houston's 10 sacks.

Watt's presence hasn't helped the Texans be a great defense. He's a great player. The rest of the defense is truly awful, especially the secondary.

Pittsburgh's defense is 12th in the league in total yards against. Houston is 27th.

So the Texans have some issues of their own.

I think the Steelers offense will break out of its two-game slump and actually score some points at home. But after last week's game I just can't pick them to win, though it wouldn't surprise me if they came out and won for the 16th consecutive time at home on Monday night.

Pittsburgh is a 3-point favorite, but I'll take Houston to win, 27-24

Thursday news, notes

Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau confirmed today that cornerback Brice McCain will start in the team's base defense Monday night against Houston.

This, of course, means that Cortez Allen has been bumped. But it does not mean he has been benched.

And there is a difference.

Allen will still play in the Steelers' nickel defense, which means he'll play at least 60 percent of the time against the Texans, so it's not a true benching.

Allen had a tough game last Sunday against the Browns, while McCain has been playing well. McCain also is quite familiar, if not with Houston's offense because of the new coaching staff, then at least with the players. He spent the previous five years covering them in practice.

So it makes sense for the Steelers to get McCain on the field as much as possible against the Texans.

But that certainly doesn't mean Allen is a bust or no longer in the Steelers plans.

In fact, he's hardly the first guy to be replaced, only to come back and be a solid starter. If he needs any help in that department, he need only walk over and ask Ike Taylor about it.

@ Rookie linebacker Ryan Shazier was limited today after being pretty active Wednesday in practice. He also appeared to shed the knee brace that he practiced with on Wednesday.

@ Todd Haley said today that rookie Martavis Bryant will get some opportunities this week. Of course that has to come at the expense of someone.

The guess here is that Justin Brown is going to lose some PT. The Steelers finally seem settled in on using Lance Moore more often, so Bryant will likely take some of Brown's snaps - if, in fact, Brown is even active.

Wednesday news, notes

Steelers linebacker James Harrison had some interesting takes on his team being called out not only by Bill Cowher and Hines Ward, but head coach Mike Tomlin as well.

Here's what Harrison and others had to say about Tomlin saying the team wasn't tough enough mentally or physically:

http://www.observer-reporter.com/article/20141015/SPORTS0403/141019663

@ Rookie linebacker Ryan Shazier was back at full speed at practice today for the Steelers after missing the past three games with a sprained knee.

Shazier said he saw some time with the starters while he was out there and that he felt pretty good.

@ Cornerback Brice McCain said he also worked with the starters at times Wednesday. But he slid back inside when the Steelers went to their nickel defense.

But, as McCain noted, "it was just the first day of practice."

That could certainly change. And even if McCain does play outside in the base defense, Allen would still see plenty of time in the nickel defense.

@ There were some other changes in the lineup, but due to practice reporting  requirements, I cannot report them without confirmation from the players.

It was, however, difficult to ascertain exactly what the Steelers were leaning toward at some positions since the team doesn't put out an injury report until Thursday - because it doesn't play until Monday - and Wednesday was a typical veteran's day off for a number of players, some of whom have actual injuries this week.

Suffice it to say, the Steelers are, indeed, turning over every rock to look at their options, as head coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday.

@ I looked up the Steelers stats today running the ball in the red zone.

As a team, they have 19 red zone carries, not counting three Ben Roethlisberger knee downs. They have gained 57 yards on those attempts, an average of 3.0 yards per carry, well below their average of 4.9 yards per carry.

Opponents also are not blitzing the Steelers much this season, choosing instead to play coverage against quarterback Ben Roethlisberger,

Roethlisberger is 15-23 for 250 yards, one touchdown and one interception when blitzed this season. But 10 of those pass attempts came against Cleveland in the opener.

Tuesday with Tomlin

Mike Tomlin called out a number of players both in name and deed this week at his press conference.

The culprits were receivers Markus Wheaton, Justin Brown and Lance Moore, running back Le'Veon Bell, linebacker Jason Worilds and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

Some of the criticism from Tomlin was due to direct questions, as was the case with Worilds, whom Tomlin said has had "pockets" or games of good play. But Tomlin noted the Steelers are compensating  Worilds well to have consistently disruptive play and that's not happening right now.

As for the receivers and Bell, Tomlin said they could have done a better job of catching some passes that were either dropped or they didn't get their feet down along the sideline.

Tomlin said Roethlisberger played well, at times, but wasn't consistent.

The issue right now seems to be an offense that is just making a mistake here or there that is hurting the team.

For example, on Wheaton's third-down drop that led to the botched field goal attempt early in the second quarter, Wheaton ran his pattern two yards too deep.

That wouldn't seem like such a big deal, but Roethlisberger threw the pass when he expected Wheaton to turn and come back to the ball. Wheaton went deeper than expected, so the ball was on him when he turned, causing the drop.

@ Tomlin said the team will "turn over every stone" to look for answers to their current issues, whether that be lineup changes or changes in what they're doing.

Steve McLendon is out this week due to an injured shoulder, which will mean that rookie Daniel McCullers will be active for the first time this season.

More importantly, it means that the Steelers will have no choice but to play Stephon Tuitt more.

I don't think McCullers is the answer necessarily, especially against teams that run the zone stretch. He just doesn't move well enough - though if he doesn't take out his teammates on those plays, it will be an improvement over Cam Thomas.

Tomlin also said that rookie receiver Martavis Bryant could finally get a chance to see some action this week in an attempt to help the team's struggling red zone offense.

@ Rookie linebacker Ryan Shazier will see more practice time this week, but he's not necessarily ready to return. That will be a wait-and-see proposition.

Cam Heyward is OK, but Tomlin said that Brett Keisel and Mike Mitchell could be slowed by their injuries and would be considered questionable.

@ On his weekly radio show on which I am a co-host, wide receiver Antonio Brown said that Tomlin told the team on Monday that it is not tough, either mentally or physically.

That was apparent in the second half of the game against Cleveland. The Steelers didn't look like a team with any fight in it.

Tomlin was basically challenging this team. We'll see how it responds.

Post-Cleveland thoughts, part II

The Steelers offense is continuing to put up yards and Le'Veon Bell and Antonio Brown are rolling up stats at a record pace.

But it's added up to just 10 offensive points in each of the past two weeks against a pair of defenses that, statistics tell us are at the bottom of the NFL.

It just doesn't add up.

Ben Roethlisberger isn't playing real well right now. Of that, there is no doubt.

But the Steelers should still have enough to score points against the likes of Jacksonville and Cleveland. And it's not happening.

The easy excuse is to blame offensive coordinator Todd Haley. But that's lazy.

Did Haley suddenly forget how to coach in the red zone, where the Steelers entered the game ranked 26th in the league in scoring?

After all, Pittsburgh ranked 12th in the league in red zone scoring in 2013 and 17th in 2012. Either would be a huge upgrade right now.

Perhaps the front office underestimated just how big of a loss Jerricho Cotchery and his 10 red zone touchdowns in 2013 would be missed.

Or perhaps, it's just a bad mix right now for the Steelers, who roll up plenty of yards, but can't seem to get out of their own way in the red zone.

@ Once again, the defense was doing a decent job Sunday against the run ... until it wasn't.

The defense seemed so intent on shutting down Cleveland's outside zone runs early in the game that it completely forgot about tight end Jordan Cameron.

At least defensive end Brett Keisel had the wherewithal to run Cameron down at the Pittsburgh 4 following a 42-yard completion.

Too bad both safeties didn't keep that in mind on Cleveland's next possession, when they gave Cortez Allen no help over the middle of the field on third-and-1 and Cameron caught a 51-yard TD pass.

@ On Cleveland's next possession, the Browns lost Pro Bowl center Alex Mack to a broken leg. Unlike the Steelers, who took an entire game in 2013 to recover from the loss of Maurkice Pouncey, the Browns finished off the drive in which Mack was likely lost for the season with the first of two Ben Tate touchdown runs.

@ Last week, it was three pass plays from the 4-yard line in a possession on which the Steelers didn't score.

This week, it was three runs from the 7 that had everyone, including me, wondering what the team was doing.

Then, Tate scored on a run from the 8 on the series in which Mack was injured. So there's that.

@ Brian Hoyer only completed 8 of 17 passes in this one. But they went for 217 yards.

That, coupled with a running game that produced 158 yards on 38 carries, was too much for this Pittsburgh defense, which got absolutely no help from the offense.

Neither unit had a strong game, but can't the offense answer just one score? One?

@ The real swing in this game came when the Steelers were unable execute a proper field goal snap.

Punter Brad Wing mishandled what should have been a 35-yard field goal. A handful of plays later, Cleveland, which had minus-8 yards to that point, scored to go ahead 7-3.

And the rout was on.

It's tough enough to win when you are kicking field goals instead of scoring touchdowns. It's even more difficult when you can't even execute a field goal properly.

@ Cam Heyward, Brett Keisel and Steve McLendon were all injured in this game, Heyward and Keisel with knee sprains and McLendon with a should injury.

Heyward was especially hot, yelling at offensive tackle Joe Thomas as he was helped off the field.

After the game, Heyward called Thomas' block on him, "cowardly."

Steelers-Browns game day thread

Greetings from Cleveland.

It's sunny, but chilly here at FirstEnergy Stadium. There does not appear to be much wind.

Inactive for the Steelers are Landry Jones, Shamarko Thomas, Daniel McCullers, Ike Taylor, Chris Hubbard, Martavis Bryant and Ryan Shazier.

Ross Ventrone, activated Saturday from the practice squad when Wes Johnson was released - he'll be added to the practice squad or re-signed Monday, is active today.

Both Joe Haden and Paul Kruger are active for the Browns. Terrence West, who rushed for 100 yards on 16 carries against the Steelers in the opener, is a healthy scratch.

Who I like, Cleveland Part II

I think the Steelers learned a valuable lesson last week in Jacksonville last week, that being they need to get the ball into the hands of their best playmakers if they want to put up big points.

Having Ben Roethlisberger complete passes to 11 different receivers is nice, but would you rather have the ball in the hands of Michael Palmer or Antonio Brown?

And therein was part of the problem for the Steelers last week in Jacksonville.

Entering the fourth quarter, Brown had four receptions. Running back Le'Veon Bell had touched the ball 13 times - 10 rushes and three receptions.

That pair is among the top five in the NFL in total yards per game. And yet they had combined for 16 touches.

Running back LeGarrette Blount had one fewer reception than Brown. And he and Dri Archer had combined for 12 touches, one fewer than Bell.

You have to get the ball into the hands of your best playmakers. But against the Jaguars, it seemed the Steelers got too cute. They figured Jacksonville's defense was so bad, they could get everyone involved and still put up points.

Instead, they faltered in the red zone - completely abandoning Bell - and had to throw a pass to Brown at the end of the game to get him his fifth reception.

Looking ahead at Cleveland this week, the Steelers will be reminded of what they did that worked well against the Browns in the opener.

Bell and Brown combined for over 200 yards of total offense in the first half as the Steelers took a 27-3 lead.

In the second half, they had just over 60 yards - all by Bell - and scrambled to score three points.

The Steelers will get the ball to their stars in this one.

Pittsburgh opened as a 2-point underdog and it has moved to 1 1/2 points. I expect it to be at 1 or even by game time.

Yes, the Browns pulled off a comeback from a 25-point deficit last week. But it was in Tennessee against a backup quarterback.

They won't face a backup this week. In fact, they will face a quarterback who has beaten them 18 times in 19 games.

I'll take the Steelers in this one, 27-24

Which was the better kick?

While hosting the Antonio Brown show this past week, I asked him what kind of reception he expects in Cleveland this weekend after his accidental kick of Browns punter Spencer Lanning in their first meeting this season.

Brown replied that he expected the fans to give him the usual business he gets when he's there - plenty of boos and other kinds of heckling.

But it got me to thinking about other great athletes who have accidentally kicked an opponent.

Which one of these is more egregious to you:

or this

Wednesday news and notes

It doesn't look good for rookie linebacker Ryan Shazier coming back this week.

Shazier was still in a leg brace today and missed practice. I can't imagine that he will have some kind of miracle recovery to be ready to play in Cleveland.

Next week . . . maybe.

@ Shamarko Thomas said he hopes to be ready to play this weekend. But that might be pushing things as well. But he looks much closer to playing than Shazier.

@ Mike Tomlin has begun giving safety Mike Mitchell Wednesdays off along with some other select veterans.

It's curious considering Mitchell hasn't been here long and, at 27, certainly isn't an aging veteran.

But Mitchell stands back behind the defense - 40 yards or so deep - along with Troy Polamalu, who gets every Wednesday off, and defensive backs coach Carnell Lake.

My best guess is that they are standing back there discussing what Polamalu and Lake see on a given play with Mitchell.

@ Second-year defensive end Nick Williams suffered a knee injury in practice today and had to be taken off on a cart. Williams, a seventh-round pick last season, was on the practice squad this season after missing all of last season with a knee injury.

@ Defensive lineman Phil Taylor had knee surgery today and will be out a few weeks for the Browns.

That's a big blow.

Taylor is Cleveland's best defensive lineman, particularly against the run.

Joe Haden also sat out practice for Cleveland with his hip injury. Even if he plays, he's going to be at less than 100 percent. For a defense that was already struggling, that's not good.

Tuesday with Tomlin

Mike Tomlin said on Tuesday that he expects Ryan Shazier to do some running today after successfully doing to Monday in a pool. Shazier could practice in some fashion this week, but I don't look for him to play when the Steelers travel to Cleveland.

Tomlin was a little more upbeat about safety Shamarko Thomas' possibilities. Thomas suffered a hamstring injury at Jacksonville, but Tomlin said it wasn't as bad as originally thought.

Thomas could be held out early and get back to practice later in the week.

@ When asked about the decision to throw the ball to Antonio Brown at the end of Sunday's game to extend his 5 and 50 streak, Tomlin said he wanted to help a respected player extend a "significant" streak.

I don't know exactly about the whole significant part of that statement, but I also don't have a problem with the Steelers running a safe play at that point, either.

And actually, wouldn't that have been a good play for the Steelers to run on third-and-five the previous week against Tampa Bay at the end of the game?

As for critics of the play, Tomlin simply said he doesn't care what they think.

@ Tomlin said in retrospect, he wishes the Steelers would have run the ball more inside the Jacksonville 10.

On six plays run inside the 10, the Steelers threw on all six.

@ Tomlin expects the Browns to try to run their fast-paced hurry-up early in the game to test the Steelers and see if they have fixed their issues with that.

The Steelers feel like they have.

@ Tomlin said Lance Moore's penalty for delay of game in the third quarter Sunday came out of frustration.

It appeared to me that Moore was spiking the ball at the Steelers' sideline. If he was frustrated, it might be that he's still running behind Justin Brown, even though he's been healthy the past three weeks.

I understand that frustration on Moore's part. But he also has to know better than to draw that penalty.

Post Jaguars thoughts

The Steelers have basically played one complete game this season and yet are 3-2.

I'm sure fans won't be happy with Sunday's 17-9 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars, but it was a win.

More importantly, it was a win in which the defense carried the team, something few thought possible, including me.

Yes, it was a rookie quarterback, who has a tendency to stare down one side of the field, but the Steelers slammed the run for the third consecutive game, giving up 56 yards rushing on 15 carries.

That's 161 yards rushing allowed in the last three games combined, or 30 yards less than the Steelers gave up to the Browns in the opener.

We'll see if the run defense is actually better or if it's just been a three-game mirage when the Steelers travel to Cleveland this week.

@ The Steelers ran six plays in first-and-goal-to-go situations against Jacksonville and Le'Veon Bell didn't touch the ball in any of them. LeGarrette Blount didn't either.

How in the world does that happen?

Sometimes coaches just out think themselves.

Perhaps the coaching staff took the Jaguars a little lightly. Bell got just 15 carries in this game, five of which came in the fourth quarter.

It was almost as if the Steelers wanted to give him a light load this week in a game in which they figured they'd put 30 points on the board with little trouble.

@ Jason Worilds was major force in this game, especially early on before Jacksonville finally started giving right tackle Austin Pasztor some help blocking him.

@ Lance Moore, I know you're frustrated by not playing more or getting more passes thrown your way when you do play, but spiking the ball at midfield?

That's not the way to get more playing time or passes.

@ The look on Mike Tomlin's face after the Steelers were offsides on back-to-back kickoffs was priceless.

What was even more priceless was watching him walk down to where Shaun Suisham was kicking off and watching very closely as the Steelers kicked off for a third time.

@ Cortez Allen has taken some heat for his play early on this season, but he's played very well the past two weeks.

And I'm not even talking about his interceptions - though those are nice.

Allen has been solid in coverage. Sometimes, the other team just wins.

Allen's interceptions in back-to-back games, by the way, make him the first Steelers defensive back since Troy Polamalu in 2010 to accomplish that feat. Polamalu did it twice that season.

@ Ben Roethlisberger seemed a little off in this one. I don't know if he was still feeling the effects of banging his wrist on Marcus Gilbert's helmet last week, but he missed some throws high in this game that he usually makes.

@ Yes, the Steelers ran a play at the end to allow Antonio Brown to keep his five-catch, 50-yard game streak going.

I don't have a problem with that. It was no different than the team throwing the ball in a situation a couple of years ago to make sure Hines Ward got his 1,000th catch.

Plus, Brown had a 17-yard catch in the third quarter negated by a penalty.

@ Brice McCain said following the game that he never saw Jacksonville quarterback Blake Bortles make the throw he did that McCain picked off and returned for a touchdown.

McCain, who played the Jaguars twice a year during his five seasons with Houston, said he recognized Jacksonville's audible and knew the Jaguars would be running a pick play. He went over top of the pick and when he turned, the ball was there.

Perhaps that's why McCain had such a good week of practice last week. He was very familiar with everything he was seeing in practice.

Steelers-Jags game-day thread

Greetings from Jacksonville.

The weather here is perfect. Temps in the low 80s and plenty of sun.

Ramon Foster is currently on the field and warming up. He told me earlier this week that he expects to play in this game and that appears to be the case.

Down for Steelers are Martavis  Bryant, Daniel McCullers, Chris Hubbard, Wes Johnson, Ike Taylor, Ryan Shazier and Landry Jones.

Cecil Shorts and Marqise Lee are down today for the Jaguars, as is starting corner Dwayne Gratz. Wideout Ace Sanders, who was activated Saturday after being suspended for the first four games, is active today.

Who I like Jacksonville version

I had to laugh this week every time I heard someone make their pick for the Steelers' game Sunday at Jacksonville.

Suddenly, the Jacksonville Jaguars were being compared to something that resembled a good NFL team. They're not. They're not even a bad NFL team.

No, Jacksonville is a horrid NFL team.

Through four weeks, Jacksonville is allowing the most points in the NFL, 38 per game. That's more than a touchdown greater than the next closest team,

And only Oakland at 12.8 points per game averages fewer than Jacksonville's 14.5.

Think about that. Jacksonville's average margin of defeat is just over three touchdowns per game.

It gets better. The Steelers are 17-2 since 2004 against rookie quarterbacks. The only two games in which they've lost in that stretch were a pair of games not started by Ben Roethlisberger.

That means Roethlisberger has never lost a game in which the other team has started a rookie quarterback.

But wait, it gets better still. Not only will Jacksonville be starting a rookie quarterback in Blake Bortles, it will be starting two rookie receivers as well. That's a whole lot of inexperience at the skill positions.

It wouldn't be such a problem if the Jaguars had a running game. But they don't have that, either. Free agent pickup Toby Gerhart is averaging 2.6 yards per carry with 114 yards on 44 attempts.

After being torched on the ground in their first two games, the Steelers have given up 105 total rushing yards in the past two games. So don't expect Bortles to get much help there.

Finally, I expect the stadium to be filled to the brim with Steelers fans on Sunday. And unlike the crowds at Heinz Field, about 1/3 of whom leave after the third quarter is completed, the ones who make the trip to Jacksonville to see the Steelers - the only time many of them get that opportunity - will stay until the finish.

The Steelers are 6-point favorites in this game, and I've heard numerous people in Pittsburgh say they not only expect Jacksonville to cover, they expect the Jaguars to win outright. That's coming from the people who have been too lazy to actually look at how bad the Jags have been.

Are the Steelers a great team right now? Nope. They've got issues as they sort things out after losing three defensive starters two weeks ago in a win at Carolina.

But the offense has the two leading yardage gainers in the AFC in running back Le'Veon Bell and wide receiver Antonio Brown. And that should be more than enough to win easily in front of a pro-Pittsburgh crowd.

Take the Steelers, 34-17

Late week news and notes

Rookie Martavis Bryant missed his second consecutive day of practice for the Steelers on Thursday due to an illness. Bryant hasn't been active yet this season, causing some to wonder about his progress.

But the No. 5 receiver spot - which is currently being handled by Darrius Heyward-Bey, is one that needs to perform a lot of special teams duties. That's not Bryant's strong point at this time.

He'll be down again this week.

More troubling was a hamstring issue that forced No. 2 receiver Markus Wheaton to be limited on Thursday. If Wheaton is unable to play, that bumps everyone else up a spot behind Antonio Brown.

@ This leads me to Justin Brown.

As regular readers of this blog know, I've been high on Brown since late last season when I noticed him making a lot of plays in practice.

He continued some of that into the offseason and won himself a spot on this team.

Once the regular season began, he was holding down the No. 3 receiver spot because A. the Steelers liked his blocking, and B. because Lance Moore was hurt.

But Moore has been back the past two weeks and has seen just 15 total snaps. Fourteen of those came last week against Tampa Bay, while Brown got 46 snaps.

Sorry, but that should be reversed.

I get the fact that the Steelers like Brown's blocking. That's fine.

But the position is called wide receiver, not wide blocker.

And then there is this. Brown was on the field for 27 passing plays last week and caught one pass for five yards, dropping a potential touchdown on third down - though the DB made a nice play on the ball.

Moore was on the field for nine passing plays and made a 12-yard catch on his only target.

Moore has to get increased playing time, though the injury to Wheaton could facilitate that.

@ Dick LeBeau's record against rookie quarterbacks since he returned to the Steelers in 2004 is 17-2. And Ben Roethlisberger didn't start either of the two games the Steelers lost during that stretch.

That means Roethlisberger is unbeaten against rookie QBs.

Tuesday with Tomlin

Mike Tomlin addressed a myriad of things at his press conference today, going through many of the key moments in Sunday's 27-24 loss step-by-step.

Tomlin said the Steelers' final offensive play was called by him. It was a run-pass option play for quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who chose to run the ball based on what he saw from Tampa Bay's defense.

Tomlin said the look was five defenders against five run blockers up front, but the Steelers had a breakdown up front.

On the 41-yard pass to Louis Murphy to set up the game-winning touchdown, Tomlin said it was a failure on all three levels. The defensive front was a step slow to get pressure. The zone defense behind them lost its depth - Mike Mitchell bit up on an underneath route - and then the Steelers did a poor job of getting Murphy on the ground - Mitchell and Troy Polamalu both took bad angles on the tackle, allowing Murphy to get to the 5.

As for some of the pre- and post-snap penalties, Tomlin singled out some guys without mentioning them specifically - ie. Arthur Moats, Antonio Brown, etc.

But one player he did give a pass to was Cam Heyward, who drew an unsportsmanlike penalty for yelling at officials after it appeared that Sean Spence was held on a touchdown run by Doug Martin in the third quarter.

Tomlin said he felt everyone in the stadium thought there was a hold against Spence and that had the play been closer to him or he had been on that sideline, he might have drawn an unsportsmanlike penalty as well.

@ Speaking of penalties, Tomlin said he will have officials at practice this week as the Steelers prepare to face Jacksonville.

@ Tomlin said the team will start working with rookie linebacker Ryan Shazier towards his return, but to not expect that return to be this week.

@ The Steelers terminated the contract of punter Adam Podlesh Tuesday. Podlesh, signed in the offseason, was placed on the did not report list when he didn't show up at training camp while his wife dealt with a difficult pregnancy.

Post-Tampa Bay thoughts

I've been a defender of Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley because I like what he's done overall with the team's offense.

The Steelers can use multiple formations and multiple ways to beat a team.

But I was not a fan of the team's play-calling on the Steelers' next-to-last possession with less than two minutes remaining in this game.

Actually, I just wasn't a fan of the team's final play call on third-and-five, a handoff to Le'Veon Bell.

I realize that Tampa Bay had just used its final timeout after the previous play and the Steelers wanted to run some clock, but they had just thrown the ball on second down to Markus Wheaton for an 8-yard gain.

Are you telling me a team that runs at least 10 screens per game couldn't run another one in that situation? The completion percentage on those is about 90 percent.

Maybe it gets the first down, maybe it doesn't, but it would have had a better chance of working than another run by Bell, who was limited to minus-4 yards on four fourth quarter carries.

The Bucs were really biting hard on the run all day. The Steelers used that to their advantage, running a lot of play-action passes after their first couple of drives.

That, in turn, opened up the running game in the second and third quarters. But the Bucs were back to crashing the line over the final 15 minutes.

A five-yard completion would have ended the game. Heath Miller was open all day long. Are you telling me the Steelers couldn't have connected on a 6-yard game to Miller?

Instead, the Steelers punted.

@ That punt, by the way, was a 29-yarder by Brad Wing.

I umpired a fall Bronco game behind the plate by myself and saw about 300 pitches Saturday. My hamstrings are killing me today, and I'm pretty sure I could have hit a 29-yard punt.

@ I've been saying for three weeks that the Steelers are taking too many penalties. They had 13 in this game.

And there's no doubt that's too many.

The word undisciplined was thrown around the locker room a lot following the game. And there is some of that with the taunting penalties and post-play stuff.

Those are on the coaching staff, who have to crack down on guys doing dumb stuff - though much of it has been by star players, ie. Le'Veon Bell, Antonio Brown and Cameron Heyward Sunday.

But to me, focus is just as big an issue. And focus, in my opinion, falls on the shoulders of the players.

They are paid a lot of money to do a job. If they can't stay focused to do that job who else would be at fault? The coaches?

Put it this way, if you are unfocused in your job, is it your problem or is it because of your boss?

@ The Steelers have had a rash of facemask penalties already this season, including two more Sunday.

Those are a result of guys reaching to make tackles rather than being in the right position to make those tackles. When you reach, you're more likely to grab the facemask.

@ Tampa Bay quarterback Mike Glennon is about as statuesque a quarterback as you'll see.

Yet the Steelers managed just one sack.

They had decent pressure at times, but at other times, not so much.

Arthur Moats and James Harrison both drew holding penalties, but was the only time they had any kind of impact. The duo combined for one tackle, that being by Moats.

Jason Worilds had a team-high two pressures and one tackle.

So, in 64 plays in which at least some combination of Worilds, Moats and Harrison was on the field at all times, the outside linebackers combined for two tackles, two pressures and two holding penalties, one of which was declined because Heyward had a sack.

That was one more tackle and one more pressure than the much-maligned Cam Thomas had Sunday.

The Steelers rotated Moats and Harrison every other series Sunday. But they need more out of that duo and Worilds.

@ I know the Steelers say they want to use Justin Brown as their slot receiver because of his blocking, but I'm baffled why Lance Moore isn't getting more playing time, at least on obvious passing downs.

Brown might eventually develop into a decent NFL receiver. But he's not giving this team much as a No. 3 receiver right now.

@ Tampa Bay scored 10 points in the first 4:59 of this game and seven points with seven seconds remaining.

They had 10 points and did little in between. The Steelers handily won 50-plus minutes of this game. Unfortunately for them, they were badly outplayed in those other 5-10 minutes.

Steelers-Bucs gameday thread

It's a beautiful day here at Heinz Field. The sun is shining. there's very's little wind and conditions are perfect for an afternoon football game.

Martavis Bryant, Ike Taylor, Ryan Shazier, Daniel McCullers, Wes Johnson and Ramon Foster are out for the Steelers.

Foster is kind of a surprise, since he was able to practice all week. Cody Wallace will start in his place.

For Tampa Bay, Mike Glennon will obviously start in place of quarterback Josh McCown.

Danny Lansanah will start at linebacker in place of Jonathan Casillas, while Dane Fletcher will start at linebacker in place of Mason Foster.

As you already know, I picked the Steelers to win this one big. I expect it to be somewhat close and for the Steelers to pull away late.

Who I like, Tampa Bay version

On paper, this game looks like a mismatch.

After all, the Steelers are coming off the demolition of Carolina, a team that defeated Tampa Bay, 20-14, in Week 1 with backup quarterback Derek Anderson running the show.

But the Bucs also are coming off a game in which they were thoroughly embarrassed, 56-14, by Atlanta in a Thursday night game.

And we all know how the Steelers responded to having a few extra days off to stew about a Thursday night beating in Baltimore.

Tampa Bay is also switching things up at quarterback. Josh McCown, whom head coach Lovie Smith brought over with him from Chicago is out with a thumb injury. In steps Mike Glennon, a second-year quarterback who actually did OK last year with the Bucs as a rookie, throwing 19 TD passes and just nine interceptions.

The Steelers will be dealing with three new starters on defense, and more importantly, in their nickel defense.

I expect Sean Spence to capably replace rookie Ryan Shazier, who is out with a sprained knee, and Arthur Moats to possibly provide more as a pass rusher - at least right now - than Jarvis Jones, who is on injured reserve with a designation to return with a wrist injury.

But finding a replacement for Ike Taylor on passing downs could be problematic.

I expect William Gay to do a good job of subbing for Taylor, who is out indefinitely with a broken arm, in the base defense. But in the nickel, Brice McCain, Antwon Blake or B.W. Webb will be forced into action.

And that, my friends, is the unknown.

Pittsburgh is a 7 1/2-point favorite in this game, which is an interesting number. On one hand, I think the Steelers will have success moving the football and scoring. On the other, Tampa Bay, with 6-5 rookie receiver Mike Evans and 6-4 veteran Vincent Jackson on the outside, can create some matchup issues down the field.

The spread is big enough that you have to be concerned about a backdoor cover, as we saw with Cleveland in Week 1.

But I think the Steelers score plenty in this one and the Bucs have had fumbling issues - nine already this season.

Take Pittsburgh to win, 31-16

Would Shazier have been drafted?

Sean Spence will make his first career start in the NFL on Sunday, an amazing feat for a guy who suffered a devastating knee injury a couple of years ago in the preseason.

It's been a long recovery for Spence, but it's obviously been worth it for the former third-round draft pick and the Steelers, as well.

The team could have easily given up on him at any number of times.

And you could argue that the Steelers will be better off right now with Spence in the lineup instead of rookie Ryan Shazier. After all, Spence spent the past two seasons not only rehabbing, but learning his duties in the Steelers' defense.

For Shazier, that learning process is ongoing.

Spence's recovery also begs the question: If the Steelers had known in the spring that Spence was going to make a complete recovery, would they still have drafted Shazier?

Shazier is an amazing athlete. He's the fastest linebacker in the NFL and a possible future star.

But the Steelers liked Spence enough a few years ago to select him in the third round.

@ The Steelers didn't figure on having to replace Ike Taylor until next season. But his broken forearm certain changed that quickly.

And it left the team a little short at a very important position in more ways than one.

First and foremost, Taylor and Cortez Allen were being counted on to play well this season. Losing Taylor for an extended period of time certainly affects the team's depth at a position that was already thin.

Secondly, the team's options at cornerback to replace him aren't guys who can bring the same size as the 6-1 Taylor.

And that could be a bigger problem, particularly this week against Tampa Bay, which has 6-5 rookie Mike Evans and 6-4 Vincent Jackson at wide receiver.

Pittsburgh's current options include Brice McCain and Antwon Blake, a pair of 5-9 corners, and 5-11 B.W. Webb.

Blake was signed last season when he was released by Jacksonville, while McCain came over from Houston as a free agent in the offseason.

Webb, meanwhile, has only been with the team a few weeks after being released by Dallas at the end of the preseason.

McCain, a sixth-year pro, has the most experience of the group, with 10 career starts. But he has worked largely in the slot since joining the Steelers, and the team seems intent on keeping William Gay inside in its nickel defense.

Gay will play outside in the base defense, but will likely slide back inside on passing downs.

The guess here is that the Steelers could use the next couple of games to test out both Blake and Webb on the outside and see which one does the better job.

It's not ideal, but if the Steelers are intent on keeping Gay in the slot on passing downs, it's the best scenario - at least for now.

@ When asked today if he thought linebacker James Harrison would dress Sunday against Tampa Bay, defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau first said he had to defer to head coach Mike Tomlin on that subject.

But, LeBeau did add, "I don' think Mike brought him in not to dress him."

Harrison won't be a savior

The excitement among Steelers fans regarding the re-signing of James Harrison has been similar to that of a month ago surrounding the return of defensive end Brett Keisel.

Keisel has played well in a reserve role for the Steelers, who needed his help on the defensive line.

Can Harrison serve a similar role with the linebackers?

I'm not so sure.

There's a difference in the situations regarding Keisel and Harrison.

Keisel always wanted to come back. He never cleared out his locker at the Steelers' facility. He repeatedly said he felt he had another year of football in him.

In other words, he wasn't ready to call it quits on his career.

Harrison? Not so much.

Not only did Harrison announce his retirement a few weeks ago, he was at peace with his football career being over.

"I really didn't miss it," Harrison said of football."The only thing I really missed was the teammates, the camaraderie, being with the guys. The game itself, I really didn't miss.

"I really can't say I missed the actual game itself."

For Harrison, the decision to return to football was a difficult one, made only after speaking with Keisel, Ike Taylor, Troy Polamalu, head coach Mike Tomlin and his family.

That's a lot of convincing.

"To be honest with you, it was a real difficult decision," Harrison said. "If my kids had said no and stuck with it, it wouldn't have mattered how much I talked to Keisel, Ike and Troy."

As former Steelers head coach Chuck Noll used to say, if you're thinking about retirement, you probably should. Harrison was more than thinking about it, he had actually gone through with it and was OK with that decision.

Harrison was a great player for a long time for the Steelers. But he's not that player any longer. And it seems like he was OK with that.

@ Ramon Foster and Dri Archer were both back at practice today for the Steelers.

Darrius Heyward-Bey sat our with an illness.

Big news Tuesday

The Steelers have officially signed former NFL Defensive Player of the Year James Harrison to a contract to return to the team and help improve the depth at a position that was beaten up in the win over Carolina with injuries to Ryan Shazier and Jarvis Jones.

Harrison, an outside linebacker, will improve the team's depth at outside linebacker, where the backup would have been inside linebacker Terence Garvin had nothing been done.

Jones was placed on injured reserve with a designation to return after suffering a wrist injury in the 37-19 win at Carolina.

Harrison, 36, last played for the Steelers in 2012. He spent the 2013 season with the Cincinnati Bengals after being released when he refused to take a salary cut.

Harrison is no longer the pass rusher he once was, but he is still a very good run defender. I would expect the Steelers to use both he and Moats, who has shown himself to be a solid pass rusher after coming over from Buffalo in the offseason, in a rotation opposite Jason Worilds.

Head coach Mike Tomlin said Harrison likely won't play this week when the Steelers host Tampa Bay, as the team eases him into things and finds out how much of the defense he has retained while also testing his conditioning.

In other news, Tomlin said Sean Spence will replace Shazier at inside linebacker until the rookie is ready to return from his sprained MCL in a couple of weeks.

At cornerback, the situation is a little more in flux.

While Antwon Blake moved into the cornerback rotation against the Panthers, Tomlin said the team will take a look at Brice McCain and B.W. Webb there as well.

The team is intent on keeping William Gay in the slot on passing downs, and he's done a great job there the past two seasons. But Blake and McCain are both 5-9, while Webb is 5-11.

Webb would seem to be the best suited to play on the outside, though Blake does have a 40-plus-inch vertical leap.

Rookie Shaq Richardson could also be activated from the practice squad, but it's doubtful he would be an option on the outside just yet. That would be more of a move to help out on special teams.

Safety Shamarko Thomas played the nickel role at times as a rookie, but he was in the slot and has not done any work there this year with Gay playing well and Blake and McCain also learning that position.

@ Tomlin also said that rookie receiver Dri Archer and guard Ramon Foster, both of whom missed the game against the Panthers will ankle injuries, could return this week.

Post-Carolina thoughts

I don't want to say I told you so, but I will. I told you so.

I told you the Panthers wouldn't come out and spread the field against the Steelers and then run the ball. I told you they could be run on.

I told you their offensive line wasn't very good and was banged up.

It all came to fruition.

Now, that certainly doesn't mean I'm right all the time. But in this case, Carolina was a perfect elixir for what was ailing the Steelers.

Now, can the Steelers keep this up? Well, they certainly should be able to against their next two opponents, Tampa Bay and Jacksonville.

But this victory came at a cost, as well. Ike Taylor could be done for the season - and his career - after suffering a broken forearm.

And linebackers Ryan Shazier (knee) and Jarvis Jones (wrist) also could have suffered significant injuries, though we won't know the extent for a couple of days.

Taylor and Jones were two popular guy for fans to rip on. We'll find out at some point just how important those guys are.

@ The Steelers offensive line has been getting ripped for a long time for not being very good. This game should have been a coming out party on national TV.

After a slow start, they wore the Panthers down. And regardless of what you saw in this game, that's a really good defensive front.

@ For all those people who were quick to point out Eddie Lacy's stats versus Le'Veon Bell last season, here's where they currently stand. Bell has 315 yards rushing and another 146 receiving in three games this season. Lacy has 113 rushing and 38 receiving.

Now, there's still a lot of season left, but would anyone trade Bell for Lacy right now?

@ Lance Moore played one snap in this one. He was healthy, but Justin Brown lined up in the slot throughout the night.

It appears the Steelers like Brown's downfield blocking better than than of Moore at this point. But both guys will have roles moving forward.

@ Speaking of Bell, he won the chess match with Carolina middle linebacker Luke Kuechly throughout the night in this one.

The Panthers are sure tacklers, Kuechly especially, but  Bell said the Steelers used their patience against them.

Carolina will give you four and five yards at a time, but doesn't give up big plays.

The Steelers chipped away and chipped away, until finally getting the Panthers to start gambling a little bit.

On his 81-yard run in the third quarter, Bell, who might be among the most patient runners in the NFL, made Kuechly think he was going outside. And when the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year vacated the middle of the field, Bell burst back inside.

"When he guessed wrong, it was 81 yards," Bell said.

@ The Steelers' offensive line did an outstanding job in this one. Marcus Gilbert was trashed by just about everyone, but was a big part of an effort in which the Steelers rushed for over 200 yards and Ben Roethlisberger was sacked just once.

"You guys were down on Marcus," head coach Mike Tomlin said. "We like Marcus."

@ With games against Tampa Bay and Jacksonville coming up next, there is no reason to believe the Steelers won't be 4-1 heading into a rematch at Cleveland.

We'll see how much this team has grown in the rematch with the Browns. Boy, that seems weird to write.

Steelers-Panthers game-day thread

The Steelers will be without the services of guard Ramon Foster this week. He'll sit out with an ankle injury.

Cody Wallace is expected to start in his place.

Dri Archer also is out with an ankle injury. Also among the Steelers inactives are Martavis Bryant.

The bigger news is on Carolina's side of things. Both running back DeAngelo Williams and receiver Jerricho Cotchery will not play for the Panthers.

Williams was the one back that the Panthers have who could have seriously tested Pittsburgh's run defense. His backup, Jonathan Stewart, is averaging 2.5 yards per carry this season.

Who I like, Carolina version

The Steelers got embarrassed last week in Baltimore, just as Green Bay was routed in Seattle on Thursday night to open the season and Tampa Bay was destroyed in Atlanta Thursday night.

Actually, what happened to the Steelers was closer to what happened to Green Bay than it was Tampa Bay.

The bottom line, however, is that it's awfully difficult for NFL teams to travel and play on a short week. In fact, since the league started playing regular games on Thursdays in 2006, road teams are now 24-43 in those games. And that includes an above average 7-7 record last year.

So yes, I'm dismissing some of what I saw from the Steelers last week, particularly from the offense.

The defense? It still has some issues to be sure. But even that hasn't been as bad as the numbers suggest.

Yes, the Steelers have allowed seven runs of 15 or more yards. That's too many.

On the other 59 carries it has faced, opponents are averaging 2.9 yards per carry. That tells me this defense can stop the run - when everybody is supposed to be where they are at.

In fact, the defense was doing a good job of slamming Baltimore's running game last week until Justin Forsett broke off a 41-yard run. To that point, the Steelers were allowing, you guessed it, 2.9 yards a carry in that game.

Then they had a breakdown and the average was out the window.

But Forsett's run went to the 1-yard line. And the Steelers forced the Ravens to kick a field goal from there. In fact, Baltimore was just 2-for-6 scoring touchdowns on red zone possessions last week, showing me, again, that this defense is capable of coming up with some stops.

Will it this week?

The thinking here is yes.

I have reason to believe this. Carolina will likely come out in a traditional NFL set with a tight end, two receivers and two backs. It's how the Panthers are built. They're not built to be a team that spreads the field and tries to run out of that set.

And the Steelers have shown that they can limit teams who try to attack them in that manner.

Are they a shutdown defense? Not by any stretch.

But I think the addition of Lance Moore will make a difference for this team this week.

Nothing against Justin Brown, but the Steelers brought Moore in for a reason. They wanted a veteran as their slot receiver to replace Jerricho Cotchery.

Moore will make a difference in this game.

The Panthers are also very banged up. Seven starters were on the injury report as limited or missing practices this week with various injuries.

Pittsburgh, meanwhile, is rested, healthy and angry after its showing in Baltimore last week.

The Steelers are 3 1/2-point underdogs in this game, but I think run more of their own spread offense and Le'Veon Bell has another game of 100-plus total yards.

Take the Steelers to win a close one, 23-21

Wednesday news, notes

I asked Le'Veon Bell if he had seen what Josh Gordon did Tuesday night on the eve of the NFL passing its new drug enforcement rules.

Gordon, already suspended for a violation of the league's drug policy, was arrested for DUI a few months ago and facing another possible suspension.

But under the new rules the league has now instituted, a DUI would be an immediate two-game suspension.

So Gordon plead guilty to avoid getting another two games.

Bell said he hadn't heard that. And he also did not do that with his own DUI charges that came in August.

So under the new rules, if convicted of DUI - in Bell's case it was marijuana - he will eventually receive a two game suspension.

Of course, Bell could also still beat the rap on his DUI charge as well. But at least now, a possible suspension is spelled out by league rules.

@ Nose tackle Steve McLendon practiced fully for the Steelers on Wednesday and will try to play Sunday despite suffering a shoulder injury last week against Baltimore.

McLendon is, however, wearing a brace on the injured shoulder.

Wide receiver Lance Moore made it through another day of practice and looks as if he'll be back this week.

Guard Ramon Foster was a new addition to the injury list. He's dealing with an ankle injury that had him limited in practice today.

Also limited was running back Dri Archer (ankle). It's beginning to look like it will be another week before he's ready to return.

@ The Panthers had a bevy of players who did not practice Wednesday, led by wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin (knee), left tackle Byron Bell (toe), right tackle Nate Chandler (toe), linebacker Thomas Davis (hip), fullback Mike Tolbert (chest) and running back DeAngelo Williams (thigh).

All of those guys are starters.

Tight end Greg Olsen, the Panthers' leading receiver, also was limited with a calf injury.

The Panthers appear to be a beaten up bunch.

Tuesday with Tomlin

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin had some good news on the injury front today, saying that the only two guys who were having issues this week were Dri Archer and Steve McClendon.

But, Tomlin said that both Archer (ankle) and McClendon (shoulder) practiced on a limited basis Monday and could be available to play Sunday against Carolina.

In my eyes, McClendon has a better chance to play than Archer.

Lance Moore was not on Tomlin's injury report and the Steelers head coach said the team will keep a close eye on the receiver, who is coming off a month off with a groin injury.

In 11 career games against Carolina, Moore has 44 receptions for 641 yards and four touchdowns. His first career reception also came against the Panthers in 2006.

@ Tomlin said the biggest issues for the Steelers at this point  have been fundamental things such as tackling, taking care of the football and penalties.

It's surprising that tackling would be an issue for this team since it does more live tackling in practice during training camp than any other team in the league.

That leads me to believe that the issue is more of players not being where they are supposed to be.

If someone gets out of position, you wind up with guys reaching to make tackles. And NFL players are going to run through arm tackles.

@ Tomlin was asked about the early play of right tackle Marcus Gilbert.

Tomlin admitted Gilbert has struggled, but said last week was more of just being a Dumervil issue, in reference to Baltimore's Elvis Dumervil.

Tomlin did say that he expects Gilbert to bounce back "like Rocky."

It should be noted that Rocky got knocked down a lot in his fights.

Where things stand two weeks in

Two weeks into the 2014 season, the AFC North looks like this: Cincinnati 2-0 and everyone else 1-1.

The biggest surprises thus far?

The Bengals' win at Baltimore in Week 1 and Cleveland's win over New Orleans in Week 2.

This is why you never take anything for granted in the NFL.

As for the Steelers, they are exactly where I thought they would be two weeks into this season, 1-1.

And as we learned Sunday, the dome teams of the NFC South aren't quite so formidable outdoors on grass.

@ Maybe I'm in the minority, and that's fine, but Cleveland's last-minute victory over New Orleans makes that win by the Steelers in Week 1 look a lot better.

After all, New Orleans' high-powered offense never really got things going against Cleveland's defense. And Cleveland's offense certainly looked decent - better than anyone expected.

That's not to forgive Pittsburgh's second-half meltdown against the Browns. It was bad.

But at least the Steelers righted the ship and won that one.

@ Pittsburgh's biggest issue right now are the penalties. The Steelers have 20 in two games. They had 80 all of last season.

The Steelers haven't typically been a highly penalized team, so I expect that to get better.

The Steelers also have not forced a turnover this season. That's nothing new. The team has an NFL-low 51 since the start of the 2011 season.

Mike Mitchell and Ryan Shazier were added to this defense to help improve that. As they get more comfortable with what they are doing, that could change.

Lolley's post-Ravens thoughts

After a 4-hour drive and a one-hour nap, I've had enough time to digest what I saw Thursday night in Baltimore.

When I made my game prediction, I picked the Ravens with a couple of big reasons. Baltimore was going to rally the troops around what has been a tough week on the players - through the fault of a former teammate and the front office - and the road teams in Thursday night games have struggled.

I think we saw that to be the case on both fronts.

With Pittsburgh's loss, road teams are now 24-42 in these Thursday night debacles Roger Goodell created back in 2006. That's enough of a track record to show that there is a decided advantage for the home team in these games.

Of course, Goodell helped create the other issue, as well, by giving Ray Rice on a slap on the wrist for his elevator escapades.

@ While we're on the subject of taking my favorite Washington & Jefferson College graduate behind the wood shed, his rules on hitting have also turned the game into one that is no longer recognizable.

If Courtney Upshaw's hit on Ben Roethlisberger in the first quarter is no longer legal, I have no idea how a defender is supposed to tackle somebody.

Same goes for the hits that Troy Polamalu and Mike Mitchell were flagged for.

But somehow, the hit that knocked Antonio Brown woozy for a quarter and the one that Heath Miller took to the head that dislodged the football as he was being held up by another player are OK?

Ed Hochuli's crew should have been embarrassed to make any of those calls.

As Polamalu said after the game, "I think it's kind of funny because that is what you are used to seeing in this type of game."

Apparently, we can't see them any more.

@ Cam Thomas, I don't even know what to say about him other than I'm shocked it took the San Diego Chargers nearly a full season to put him on the bench if his play here was indicative of how he played the nose there.

I know he was signed to be a rotation guy here. The time for that has come. I don't care how many mistakes Stephon Tuitt makes, he should be seeing more time. At least he's athletic enough to not take out three teammates who are on their way to the football.

And there's the possibility he'll get better.

@ In all actuality, the defense wasn't horrible in this game. There, I said it.

The Ravens had 323 total yards and score two touchdowns. They had a first-and-goal from the 1 and didn't score a touchdown.

In fact, Justin Tucker kicked field goals from 30, 23, 22 and 20 yards in this game.

And if not for the aforementioned penalties on Polamalu and Mitchell, they might not have scored their second TD.

Everybody knew this defense was going to be a work in progress. There was, at least, some progress between the first and second games.

Prior to Justin Forsett's 41-yard run through a hole created by Thomas standing straight up and wiping out the other Steelers defensive linemen, the Ravens were averaging 2.7 yards per carry.

And four stops in the red zone isn't bad - though you'd like to get a few more pre-red zone stops.

But the offense has to live up to its end of the bargain as well.

And it just couldn't sustain drives.

Maybe that was because of Upshaw's hit early in the game. Roethlisberger just seemed to be off after that.

I still think this offense has the ability to be special, though. Le'Veon Bell again looked fantastic and Antonio Brown, despite taking what should have been a penalized shoulder to the head, came back and still produced. It would have been nice to have a nice, calming veteran such as Lance Moore out there to compliment things.

@ Once again, the Steelers are forcing no turnovers. And they now have four of their own.

Equally damning are the 20 penalties in two games. I've already said that two of those calls were highly questionable. But can somebody tell me why the Steelers seemingly thought the only way to tackle Steve Smith was by his facemask?

Steelers-Ravens game thread

Greetings from Baltimore.

The weather has cleared up here after the threat of rain early.

Inactive for the Steelers tonight are Landry Jones, Martavis Bryant, Lance Moore, Wes Johnson, Chris Hubbard and Daniel McCullers.

With Archer out tonight, look for Markus Wheaton to return kickoffs.

The big news for Baltimore is that cornerback Lardarius Webb is out. There was a chance that he'd play after sitting out the preseason and first game with a back issue.

With Webb down, Chykie Brown will start at corner. That's a juicy matchup for the Steelers.

Who I like, Baltimore version 1.0

I was feeling very good about my Steelers pick of a 27-13 win at halftime last week. I figured the Steelers would start to slow things down and the Browns might get a score or two to get me right on my number.

And then . . .

So here we go again this week.

The Ravens are three-point favorites against the Steelers Thursday night in Baltimore in a series in which nine of the past 10 meetings have been decided by three points or less.

So basically, in this game, you just try to pick the winner and don't worry about points.

The Ravens, of course, have dealt with the self-induced distraction of the Ray Rice situation all week.

But as much as Rice's situation has been a distraction, it could also serve as a rallying point. Some teams have a way of rallying around these kind of situations.

I think the Steelers are a better team than Baltimore. Let's get that out of the way. Both teams have defensive issues.

Baltimore gave up 380 yards last week against Cincinnati at home and did little itself offensively until late in the game.

After fighting back to take a lead - after holding the Bengals to five field goals - the Ravens were beaten over the top by A.J. Green for a 77-yard game-winning score.

Joe Flacco was terrible in the game. Yes, he threw for 345 yards, but it took him 62 attempts to do so. And remember, one of his 35 completions was an 80-yard catch by Steve Smith.

Take that away and Flacco averaged 4.3 yards per passing attempt. As it was, his 5.56 yards per passing attempt. By comparison, Ben Roethlisberger averaged 10.74 yards per attempt in last week's win over Cleveland.

Can that change against the Steelers?

Certainly.

But something tells me the Ravens will be a desperate team this week. They can't afford to fall to 0-2 with a pair of home losses coming to division teams.

And they are playing at home while the Steelers must travel on a short week. Since the NFL began regularly playing games on Thursday nights in 2006, road teams are just 24-41, including a 1-2 record by the Steelers.

It's a difficult turnaround, even for a short flight.

The Steelers were forced to have a full practice Wednesday morning, instead of their usual travel-day walkthrough, just to make sure they got two days of practice in this week.

Because of that, I'm going to pick the Ravens to win this one, 26-23.

Monday with Mike (Tomlin)

Because of the Thursday night game this week, Mike Tomlin's weekly press conference was today.

Tomlin was understandably troubled by the 11 penalties the Steelers committed on Sunday in their 30-27 victory over Cleveland.

By comparison, the team's high for penalties last season was nine in a loss to Miami. Eleven penalties is not a good way to start.

Tomlin properly noted that the penalties were particularly troubling for the offense in the second half and led to the team's struggles sustaining drives in the final two quarters.

There were also a couple of penalties that helped the Browns sustain drives.

Cleaning them up moving forward will be critical.

@ Tomlin had good news on safety Shamarko Thomas and running back Dri Archer.

Both sustained only ankle sprains - though Thomas' was to his Achilles tendon.

Thomas' injury was announced as an Achilles issue, which immediately makes you think of a tear, which would have ended his season.

As it is, both are listed as questionable to play this week, as are wide receivers Lance Moore and Martavis Bryant and corner Brice McCain, all of whom missed the game against the Browns.

@ The talk of the day was the Ray Rice video finally being  released.

Like we actually needed to see it to realize that Rice had assaulted his then-fiance, now wife.

What did people think happened in that elevator? That he had hit her was never the issue, though apparently, he had tried to sell it to his teammates, team and NFL that she was attacking him.

That was obviously not the case and the Ravens released Rice and the NFL quickly followed suit by suspending him indefinitely.

Rice will probably never play in the league again, which is fine. Playing in the NFL is not a right. It's an honor.

@ Of course, the hot story was William Gay's interview regarding Rice. I spoke to him about the same subject a couple of weeks ago and he said basically the same things he did Monday - about an hour before Rice was released.

Gay, whose mother was the victim of a murder-suicide when he was 7, believes in not only helping the victims of abuse but in counseling the abusers as well. In fact, he's spoken to groups of abusers himself, trying to help them understand the fallout of their actions.

@ The Steelers talked a lot today about how they have to work on getting their defensive play calls into the game more quickly.

That was an issue against the Browns, who were running a fast-paced no-huddle. There were several times in the second half where players just didn't know what the play was because things were happening so quickly.

That is a solvable problem.

Post-Cleveland thoughts 1.0

It's really easy to rip the Steelers defense after Sunday's second-half effort. Actually, it was more of a bad third quarter that was the problem.

Cleveland's fast-paced no-huddle kept the Steelers off-balance and, perhaps just as importantly, there was a key penalty on the first-two touchdown drives that either helped the Browns to a first down or a chunk of yardage.

In fact, penalties were kind of the flavor of the day for the Steelers, who also had a touchdown called back in the first quarter on a holding penalty on Kelvin Beachum that was indeed a hold, but ticky-tacky nonetheless.

The Steelers were forced to kick a field goal instead, otherwise their first-half lead would have been 31-3.

But the third quarter defense was clearly bad. There were too many missed tackles and defenders overrunning plays.

Those are things the Steelers should be able to clean up, at least to a certain degree.

The quick pace of the Cleveland attack, however, also caused issues in the secondary. You get the idea that the Browns saw the issues the Steelers had with Philadelphia in the preseason and decided to incorporate a little of that in their offensive attack.

It took some time for the Steelers to adjust to it, but they did finally get some stops when it counted, notably with William Gay coming up with a couple of big pass defenses.

But you'd better believe the Steelers are going to see more of that style of attack. It's a big reason why the team's offense can't take its foot off the pedal as it did Sunday.

Ben Roethlisberger said the Steelers wanted to slow things down a little and take some time off the clock. Watching the Browns score 24 unanswered points to tie the game should change that theory moving forward.

@ I really liked all of the diversity I saw in the Steelers offense in the first half of this game. Empty sets with Le'Veon Bell split wide, pistol formations, no-huddle looks, inside screens, outside screens, we saw a little bit of everything.

But again, the Steelers tried to take the air out of the ball in the second half instead of keeping the pedal on the floor.

@ The Steelers weren't the only team to give up big a lead Sunday.

Jacksonville blew a 17-0 halftime lead at Philadelphia to lose, 34-17, while the Patriots allowed 23 unanswered points at Miami to lose to the Dolphins, 33-20.

Cincinnati nearly blew a 15-0 second-half lead before rallying to beat the Ravens, 23-16.

In other words, it happens.

The good news, at least in Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, is that both teams recovered to get the win.

They are feeling a little different about things in New England and Jacksonville.

@ Antonio Brown didn't purposely kick Cleveland punter Spencer Lanning in the face, but it might cost him some money, anyway.

Brown said he decided to hurdle Lanning when he saw Lanning trying to go low on him. Lanning, however, kind of pulled up at the last moment and Brown's cleats hit him right in the face.

It looked like an attempted kick, but it wasn't.

The league office might not see it that way. But Brown isn't a dirty player.

The bad thing was that Brown didn't need to attempt to hurdle Lanning. Had he just cut back to the outside, he probably scores.

@ The Steelers had to be very pleased to see Markus Wheaton have such a big day.

The Browns couldn't have been happy about the day rookie Justin Gilbert had. Gilbert, taken after the Browns traded down with Buffalo, which selected Sammy Watkins, was repeatedly victimized Sunday.

Had the Browns had Watkins instead of Gilbert, there's a good chance they would have won this game.

@ Some other area reporters bought into the preseason talk that the Steelers were committed to splitting carries and playing time between Le'Veon Bell and LeGarrette Blount.

I wasn't buying it. In fact, I went on record as saying Bell was going to get 80 percent of the carries this season and could be primed to put up 1,600 total yards.

The breakdown in this game? Bell had 21 carries. Blount got 4.

Bell had 197 total yards in this game, gaining 109 yards on the ground and getting another 88 on six receptions.

Is he going to do that every game? Maybe not. But he's certainly off to a strong start.

@ Marcus Gilbert got paid during training camp. He's going to have to play better than he did in this game to earn that money.

Steelers-Browns game-day thread

It's a gorgeous day at Heinz Field today. Sunny with very little wind and temps in the 70s.

There are no real surprises for the Steelers on the inactive list with Landry Jones, Martavis Bryant, Lance Moore, Brice McCain, Wes Johnson, Chris Hubbard and Daniel McCullers down.

For Cleveland, it's interesting that they have just five defensive linemen up today with Desmond Bryant and John Hughes down.

Look for the Steelers, with Moore out, to feature Dri Archer a little bit as a slot receiver.

Enjoy . . .

Steelers reach deal with Allen

The Steelers signed cornerback Cortez Allen to a five-year, $26-million contract on Saturday night, locking up one of their starting corners for the future.

Allen had been mentioned by general manager Kevin Colbert as one of four players the team would like to extend in training camp. He had been entering the final season of his contract.

Offensive tackle Marcus Gilbert, placekicker Shaun Suisham and outside linebacker Jason Worilds were the others. All but Worilds, who was transition tagged in the offseason, have now signed extensions.

A former fourth-round draft pick, Allen had 57 tackles and two interceptions in 14 games last season.

His deal is slightly less than the one signed by Keenan Lewis following the 2012 season. Lewis signed a 5-year, $26.3 million deal to leave the Steelers as a free agent for New Orleans.

The difference was that the Steelers now had the cap space to lock up one of their promising young players to a long term deal. Lewis is 28. Allen will turn 26 in October.

Who I like, Cleveland version 1.0

First, let's take care of the injuries for the Steelers.

Wide receiver Lance Moore is out with his groin injury, as is cornerback Brice McCain. With Moore, this is likely a precautionary thing more than anything.

He's been running during practice, so with the short work week coming with the next game Thursday night against Baltimore, the Steelers likely don't want to push things.

They would rather have his services against Baltimore.

Rookie Martavis Bryant is doubtful with his shoulder injury.

With those guys out, look for Justin Brown and Dri Archer to play more prominent roles.

It will be interesting to see how the Browns attack the Steelers' passing game. Last year, they shadowed Antonio Brown with Joe Haden, but that didn't work out so well as Brown had 15 receptions for 179 yards and a touchdown in the two meetings.

But with so many new receivers for the Steelers this season, Cleveland could choose to double Brown, even with Haden on him, and make somebody else win their battle.

As I noted in my story in Friday's Observer-Reporter, new Cleveland head coach Mike Pettine has been on the sideline 12 times against Ben Roethlisberger between his time with the Ravens, Jets and Bills. Roethlisberger has won nine of those matchups, but his passer rating is nearly 10 points lower than his career mark when facing a Pettine-coached defense.

The big thing has been sacks. Pettine-coached defense have 41 sacks against Roethlisberger in those 12 meetings, though nine came in one game against the Ravens in 2006. Still, Pettine's Buffalo defense got to Roethlisberger four times last season.

Offensively, the Browns figure to try a trick play or two in an attempt to make something happen. That could include Johnny Manziel in some form or fashion.

If the Steelers can keep Roethlisberger upright and shut down Cleveland's trick plays, they should come away with a relatively easy win in this one.

They are 6 1/2-point favorites and I like them to come away with a 27-13 victory.

Wednesday news, notes

Martavis Bryant and Lance Moore did not practice Wednesday for the Steelers and Moore's injury was finally revealed.

While Bryant suffered a sprained shoulder in the preseason finale, Moore had been held out of the last two preseason games.

At first, it was played off  as if nothing was wrong with him. But today, he was officially listed as having a groin injury.

He is running, however, so he's a lot closer to returning than he is having this turning into a multi-week thing. In fact, he could still play this week if he can get back to practice by week's end.

@ Cornerback Brice McCain was limited with his groin injury.

@ During the Antonio Brown show Tuesday night, news broke of the J.J. Watt contract.

Brown noted that Watt actually started his collegiate career at Central Michigan as a tight end. He left for Wisconsin because he didn't feel he was getting the ball often enough.

According to Brown, Watt was a leader, even as a freshman, getting all of his fellow freshmen, including Brown, to do extra workouts.

@ It will be interesting to see how the Steelers use their receivers if  both Bryant and Moore cannot play.

We might see more Dri Archer split wide than the Steelers had normally planned if that's the case.

@ Cam Heyward said today the team is getting a little tired of talking  about last season's 0-4 start. Then again, he also said it's in the mind of everyone who was a member of last year's team to avoid a similar start to this season.

Season-opening Tuesday with Tomlin

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin held his season-opening press conference today and was his usual guarded self with his answers to the media.

Still, there was some information to be gleaned from the session.

Tomlin said he expects to use both Antonio Brown and rookie Dri Acher as punt returners this season. The Steelers really wanted Archer to show something to take that job away from Brown, but that didn't happen.

Archer will still be the primary kick return man, but the Steelers will likely pick their spots with Brown.

"He's a Pro Bowl-caliber return man, so that's what you do with those guys, you play them," Tomlin said of using his No. 1 receiver on punt returns.

Archer didn't mishandle or muff any punts in the preseason, but he also returned four of the nine punts he fielded for just six total yards.

* Tomlin said no set package or role has yet been determined for defensive end Brett Keisel.

Also, I'm told we shouldn't read too much into Cam Heyward being listed as the left defensive end with Cam Thomas at right defensive end. Things are still being sorted out, but they want Heyward in the spot in which he is most comfortable and can be most effective.

Heyward started at left defensive end for most of 2013, but switched to the right side in the offseason and training camp. Prior to that, he was a backup at both spots.

Heyward will be on the field 95 percent of the time, with the other guys filling in around him.

* Tomlin sounded iffy only on the prospects of rookie receiver Martavis Bryant playing this weekend with a sprained shoulder.

He said everyone else on the roster has a good chance to play.

* The Steelers expect to see the Browns utilize rookie quarterback Johnny Manziel in some form or fashion, though they're not sure if it will be for a series or two or as a specialty package.

* My favorite Tomlinism of the day was when he was talking about Cleveland cornerback Joe Haden: "Joe Haden has been Joe Haden for a number of years."

Steelers news, notes

The Steelers released their depth chart heading into the regular season opener against Cleveland and it had one change from the previous ones in the starting lineup.

Cam Thomas is now listed as the starter at right defensive end ahead of Brett Keisel. Rookie Stephon Tuitt, who had been listed as the starter at right defensive end, is now listed as the backup at left defensive end behind Cam Heyward.

* The Steelers named their captains on Monday. Ben Roethlisberger was voted the lone captain for the offense. Troy Polamalu, for the first time in his 12-year-career, will captain the defense. Shaun Suisham and Robert Golden are the special teams captains.

Polamalu has never been an outspoken leader, but he's been a leader nonetheless. It's good to see him finally be honored by his teammates, though as he said, "the best time to be a captain is at the Super Bowl."

* The Steelers will honor Chuck Noll with a ceremony prior to the start of Sunday's game. Marianne Noll and Chuck Noll's son, Chris, will be present.

The team also will wear decals on the back of their helmet that read "CHN" this season to honor Noll.

* Martavis Bryant and Brice McCain were the only Steelers who did not practice Monday.