I Don't Want Him

This guy has been in the headlines of every person that has done a podcast or wrote an article about the Pittsburgh Steelers for the last couple of months. Funny thing is he's not on the Steelers and he's getting 100% more publicity than any Steeler at his position. He is the most annoying part of this off-season and now I just don't want him.

It all started when the Steelers traded Diontae Johnson to the Panthers. That gave anyone that covers the Steelers or NFL a license to name every WR in the NFL a possible candidate to be traded to the Steelers to be their number 1, 1B, or 2 Wide Receiver. They have done a fantastic job of naming all the WRs in the league. There's a couple with San Francisco, one with Seattle, one with Buffalo, one with Denver, one with Washington, and many assorted others.

One guy just keeps popping back up over and over and over again, though. Brandon Aiyuk. He apparently wants 30 million a year, and I don't think the Niners want to pay him 30 millions a year. He's caused all kind of havoc saying he wants to stay with San Fran, but at the same time saying, or making it known he wants 30 million. He is under contract for this year so he wants to extend that.

The Steelers do have salary cap space, around $16 million, but I can't see them paying a receiver that much.

Also, he may be a number one receiver, but he's not proven he can do that. Meanwhile, we have another guy already on the team that could be asking for a lot of cash next year. Pickens is still under contract this year and next, but if they want to keep him they might want to extend him before next season, because WR money is going up. Or, they can simply do what San Fran and Green Bay do and draft on or two a year. Seems like a smart thing to do with these prices. Then, at the end of the 3rd year try to find a buyer to give a draft pick or two.

I really do want Aiyuk despite the title of this article because he's a proven receiver. Maybe not a 1, but he's shown that he's at least a 2 and that's what the Steelers need. I'd really like to keep our first round pick next year and get a receiver then or a D line stud with it. Whether Cam stays after this year or not we still need a replacement soon.

Just a thought

 At some point in every game, they should play the clip of Captain Kirk yelling Khaaaaannnnnnn.  I just don't know the scenario it would be in.  Omar might not appreciate it though, so let's put that on the backburner til the time is right.

Let the Omar Khan Era Begin

 Big news today in The Burgh. Omar Khan has officially put his stamp on the beginning of his career as the Steelers General Manager. Well, that's not actually the blockbuster news from today with the Steelers. It could be a co-story though.

The real news is that our All-Pro safety has signed a new contract or contract extension for another 4 years at around $18 mil per year according to sources with a bunch of that being guaranteed cash.

I was pretty surprised by the timing of this. I thought it would go similar to TJs contract timeline. It is good to have it taken care of though. Good start Mr. Khan, now have your team find a hidden gem to replace that hole on the d line so we can count on our rushing defense again.

Stephon Tuitt

 

Last year around training camp for the season Stephon Tuitt’s brother was the victim of a hit and run and lost his life. Stephon was obviously and understandably devastated. There was little to no information from the team or Tuitt about his plans for the season. There was a lot of speculation that he’d be back, but he never did return. There were also a lot of rumors about a knee injury and from listening to DK Pittsburgh Sports he had to have fluid drained from the knee regularly. But, again, there was no concrete source as to whether he was injured or just the fact that he couldn’t mentally because of his loss. Then came the current season. The Steelers were last in rushing defense and having Tuitt back would be a big step in improving that number. Last week, though, we found out that he had decided it was time to retire. You can look at this any way you want, but to me, he decided to call it quits for a number of reasons. He lost his brother, who he was very close to. That is reason enough for anyone to decide that family should be their priority and he should spend time with them. Also, he did have knee problems. Whether it affected him playing or not last year will probably only be known to him and the team. He wouldn’t be the first to leave the game mostly healthy. During his time off, he finished his studies at Notre Dame and earned a degree. I doubt he was hurting financially or even have trouble finding a job if he stayed in Pittsburgh but having a degree would help him move to the next step in his life. Putting myself into his shoes these are all very good reasons to call it a career. I can understand it and I’m sure most fans can too. That doesn’t mean that we wouldn’t like to see Stephon pushing through opponents' lines, stuffing running backs and smashing quarterbacks this year. It just means I understand. Good luck to you Stephon. 

The Steelers Must Do These Things To Finish Strong

Week 15 is almost over, there's just one game left and it just might hold the key to how the Steelers perform in the post-season this season. There were some major surprises this week that helped the Steelers out and made their chances look much better.

Number 1.
In the early games Kansas City shocked Green Bay. I have to admit I did not see this one coming. I thought if anyone was going to beat them it would have happened against the Giants a few weeks ago. The Pack pulled that one out and set themselves up well to run the regular season table. They ran into the Haleyless Chiefs though and were thoroughly dominated. They have 2 tough games left against the Bears and Lions, but those are both at the Curly, so they should win those. The bad thing about this is now they are aware that they are beatable. As before they just seemed to be on cruise control knocking of each opponent they faced. What's the saying about sleeping giants? I think the Chefs might have just woke them up. The good thing is the Steelers win against the Chiefs doesn't look so bad, remember it was a struggle to escape Arrowhead with the win.

Number 2.
Most importantly for the Steelers playoff positioning was the game Sunday night between the Ravens and the Chargers. This one was a little more predictable than the other game because it was in San Diego and the Chargers are on their usual late season roll. I thought the Ravens would put up more of a fight, but they again choked and lost control of their playoff destiny this year. As of now they are in the fifth spot in the AFC and will be again packing their bags for the playoffs if the Steelers and Patriots win out. That's counting our chickens a little early, because the Steelers are also travelling to the West Coast this weekend to face the other Harbaugh and the 49ers. Arians has said this week he doesn't know what information can be given to Jim by John to help the Niners, but the Ravens have given the Steelers a tough time this year and know more than any team how to play them. Arians said the Niners won't change their game plan to beat the Steelers, but I disagree. If John gives Jim information on how to beat the Steelers he's not going to say, "No, I think we'll just give it a shot with what we've got." A good coach will adapt and try every trick they have up their sleeve. Jim has proven that he's not a bad coach, turning a team and a quarterback into a contender in one year.

Number 3.
The Steelers have 3 winnable games left. Tonight, at home against the Rams and at Cleveland. Tonight should be the toughest of the 3 facing a good team away from home. If they can win out they will have secured home field advantage throughout the playoffs by virtue of their win against the Pats. Seems like plenty of incentive to do just that. We will see if the veterans on this team have a Super Bowl Run left in them. If they win these 3 games they will be on a significant roll heading into the playoffs and they'll get a week off, which doesn't hurt.

Resounding Victory

I know there isn't a big following for the Pittsburgh Sports Buzz but it appears that someone in the Steelers organization or some of the players are reading. After the KC game I wrote about how the Steelers continually try to make things interesting in their games. They played down to the level of their opponent in KC and stretched the outcome out to the last drive of the game.

Well, today the Steelers opened a can on the Bengals and the game was not in doubt after the Steelers scored their first touchdown. Their performance was textbook and they showed why they went to the Super Bowl last year.

Not Pretty, But It's A Win

The Pittsburgh Steelers try their best to make every win exciting. I don't really like the way they do it though. Take Sunday night, for example. For some unexplainable reason Mewelde Moore has been able to gain playing time as the season has gone on despite several older veterans losing playing time because of diminishing returns. Yeah, I know, Mewelde is that trustworthy veteran off the bench. He's the one that you can count on to hold on to the ball when that's all you need. He knows all the blocking schemes and does everything he's told. But, Mendenhall and Redman must be teetering on being in the doghouse for Moore to get a carry in the redzone early in the game. So what does Moore do. He manages to fumble the ball and the chance for Pittsburgh to get their offense on track and in the end zone early in the game.

It looked like Ben was headed for a quality game during that drive and everyone was doing their part. Thankfully the Chiefs and Tyler Palko were feeling generous this game because it would have been an embarrassing loss had Palko not given the ball to the Steelers a couple of times. He might as well have handed the ball to Ryan Mundy on one interception. Moore's fumble was just one of the many ways the Steelers made the game interesting. The Steelers were penalized time and time again for holding and otherwise, making those third down conversions even more difficult. Despite my objection to Mewelde getting the ball it's easy to see why. Mendenhall has not realized his potential as a running back and I think his time is running out in Pittsburgh. He shows flashes, like his touchdown run a few weeks ago, but then he'll get stuffed behind the line time after time. Don't put all the blame on him for that, because the line is bad, but a tough back needs to find the hole more than Mendenhall does.

Other puzzling ways the Steelers managed to make this game interesting included the Wide Receivers playing hot potato. Mike Wallace who has been somewhat absent in big play production the last several games temporarily lost his hand eye coordination on a routine pass in the endzone. The other young wide receivers seemed to have the same condition. Maybe Ben was off target a little but come on. You still need to catch some of those.

Then there's the special teams. I have to give credit to the special teams because they have certainly solidified their tackling and holding their opponents returns down to a minimum. I can actually turn away for a few seconds when the other team is returning the ball because I have confidence they won't give up a big return. On the flip side, though, the Steelers returns have also caused me to look away. Last year Emmanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown were a threat to break it every return. This year it's like they're happy with their 10 yards and let's get on with the game. Maybe they're more focused on their receiving chores, but a good return here and there would help, especially if you're going to play hot potato with the ball.

William Gay in the past has made us antsy and angry with his coverage skills, but this year his name hasn't been overly abused. He did give up that TD to end the second Ravens game, but supposedly he should have had help on that one and didn't. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt for that. But, he almost reverted back to give up the big play Gay on Sunday when he mistimed a jump and whiffed on the ball. Fortunately the Chiefs receivers didn't play much better than the Steelers and the receiver didn't catch it. If he did it would have been a TD.

So, after all that playing down to the level of their competition it came down to the final drive by the Chiefs. They needed a touchdown, something they haven't been able to produce for several weeks. The time was running out, but it was for the Ravens too. As the NBC announcers said, it would have been a storybook game for Palko to beat the team he had worked out next to when he was at Pitt and grown up watching. Palko ended the game, though, by completing a pass to Keenan Lewis.

The Steelers made it exciting. I'm much more interested in quality play and a bigger margin of victory though. That would excite me much more.

Gerry and Ed Discuss the Cincy Game

Gerry and Ed Discuss the New England Game

The answer

The answer to yesterday's post in the Pittsburgh Sports Buzz was Steve McClendon. That is the life of an undrafted NFL free agent. When you're signed to the practice squad it is never a certain thing that you will be on the practice squad the whole year. You could be dropped the next day because of the circumstances. An injury could happen and the need could arise for a player on the practice squad or an injury could happen and cause the team to release a player on the practice squad. If the team likes what they see, at the first chance the player will probably be resigned, if not the player will try to hook up with another team. Steve McClendon went through all the transactions listed in the post. He has gained some experience and looks to be a valuable player for the Steelers now. After Casey and Chris went down he has filled in at nose tackle well. Maybe McClendon is another in a line of free agent signings that the Steelers struck gold on. For now, he has been solid and allowed the Pittsburgh Steelers to continue the success of the defensive line.

Can you guess who this is?

Signed to the Steelers active roster on October 30, 2010
Re-signed to the practice squad on October 11, 2010
Released on October 7, 2010…
Signed to the active roster on October 2, 2010
Re-signed to the Steelers practice squad on September 21, 2010
Released on September 20, 2010
Signed to the active roster on September 18, 2010
Signed to the practice squad on September 6, 2010
Released on September 4, 2010
Signed to the Steelers' offseason roster on January 7, 2010
Released by the Steelers on September 5, 2009
Signed to the practice squad the very next day
Released from the practice squad on November 25, 2009
Signed to the practice squad on December 2, 2009
Originally signed as a rookie free agent by the Steelers on April 27, 2009.

Can you imagine being hired and let go and rehired this frequently?

Answer tomorrow if you haven't figured it out already.

Steelers Rule!!!!!

Major Announcement coming soon to Pittsburgh Sports Buzz

To my loyal readers, all 3 of you:
Yes, there has not been much to read on the site lately.
Yes, there has been plenty to talk about.
Yes, I should have more posts.
Yes, I have been busy with other things and haven't had the chance to express my extremely interesting opinions on Pittsburgh Sports.
Yes, I would like to give away some fantastic prizes for my readers.
No, I did not get a promotion like my friend(he doesn't know he's my friend) Jim Shearer of Yinz luv da stillers and VH-1 top 20 countdown fame.
No, I am not happy with the spammers that are leaving annoying comments trying to advertise their crap that have nothing to do with Pittsburgh Sports on my articles.
No, I do not allow them and it is really pointless for you to leave them. They are deleted immediately.
No, I'm not giving away any fantastic prizes for you to visit my site.
Yes, I do allow anyone to comment on anything to do with Pittsburgh Sports, I especially like the Steelers, Pirates, and Penguins.

In Summary:
Keep following the Pittsburgh Sports Buzz
Stay tuned for an exciting announcement coming soon.
Oh yeah the Pittsburgh Steelers will beat the Jags today.

Just as I suspected

Last weekend the Steelers played the Ravens and they appeared "too old" for the NFL as many of the broadcasters put it. Funny, most of those guys, including Warren Sapp were former players who had had their butts whooped up and down the field many times by those old players.

You can write that first game off for a couple of reasons

1. The Steelers were not prepared for their first game. To me, this a very shocking part about the Ravens game, but not as big a concern for the rest of the season. The Steelers knew the Ravens would be a tough opponent. It looked like the defense did not expect Ray Rice to catch passes out of the backfield and they did not expect him to try to run the ball. Uh, he's the starting tailback guys. It also seemed like Ben didn't expect them to come up with anything exotic on defense. It kind of looked like they were just waiting for the Ravens to walk over and give them the game ball and say, "You're too good, we quit." It looked like Ben was as confident about his line on the field as he talks about them off the field. When you start players one year and discard them the next you can't expect the offensive line to be great. The Ravens and Terrell Suggs brought the pressure and caused Ben to make mistakes and turn over the ball. When the Steelers start finding Alan Fanecas and Maurkice Pounceys in the draft every year instead of Tony Hills that's when Ben can really have some confidence in them. The problem is they are hit and miss alot in the draft with Offensive Linemen. So you need Sean Kugler to work his magic and come up with a line that will be able to plug the dike.

2. I could almost see the game resulting in a loss, not that much of a loss, but a loss. Yeah, they keep beating them in the playoffs and that's something to be proud of, but do you have to get on their nerves the whole off season. Take it to the field and show them who's better there. Not on twitter or wherever. The game was in Baltimore after the Ravens had all off season to think about it. The fans were mad at them for not beating the Steelers and the Steelers even helped them out as much as possible by giving them the ball 7 times on turnovers. The Steelers had talked trash the whole off season about the Ravens and Flacco not being able to beat them. They had the bragging rights but why do they need to fire up the opponent before the opener. Not a good choice. They're already sore from losing that playoff game so you add insult to injury and add to that a noisy stadium filled with people dressed in purple.(I don't think the color the people were wearing has anything to do with it, I just threw that in). Frankly they were just pissed off and fired up. Sometimes that emotion runs out, sometimes it's maintained throughout the game. Last week they maintained it, this week it ran out.

3. The schedule maker apparently does not care if you played in the Super Bowl the previous year or not. They scheduled the Steelers at Baltimore to start the season, really? This is usually an extremely intense game and it is important for whoever comes out on top of the AFC North. I'm pretty much dismissing the Bengals and Browns from the competition. Can the NFL give the Steelers some kind of advantage for getting to the Super Bowl? Wait til they start clicking before the game is scheduled or let them have the first game at home. You know, give em a game or two against the MAC conference of the NFL. They gave 'em the Seahawks but it was a game too late. Well, what's done is done. The Steelers are 1-1 and could possible end up behind the Bengals if the Bengals win today.

Oh yeah, the Steelers Defense is old, with some of those starters being over 30, but they have some youth lined up in there at linebacker and lineman. Ziggy Hood showed last year he could continue the run stopping job of the defensive line. Cameron Heyward will probably play behind the Diesel this year and be ready to take over when he's done. Yeah, they'll need to replace Casey Hampton, but he's still holding his own plugging up the middle with his girth. Those youngsters can substitute in and give the old men a break at any time. Then, Harrison and Farrior are getting up there, but there are some quality guys in Worilds and Sylvester, ready to step in when father time says enough is enough.

I'm concerned about the defensive backfield most of all. They've tried to draft several dbs after the first round in the last few drafts and can't seem to find one that can start. They need to address that position in the next draft, preferably in the first round, or the defense will drop off badly. Gay has been bad several years and they just keep running him out there. Keenan Lewis showed signs in preseason, but injuries sidetracked his progress. Clark is slowing down, but Polamalu, if healthy, can help him out and he will be around a couple more years.

This defense will be better than they showed in the Ravens game, but it will be hard to tell if they'll be as good as they looked in the Seahawks game until they play a real opponent. Look for more of the same inferior talent from their opponent next week when they play the Colts minus Peyton. The Browns beat em. Enough said.

Gerry and Ed discuss the Carolina game

Cameron Heyward Selected

Late last night the Steelers selected Cameron Heyward as the number 1 draft pick, surprising most of the "experts."

If you listen to Kevin Colbert you would get the impression that Heyward was their choice from the beginning. The Pittsburgh Sports Buzz does not have a way back machine so we can't go back and see what would happen if nobody chose Mike Pouncey until the Steelers pick.

I'm inclined to believe Colbert though. Look at how the Steelers have ignored the Offensive Line at the expense of allowing teams to pound on Ben. Picking an Offensive lineman 2 years in a row would really have been a stretch.

That being said. The Steelers have been to the Super Bowl 3 times in recent years. Despite taking Ziggy Hood, they need to find a lineman to replace Keisel in the not to distant future and this would give them time to groom him as they've done in the past with other first rounders. More on Heyward soon.

What happened at halftime?

Did you wonder what happened at halftime. With the Steelers down 21 to 7 and the Ravens having the momentum by scoring 21 points I have to admit prospects were a bit bleak. But most of these guys had played on at least one Super Bowl winner and a lot had played on two.

Did coach Tomlin give a Knute Rockne speach and tell them to win one for the Gipper? According to most of the players the answer is no. Really, no rousing speech from the coach. The battle tested defensive coordinator Dick Lebeau must have willed his defense to make some big plays and Ryan Clark accepted the challenge forcing a fumble and intercepting a pass setting the offense that had turned the ball over twice up for two easy TDs. Not according to the players.

It must have been the two time starting Super Bowl Champion Quarterback. Where else would a team look but to it's starting Quarterback. Ben has had his problems off the field, but all he does is win big games and make big plays. Just ask anyone in the stadium last Sunday. Just ask a rookie receiver playing in his first playoff game. Just ask any of his teammates. Ben is just a winner. But, according to the team Ben did not will them to the Victory.

One of my theories is that the coaches did have a plan. Seeing as how the Ravens forced the Steelers to turn the ball over twice, the plan was to try to get them to turn the ball over wherever they had a chance. The Ravens had been on a tear forcing turnovers in the last several weeks, why not give them a taste of their own medicine and see what happened. The result was that Joe Flacco felt the wrath of the Steelers Defense and the noise of the crowd and was shaken. How else would you explain that perfect pass to Clark and the botched snap.

The other theory I have is that this team just plays for each other. They simply are an extremely cohesive unit. Each of them know what the other is doing. They will do anything to win. You need look no further than Doug Legursky. He is a man of many talents for this offense and each time someone on the line went down he came in to take their place. The guy plays center and anywhere else he's needed. He even lined up as tackle eligible. Geez, throw the guy a ball once to reward him. There's no doubt in my mind he'd catch it. I heard Ben talk about it one time. He said they throw it to him all the time in practice, but never in a game.

So, what happened in that locker room to turn the game around. The answer is not what, but who. The team is who. This team will not give up on their goal and on each other. Here we go.

Ravens Meltdown

The Pittsburgh Sports Buzz has heard the phrase over and over again. It was a tale of two halves. So I will not use that one. The Steelers just took it one half at a time and the strategy worked.

After the Ravens failed to score on the first possession of the game the Steelers methodically took it down the field, thanks in part to a lengthy pass interference call on the Ravens. Then Rashard Mendenhall took it in for a touchdown. That made the Steelers and their fans feel pretty good. But, anyone who has watched these 2 teams play knew that the game was far from over. Each of the 2 games in the regular season were decided in the fourth quarter and this game would be no different.

Anthony Madison returned the pass interference favor with a 33 yarder of his own and Ray Rice found a hole 13 yards out and the Ravens were back in the game and tied up at 7, then the drama began.

A penalty on a kickoff return backed the Steelers up near their goal line. Ben dropped back to pass and Terrell Suggs, ala James Harrison, tomahawked the ball as Ben was starting his motion. Hmm...., a ball on the ground and no whistle blown. The majority of the players on both sides stood and wondered why the referees did nothing until Cory Redding decided the ball was lonely and picked it up to take it home. Any number of players had their chance at it, but Redding took advantage of the misfortune of the Steelers and the Ravens took the lead.

Soon after that Ben handed off to Mendenhall for a short gain and another turnover. It didn't seem to be a hard hit but the ball was simply jostled out of Mendenhall's grip and the Ravens recovered. At this point, playoff games past started flashing through the PSB's memory.

Remember how the Steelers made a formerly unknown tight end for the Chargers an All Pro. Alfred Pupunu had an inauspicious career til one AFC Championship game where he could drop nothing and would not go down when he made those catches.

Luckily there was still one half to play and remember what I said, this game would not be be decided until the 4th quarter. After the fumble Flacco connected with Todd Heap on short TD pass and Mo was on the Ravens sideline taunting the Steelers.

The thing about it is the Ravens haven't had much luck getting past the Steelers in the playoffs. What was said in the locker room at halftime. Maybe coach Tomlin reminded them that this team has been to the playoffs, and they didn't need to panic. Maybe he didn't say anything. This is a veteran team and if they didn't know there were 2 halves in a game then why even go out for the second half. They didn't need to be reminded as evidenced by the second half.

They did not instill confidence back into the fans immediately in the second half. The initial drive fizzled and they gave it back to the Ravens. That's where the tide turned in this game. The sure handed, 405 carries without a fumble, Ray Rice didn't know what hit him. Rice broke free and that other Safety, Ryan Clark made a beeline toward him and punched the ball free from Rice. LaMarr Woodley recovered and Mo standing behind all the Ravens players took off his Ravens helmet and put on his Steelers helmet. Roethlisberger found a wide open Heath Miller in the back of the end zone and the Steelers closed the gap. The fans were back in it and the stadium was rockin'.

Any QB nicknamed "Joe Cool" would surely settle his teammates down and take control. "Joe Cool" promptly completed a pass to that other Safety, and the Steelers had the ball back. Ben found Mr. Reliable, Hines Ward, for the score and tie after the conversion by Suan Suishman. If you looked closely on the Ravens sideline after this score you might have seen Mo in full Steelers gear. The game was tied up and so was the turnovers.

Surely, "Joe Cool" could stem the tide and muster up something to get Mo back on his side, right? Wrong. Joe Cool became Joe Butterfingers when he couldn't even handle a snap from center. Brett Keisel corraled it and the ball was again the Steelers. Mo was rounding the endzone and headed for the Steelers sideline. Suan Suishman put a 35 yarder through the goal posts and the lead was back to the Steelers.

A couple of punts followed and a return for a TD nullified by a holding penalty on the Ravens. Flacco threw a pass to Anquan Boldin that bounced off his chest as if he were wearing armor and the Ravens settled for a field goal to tie the score.

If you were Dan Dierdorff you were thinking this could be the first overtime playoff game under the new NFL overtime rules. If you were the Pittsburgh Sports Buzz or a Steelers fan you were thinking this is where Ben puts the Ravens away. Ben gets sacked and it is 3rd and 19. A look at the Ravens sideline reveals overconfidence that they'll get the ball back. No way Ben will convert a 3rd and 19. Who's the target? Sure handed Hines Ward or Mike Wallace outrunning the defense. Streaking down the right sideline is Antonio Brown, Ben heaves it and Brown passes the defender, reaches up and pulls it in, the ball slips up the jersey but Brown pins it against his helmet controls it and goes out of bounds. After a pass and a few runs Mendenhall takes it in for a TD. A look at the Steelers sideline and Mo is standing beside Coach Tomlin giving him a big hug.

The Ravens make one last futile drive, but Mo has already chosen his team and the Steelers sack Flacco and Houshmanzadeh drops a pass on fourth down. It's over. The Steelers will play against the New York Jets next week in Hines' Field. "Classic" as Hines said.

The Ravens have

The End of the Reed

Today marked the end of the road for Jeff Reed with the Steelers. Reed who has kicked numerous game winning field goals for the Steelers in his career was waived by the Steelers today. The reasons may be obvious. He's had quite a bit of trouble kicking from longer than 40 yards this year. But, Pittsburgh Sports Buzz thinks there's also something else going on behind the scenes.

Reed has had his off field incidents including the altercation with police having something to do with Public urination. Then there's the public intoxication incident. These were not highlights in his time with the Steelers.

He did not gain any favor during training camp also when he was openly critical of giving Daniel Sepulveda a chance to win the kickoff duties and before that being more than a little upset about getting the franchise tag.

Despite all this, Reed has been a fan favorite. Maybe that has something to do with his game winning field goals. He has been clutch for the Steelers until this season. He seemed to have an ability to figure out how to kick in the notoriously tricky Heinz Field crosswinds and the sloppy field. Monday night he struggled as has been the case this year. His attempt at a field goal looked like one of my drives off the number 1 fairway at Worthington Golf Club in West Virginia. He hit about 6 inches behind it and was lucky to get it off the ground.

In my keys for the off season and season the last few years when it looked like his tenure was coming to the end because of his misadventures I listed the resigning of Reed amongst the top priorities. The reasons are listed above: he has had success at Heinz Field and has been clutch in game winning situations.

I think Mike Tomlin and probably the Rooney became tired of his off season show and when his performances onfield started costing them points that spelled the end.

To his credit also I have read that he is a very charitable person. That's more than a lot of people can say and enough for me to wish him well. I'm sure he'll be picked up by another team, possibly the Bengals who just lost their kicker to a knee injury.