First Call: Melvin Ingram signs with a team Steelers will face in 2022; Steelers schedule deemed tougher than numbers indicate
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Monday’s “First Call” has a landing spot for a former Pittsburgh Steeler. The Steelers schedule may be even harder than we thought. The Pirates are getting another look at the Chicago Cubs already. The pitcher who helped no-hit the Pirates during a loss discusses the odd set of circumstances.
And Duquesne mourns the loss of a football pioneer.
An in for Ingram
Melvin Ingram has a new home. And it’s with a team the Steelers will play in 2022.
The former Steelers outside linebacker has signed a contract with the Miami Dolphins. That’s from “The Gameday NFL” host Jordan Schultz.
Breaking: FA DE Melvin Ingram is signing with the #Dolphins, per source.
The 3x Pro Bowler has 51 career sacks with 74 TFLs and 119 QB hits. Another good move for Chris Grier and the Phins.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) May 15, 2022
The Steelers play the Dolphins on Oct. 23 in Miami for a Sunday night game. Ingram had 10 tackles and one sack with the Steelers, playing in six games during 2021. He was then traded to the Kansas City Chiefs, where he tallied a sack, a forced fumble and 15 tackles.
He had two sacks in the postseason for the Chiefs.
Harder than it looks
Mathematically, the Steelers schedule is the 12th hardest in the NFL. But according to NFL.com’s Nick Shook, it’s the hardest one on the books.
“Nearly every single game in the first half of the season looks like it could be a significant hurdle for Pittsburgh, a franchise taking its first steps into the post-Ben Roethlisberger era, and five of the first eight contests come away from Heinz Field,” Shook said. “Things don’t get much easier after the Week 9 bye, either, as the Steelers go on the road for four of their final seven games. We don’t yet know who Roethlisberger’s successor will be, with Mitchell Trubisky and rookie Kenny Pickett set to battle for the job, but the Steelers will have to hope whomever they tab as their starting signal-caller handles the daunting early slate well enough to position them for a strong run to the finish, which includes meetings with Las Vegas, Baltimore and Cleveland to close out the season.”
I agree about the start of the season. That six-game stretch to begin the year looks very difficult to me as well, even more so because the club is going to have to break in a new quarterback, be it Trubisky, Mason Rudolph or Pickett.
As for the last three games Shook mentioned, yes, the Raiders were a playoff team. Plus, Derek Carr usually plays very well against the Steelers. And the two divisional games to close out are going to be crucial. And they’ll both probably be difficult challenges, especially if Deshaun Watson is established as Cleveland’s QB by then.
Making sense of it all
The Pirates completed the statistical novelty of managing to win a game while failing to get a hit Sunday. They did so beating the Cincinnati Reds 1-0 at PNC Park. It’s just the sixth time in Major League Baseball history that this has happened.
Reds starter Hunter Greene left the game with one out in the eighth inning. He had walked two batters in a row after recording a groundout to start the frame. Art Warren then walked Ben Gamel to load the bases and Rodolfo Castro managed to score on a ground out from Ke’Bryan Hayes for the lone run of the game.
After the game, Greene was asked if he grew fatigued in the eighth after throwing 118 pitches.
“I did,” Greene said on Bally Sports Ohio. “That’s the most pitches I’ve thrown. But then again, the mental part. ‘I’m fine. I’m not tired.’ And just continuing to lock myself in in between those innings. Keeping my mindset there. (Getting pulled in the eighth inning) was definitely a thought that came in. But I had to flush that out and just continue to stay locked in and go out there again.”
Greene struck out nine and walked five along the way.
“The way he did it was just amazing to watch,” Reds manager David Bell said after the loss. “He pitched. He’d get behind in the count. He’d throw a slider. Get back into the count. He had a great fastball, but also had a special slider. He pitched his way into having an opportunity to go nine innings, get a win, and the no hitter. … So special watching a performance like that and the way he did it.”
The Pirates victory means the Reds and Pirates split their four-game set on the North Shore.
Up next
The Pirates jumped out to Chicago after the game. They are visiting Wrigley Field for a second time this season. And it’s their third series overall against the Cubs already this year. All four games are 7:40 p.m. start times.
The Pirates are 4-2 against the Cubs so far this season. In their previous visit to Wrigley, the Bucs grabbed three of four games. But the one game they lost was that 21-0 drubbing they absorbed on April 23.
The Pirates will throw Dillon Peters on Monday. JT Brubaker and Mitch Keller are scheduled to start Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Cubs beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-2 on Sunday on a base hit in the top of the ninth from Frank Schwindel.
A blast and a bloop! pic.twitter.com/0HeJR7ahRS
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) May 15, 2022
Chicago has won three of its last four. But the club is still just 13-20, fourth place in the National League Central. That’s a game and a half behind the Pirates for third and eight and a half behind the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers.
Mourning for McCann
Sad news from the Duquesne football team. The university announced that former head coach Dan McCann died Saturday. He was 88 years old.
The Dukes football team went dormant after the 1950 season and didn’t return until 1969. McCann took over in 1970 and helped reinvent the program.
By 1972, the Dukes were ranked No. 3 nationally by the National Club Football Association with a 7-1-0 record. In 1973, at 10-0-0, DU defeated Mattatuck CC in the National Club Football Championship game at Three Rivers Stadium.
McCann added four more top 10 national finishes before the Dukes elevated to the NCAA Division III level prior to the 1979 season. He was head coach from 1970-83, then again from ‘88-92.
“Without his vision and commitment, the program would not be where it is today,” current Dukes coach Jerry Schmitt said via the team’s website. “Coach McCann positively impacted the lives of many — from players to coaches to team personnel — affiliated with Duquesne over the past 50-plus years with his larger-than-life personality. He will always be synonymous with the program that he played an instrumental role in resurrecting.”
In 19 seasons, McCann finished with a 91-74-3 record between club play and NCAA Division III competition.