First Call: Todd Haley has a specific concern about Steelers offense; Pat Narduzzi is convinced Kenny Pickett will be ready
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Thursday’s “First Call” has a different view of the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive woes from a former coordinator.
Pitt’s coach thinks his former QB can get the job done as soon as he is allowed to play.
Things aren’t great for the Cleveland Browns.
And the New York Yankees did something very unique to Pirates pitching.
Them too
There’s a lot of blame to go around for the failures of the Steelers offense.
Coordinator Matt Canada and head coach Mike Tomlin are taking heat for designing it. Quarterback Mitch Trubisky is getting skewered for how he runs it. The offensive line is under attack for not blocking better. And running back Najee Harris is under a microscope for missing holes.
Ex-Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley thinks another position group deserves some scrutiny. That’s the wide receivers. He referred to some of the synchronicity between the pass catchers and Trubisky as “sloppy” during a Tuesday appearance on 93.7 The Fan.
“The biggest area of concern is the receivers,” Haley said Wednesday. “There’s talent there. To me if there’s one thing that stands out, it’s just not being on the same page with the quarterback [Mitch Trubisky] and receivers. That has to get better.”
It’s an interesting quote because many have absolved the receivers of blame since Diontae Johnson has made some clutch catches, Chase Claypool has been valuable in both the running game and the passing game, and George Pickens has only received six targets.
But Haley insists that the receivers could be better.
“It’s something that has to be cleaned up because if a quarterback doesn’t have confidence that a guy is going to be where he is supposed to be — when he’s supposed to be there — then the quarterback is going to take the blame” Haley said.
The Steelers pass game is currently 28th in the NFL with just 344 yards in two games.
Calling for Kenny
A lot of Steelers fans want Kenny Pickett to be the starting quarterback of the Steelers right now. His coach at Pitt, Pat Narduzzi, was on the “Jim Rome Show” Tuesday.
While Narduzzi wouldn’t go so far as to campaign for his former signal-caller to take over for Trubisky, he did endorse Pickett’s mentality and state of readiness for whenever the Panther alum’s number is called.
"I don't think there's any question he's ready."
–@CoachDuzzPittFB is confident Kenny Pickett could step in and start for the Steelers right now. pic.twitter.com/NdKO3rD6bs
— Jim Rome (@jimrome) September 21, 2022
“I was fortunate enough to take the (Pitt) team to see the (Steelers) first preseason game,” Narduzzi said. “And he looked like a million dollars. I don’t think there is any question he is ready. I think they are looking for some maturity right now and to see how things go. Mitch is a great quarterback, and he’ll be fine. And Kenny is going to be fine when he’s ready. He’s ready when they say, ‘Kenny, it is your turn.’ … When he’s ready, he’ll embrace that and do a nice job for them.”
Since Pickett didn’t play in the Panthers’ Peach Bowl game against the Michigan State Spartans, he hasn’t thrown a pass during a game of consequence since the Dec. 4 ACC Championship game against Wake Forest.
Down in the Dawg Pound
The Cleveland Browns defense held a players-only meeting following the team’s 31-30 loss to the New York Jets.
And in advance of their game against the Steelers Thursday night.
During Sunday’s loss, running back Nick Chubb scored on a four-yard touchdown run. That gave Cleveland a 30-17 lead with 1:55 remaining. Kicker Cade York missed an extra point.
Then Jets wide receiver Corey Davis caught a 66-yard touchdown pass from Joe Flacco to cut the Browns’ lead to six points. New York recovered the onside kick. Flacco engineered a 9-play, 53-yard drive ending with a game-winning 15-yard touchdown pass to Garrett Wilson.
“Before the full defensive meeting, we had a players meeting and just talked about things, and I think the best part about it, in all honesty, is people are mad about stuff like that,” defensive back Greg Newsome said on 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland on Tuesday, via Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot. “There are some teams who are used to that. We’re not used to that and we see all the talent we have in the room, so things like that, it should hurt us and we should be mad about it.”
The Browns also managed to nearly blow a big lead the week before against the Carolina Panthers.
Maybe they’ll find things easier against the Steelers’ recently putrid offense Thursday night. Or, perhaps that’s the kind of defense the Steelers finally need to see to beat for multiple touchdowns in a game.
Dubious development
The New York Yankees hit yet another home run with the bases loaded against Pirates pitching on Wednesday night. This time it was Oswaldo Cabrera in the first inning of a 14-2 blowout of the Bucs in the Bronx.
YANKEES PICK UP RIGHT WHERE THEY LEFT OFF
First inning grand slam for Oswaldo Cabrera pic.twitter.com/f6qS6mY3UU
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 21, 2022
That happened less than 24 hours after Giancarlo Stanton ended Tuesday’s game with a walk-off grand slam to win the game for New York in the bottom of the ninth.
A MAGICAL NIGHT AT YANKEE STADIUM!! #Walkoff pic.twitter.com/gtawYPGDJo
— MLB (@MLB) September 21, 2022
When the Yankees routed the Pirates 16-0 at PNC Park on July 6, Aaron Hicks and Aaron Judge both hit grand slams. That means four grand slams in one season against the Pirates. The last time that happened to a Pirates pitching staff was 2002 when Cincinnati Reds batters hit four grand slams in one season.
The Reds hitters that did so were Jason LaRue, Todd Walker, Jose Guillen and Kelly Stinnett.
The biggest difference is that the Reds needed 18 games to get those four grand slams, the Yankees only needed four.