First Call: Would Andy Weidl leave for New York? Bad weather predicted for Steelers-Browns
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Thursday’s “First Call” examines the prospect of Andy Weidl potentially leaving the Pittsburgh Steelers to assume the vacant general manager’s job with the New York Jets.
The weather is supposed to be lousy for Thursday night’s Steelers-Browns game. A quintet of former Penguins find the back to the net with other teams.
And we outline the path to the playoffs for the Duquesne football team.
Is Andy available?
Andy Weidl is being mentioned as a potential replacement for Joe Douglas as the New York Jets general manager. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler listed Weidl as one of a handful of potential candidates for the open position.
Weidl is currently the Steelers assistant general manager on GM Omar Khan’s staff. Douglas was fired by Jets owner Woody Johnson earlier this week.
One thing that may be working against Weidl is that he mentored under Douglas while both men worked for the Philadelphia Eagles. So, Johnson may see Weidl as being too similar to the person he just fired.
Douglas was vice president of player personnel in Philadelphia from 2016-19. Weidl was the Eagles’ assistant director of player personnel from 2016-17, then got promoted to director of player personnel in 2019. Eventually, he took over as vice president of player personnel when Douglas left for the Jets job in 2020.
A native of Mt. Lebanon, it’s unknown if Weidl would be interested in leaving his hometown and the stability of working for the Steelers for a higher profile job in the notoriously chaotic Jets front office.
If it’s me, I wouldn’t do it. Being employed by the Jets doesn’t sound appealing at all. Not only would you be working for Johnson, which could be like being sucked into a black hole. But as a GM, your de facto boss is really quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Who wants to deal with that?
If Weidl’s career goal is to become a general manager, there are only 32 of these jobs available. I wouldn’t blame him if he took it while there is an opening that’ll likely pay big money — not just for the salary but for the prestige of the role and the challenge of finally building a winner in New York.
Not to mention, Khan is only 47. He’s not leaving the Steelers anytime soon. So, Weidl may be stuck in his assistant role for a long time.
Although, perhaps Weidl doesn’t see himself as “stuck.” He might be content and well enough compensated while helping to run the Steelers in his native city.
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Sounds about right
The Steelers and Browns may have to play through some difficult weather conditions Thursday night.
Kickoff is at 8:15 p.m. According to The Weather Channel, we should expect snow in the evening in Northeast Ohio. That’s supposed to give way to rain showers and gusty winds overnight. There will be a low temperature of 34 degrees with wind gusts of 20-30 mph. The chance of precipitation is at 90%. About 1 inch of snow is expected.
That’s probably bad news for kickers and quarterbacks. Furthermore, the Steelers have hit the 20-point mark just once in their last five trips to Huntington Bank Field. But the gambling point total is already low in the first place. According to ESPNBet, the over-under is 36.5.
Mike Tomlin’s team is a 3.5-point favorite even though he is only 1-7 in eight road games on “Thursday Night Football.” The Steelers are also 1-4-1 in their past six visits to the Dawg Pound.
Just checking in
The Penguins are plodding through the 2024-25 season with a disappointing 18 points in 21 games (7-10-4). That’s good for only a sixth-place tie in the Metropolitan Division.
Meanwhile, Wednesday night was a fruitful one for five ex-Penguins.
Former Stanley Cup champion Jordan Staal scored a goal for the Carolina Hurricanes as they beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1.
Canes make it 3-1 ???? pic.twitter.com/1iBlui2nSk
— NHLonTNT (@NHL_On_TNT) November 21, 2024
That was Staal’s third of the year. It was Carolina’s 12th win in 13 tries over Philly. The regulation defeat keeps the Flyers tied with the Pens for sixth place in the Metro.
Former Penguin Ryan Poehling scored Philadelphia’s only goal. It was his first of the year.
Ryan Poehling is amped after sinking his first goal of the season. ???? pic.twitter.com/MsYkFQALtH
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 21, 2024
Also, Mikael Granlund, a former pinata for Penguins fans, scored his ninth goal of the year for the San Jose Sharks on a shorthanded breakaway against Dallas.
Mikael Granlund buries the breakaway! ????#TheFutureIsTeal pic.twitter.com/KfMlpBExs3
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) November 21, 2024
Granlund added an assist. His nine goals are two more than any Penguins player has tallied so far this season. His 22 points are one more than Sidney Crosby’s total. In 21 games as a Penguin in 2023, Granlund had just one goal and five points. The Stars still ended up winning 5-2.
Also, in a pair of late games, Jason Zucker scored the only goal of a 1-0 Buffalo Sabres win in Los Angeles, and Daniel Sprong had one of the Seattle Kraken’s three goals in a 3-0 shutout of Nashville.
In anyway?
Last Saturday, the Duquesne football team clinched a share of the Northeast Conference title with a 42-21 win over Wagner.
Make it SIX touchdown passes for Darius Perrantes and 200+ yards for Tedy Afful‼️ pic.twitter.com/EpEKugsdr7
— Duquesne Football (@DuqFB) November 16, 2024
Now the Dukes (8-2, 5-0 NEC) play Central Connecticut State (6-5, 5-1 NEC) on the road this Saturday afternoon in the regular season finale. The winner of that game claims the regular season crown and gets the NEC’s automatic bid into the FCS playoffs.
However, ranked No. 19 in the country, Duquesne may have a shot to qualify for the 24-team playoff even though the NEC is usually a one-bid league. That ranking is the highest ranking for the Dukes as a member of the NEC and the best for any NEC team since 2019.
Stan Becton of NCAA.com said Tuesday that he feels Duquesne should qualify as an at-large team even if the Blue Devils pull off the victory.
“If Duquesne wins, it receives the NEC automatic bid. If it loses, the Dukes will be a one-FCS-loss 8-3 team. A loss to Central Connecticut State the day before the committee meets will hurt the Dukes in the at-large picture, but with a nonconference win over Youngstown State (still an MVFC team even if it’s near the bottom this year), I think the Dukes will be in the playoffs win or lose,” Becton said.
Duquesne is on an eight-game winning streak. Coach Jerry Schmitt has an offense with 310 points, the most in the conference. The team won last year’s meeting 44-20 and has beaten the Blue Devils three times in a row. The Dukes are one of three remaining unbeaten teams in FCS play this season (Montana State and North Dakota State).