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Ed And the Pick Tonight Is . . .

Ed And the Pick Tonight Is . . .

Good evening,

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In my season-long picks on opening day, I chose the Steelers in this one. So far, I’m 1-1, picking them to beat Tennessee at home (that was easy), and picking them to lose at Cincinnati.

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    Much has changed since then, however. They stink on offense. I don’t know if they can score twice today, and if they do it could be two field goals.

      The Steelers’ defense needs to do something tonight, something rare and unusual, like intercept a pass and, even rarer, return it for a score. Otherwise, I’m afraid the Steelers will open 0-3 for the first time in 13 years.

     Chicago is not that good, not as good as 2-0 looks. Jay Cutler, as Ryan Clark so aptly noted last week, can be very giving, and that’s what they must have tonight, the giving Jay Cutler. Of course, when the ball hits their hands, the Steelers must hang onto it.

       Nevertheless, I’m going against my opening-day pick and going with the Bears. I think the Steelers will score four times – all field goals – and lose 13-12.

   Onto some stuff:

  --- Take this for what it’s worth, because Terry Bradshaw said it on the Fox pregame show:

"Ben Roethlisberger is going to the Hall of Fame, no question about that. He could be the league MVP if he takes this team to the playoffs…is Todd Haley best served for Ben or was Bruce Arians best served for Ben? When they lost Bruce Arians they really lost a lot of this offense."

--- The Steelers are 8-10 since Arians left. They were 12-4 in his final season.

--- During the past two years, however, the Steelers lost more personnel than Arians. They’ve been in a transition, whether Kevin Colbert wants to admit it or not.

--- Felix Jones, who was not with the team when it opened training camp, will start at halfback tonight. Jonathan Dwyer, who was not on the team when the regular season started, could be his backup. Le’Veon Bell, who has carried a grand total of four times in the preseason, remains sidelined with a foot injury.

--- Derek Moye, who has one of the team’s only two touchdowns, likely won’t dress tonight because Heath Miller will.

--- Bob Costas interviewed Bears wide receiver Brandon Marshall, a Pittsburgh native and Steelers fan. Here’s one thing Marshall told him:

"True story. I’m in college in my doom room. I’ve got a Steelers blanket on watching a playoff game – the Steelers vs. the Broncos, and I’m cheering for the Steelers. A few months later I’m drafted by the Broncos…and I still cheer for the Steelers. When I’m out of the playoffs, which is always right now, I’m cheering for the Steelers because they bring so much joy to the city."

   Marshall was born in Pittsburgh, but moved to Georgia and then to Florida, where he attended high school.

--- Your questions:

--- YOU:

How resistant to change would you rate Tomlin and his staff? Beyond just this year it seems like they are highly reluctant to deviate from the stated plan when things are going so poorly. For example, why not try a half or a full game of having Ben run a hurry up or no huddle? Or if everyone raves about Beachum, why not insert him into the lineup and make a guy like Gilbert or Adams earn his way back? Similar to last year, I thought the offense refused to evolve when some things clearly were not working. At some point this all comes across more as stubbornness rather than wisdom.

ME: I would say Mike Tomlin is about average when it comes being open to change. You change too many things, and that’s when it can all go into the dumpster.

--- YOU:

I was wondering if you would provide some insight on David Decastro, and whether the Steelers are happy with his level of play?

ME: David has not been getting high grades from those who evaluate games. The Steelers tell me they are happy with him. Remember, he rushed back from a serious knee injury late last season to play the last few games and he’s only played two this year.

--- YOU:

People might say good effort by the D, but they couldn't stop a 3rd & 6 run? They got beaten badly on a RB check down by Dalton for a TD? Unnecessary roughness on Woodley? Offsides on Woodley that would have saved a couple of minutes? Will teams just run up the gut on us from now on?
ME: Ryan Clark said he was concerned after the Tennesse Titans ran up the middle on them on that 49-yard drive when they ran 11 times on 12 downs and up the middle for the touchdown. It looks like it’s developing into a trend.

First Published: April 6, 2016, 4:13 p.m.

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