Columns

Pittsburgh Sports Columns

Sidney Crosby congratulates Marc-Andre Fleury on the Penguins' win Wednesday at the Verizon Center. -- GETTY

Sidney Crosby congratulates Marc-Andre Fleury on the Penguins' win Wednesday at the Verizon Center. -- GETTY

Column: Fleury can’t keep saving the coach

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DEJAN
WASHINGTON — The Penguins are a deeply flawed team.

As I type this late Wednesday night, out on the street behind me, hundreds of their most passionate fans, some of them ex-pats, some of them nutcases with unlimited gas budgets, are singing in joyful unison on the steps of the nearby National Portrait Gallery:

This is now, of course, a tradition when the Penguins win here at Verizon Center, as they did by a 3-1 count over the Capitals. And this one, I dare say, deserved it.

Beau Bennett buried his own rebound early in the third period in his first game in two weeks after hurting his arm — as only he could — by celebrating a goal.

And yes, he lived to tell. Even joke.

“Kept my arms in tight for this one,” Bennett cracked.

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Dri Archer is brought down on a kick return by the Chiefs' Jamell Fleming Sunday in Kansas City. -- GETTY

Dri Archer is brought down on a kick return by the Chiefs' Jamell Fleming Sunday in Kansas City. -- GETTY

Tuesday Takes: Hey, about those bad drafts …

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DEJAN
Brief and to the Point …

• While no one was looking, the Steelers’ Dri Archer climbed to No. 5 on the NFL’s list of most productive kick returners, thanks in part to a career-best 38-yard return early in Sunday’s game. He’s averaging 26.7 yards, this despite still not having broken the big one.

TueTakes

While everyone was looking, Landry Jones showed well enough the past two weeks to finally be considered a legit backup quarterback moving forward.

Those two players have been cited as often as anyone by those critical of Kevin Colbert’s recent drafts. And to an extent, any such criticism remains fair. Better players at positions of greater need were taken.

But I’ll say this: If they’re all the ammo anyone has left, it isn’t much.

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Another ranked challenge awaits West Virginia

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By DAVID STATMAN

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — Spiraling to an 0-3 start to Big 12 play, West Virginia needs a lifeline.

A win on the road against No. 5 TCU would be one heck of a lifeline. The Mountaineers face one of the biggest challenges of their season Thursday, and an upset win could both turn their season around and quiet some of the rumors swirling about the head of coach Dana Holgorsen.

“It’s always a fun game with TCU,” Holgorsen said. “These guys are good. They came into the league the same time that we came into the league, and they’ve put themselves into a position where they’re pretty hot lately. It’ll be a huge challenge for our team, one I know our guys are looking forward to.”

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Landry Jones is buried by the Chiefs' Tamba Hali for a second-half sack Sunday. -- GETTY

Landry Jones is buried by the Chiefs' Tamba Hali for a second-half sack Sunday. -- GETTY

Column: Steelers ready for big-time reset

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DEJAN
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Ben Roethlisberger’s face scrunched up like a saturated prune as a bunch of us reporter types surrounded his locker stall late Sunday afternoon inside Arrowhead Stadium, and I was fairly certain I knew why.

The Steelers’ 23-13 flat-lined flop against the previously 1-5 Chiefs?

That had to be part of it. The franchise quarterback had just been stuck on the sideline for a fourth game with the injured left knee, helpless while watching third-stringer — or is it fourth-stringer — Landry Jones try in vain to carry his water.

But there sure seemed to be more.

Roethlisberger had dressed in a raging hurry, draped on his coat and began wheeling his luggage out just as our armada invaded. Reluctantly but politely, he paused a moment to take a couple questions.

How close had he come to playing in this game?

“Pretty close. It felt pretty close.”

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Assistant coach Gary Agnew addresses the Penguins during a third-period timeout Saturday night. -- GETTY

Assistant coach Gary Agnew addresses the Penguins during a third-period timeout Saturday night. -- GETTY

Column: Johnston somehow digs deeper in win

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DEJAN
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — So, let’s see if I’ve got a grasp of this: These Penguins just took two impressive points on the road Saturday night on Phil Kessel’s two-on-one goal that brought a 2-1 overtime outcome against the Predators, one of the NHL’s most dynamic teams … and the head coach still somehow dug his own hole even deeper?

Wow, Mike Johnston. That couldn’t have been easy.

And yet, it’s the fairest possible perspective, at least from this view, of what took place at Bridgestone Arena, at least if I also toss in that Marc-Andre Fleury was brilliant. Because if not for Fleury, and if not for Nashville having sleepwalked through the first 50 minutes or so, the cold-water-to-the-face fact is that the coaching would again have been Topics A, B, C and maybe D through Z.

Don’t like it?

Think that all victories should be celebrated without complaint?

Well, this might not be the column for you.

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The Stars' bench congratulates Johnny Oduya on his first-period goal Thursday at Consol Energy Center. -- GETTY

The Stars' bench congratulates Johnny Oduya on his first-period goal Thursday at Consol Energy Center. -- GETTY

Column: How much deeper can Johnston dig?

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DEJAN
Mike Johnston is still the head coach.

The Penguins lost to the Stars, 4-1, Thursday night at Consol Energy Center with a performance so lazy, so lethargic that I wouldn’t be surprised if the players beat some of the patrons to their cars. And that’s saying something.

But that’s one game, hardly grounds for firing a coach.

The Penguins have looked largely terrible from the moment the puck was dropped against these same Stars two weeks ago in Dallas. They’ve looked directionless, disinterested and, yes, disgusted with some of the decisions being made behind the bench.

But they’re 3-4, hardly grounds for firing a coach.

So why even broach the topic, right?

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The Cardinals' Patrick Peterson swats away this Michael Vick pass intended for Antonio Brown Sunday. -- GETTY

The Cardinals' Patrick Peterson swats away this Michael Vick pass intended for Antonio Brown Sunday. -- GETTY

Tuesday Takes: Thumbs down for AB the baby

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DEJAN
Brief and to the Point …

• Mike Tomlin and the Steelers have described Antonio Brown as a leader without peer. I’ve echoed that occasionally, having witnessed his extraordinary work ethic in addition to how he pushes his fellow wide receivers to match it.

But two weeks now of his relentless petulance have altered that for me. His pouting, gesturing and complaining to the coaches about not getting the ball, all while the team has been otherwise battling for two tight wins … those are the acts of a child, not a leader.

TueTakes
Want the ball, AB?

OK, put away the pacifier and start creating actual separation the way No. 10 did time after time Sunday in the victory over the Cardinals. Martavis Bryant saw a couple of bad balls, too, but he kept making plays.

Then again, hey, maybe that’s the real problem here.

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Cam Heyward, still sporting the eyeblack tribute to his late dad, lets out a roar Sunday. -- JARED WICKERHAM / GETTY

Cam Heyward, still sporting the eyeblack tribute to his late dad, lets out a roar Sunday. -- JARED WICKERHAM / GETTY

Column: ‘We will always overcome adversity’

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DEJAN
Pained yet passionate and proud, Kelvin Beachum kept his chin high.

Both of the big man’s hands put the full brunt of his 303 on his new crutches, as he touched down with one foot, then barely tapped the next. That’s the leg that couldn’t handle any weight, courtesy of a torn ACL early in the Steelers’ otherwise wonderful 25-13 win over the Cardinals Sunday at Heinz Field.

Beachum is done for the season. Even if Mike Tomlin hadn’t formally announced that a few minutes earlier, it was all over his face.

But there was more on that face, more to that scene.

If there’s any enduring image for me to what this team has encountered en route to a 4-2 record in the previously unthinkable absence of the franchise quarterback, it will be the one of the starting left tackle smiling, cringing, then smiling again as he was flanked by his fellow linemen on the way out of the locker room. David DeCastro carried his bags. Ramon Foster, as always, accompanied him to the right. Marcus Gilbert held the door.

“Proud of my Steelers brothers for pulling out the win today,” Beachum would tweet a bit later. “We are a group of fighters, and we will always overcome adversity.”

Yeah, it certainly appears they will. Even with a second-string tackle, a third-string quarterback and a fourth-string kicker.

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Daniel Sprong beats the Senators' Craig Anderson for his first NHL goal Thursday night at Consol. -- GETTY

Daniel Sprong beats the Senators' Craig Anderson for his first NHL goal Thursday night at Consol. -- GETTY

Column: One more smart decision to make

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DEJAN
Mike Johnston isn’t dumb.

Oh, he’ll do occasionally dumb things, as do we all. But he’s also demonstrated in his still-short tenure with the Penguins that he won’t stay stupidly stubborn.

Take a look for yourself …

photo Spronggoal_zps64azwcei.gif

That’s Daniel Sprong blistering home his first NHL goal, one which broke the backs of the Senators in the second period of what wound up a 2-0 woefully overdue win Thursday night at Consol Energy Center.

A beauty, too, huh?

If you were among the 18,479 that marked the 379th consecutive sellout crowd, you probably won’t forget it anytime soon.

Here’s betting the guy behind the bench won’t, either.

“Daniel looked strong,” Johnston was saying afterward. “Very strong.”

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Mike Johnston looks over his bench during the loss last week in Arizona. -- GETTY

Mike Johnston looks over his bench during the loss last week in Arizona. -- GETTY

Column: Johnston better win one of next two

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DEJAN
Brief and to the Point …

Mike Johnston’s job isn’t in immediate jeopardy, but the Penguins won’t wait long to make a move if the Ws don’t come mighty soon.

As in this week.

The Senators are on tap Thursday at Consol Energy Center, and they’re 3-1 with an NHL-high 16 goals. It might not qualify as a crime to lose to this opponent, even if Ottawa played the previous night in Columbus and should be tired.

But the same can’t — and undoubtedly won’t — be said if the Penguins lose this one and the next one Saturday when the completely rebuilding Maple Leafs visit. They’re 0-2-1 and expected to be one of the league’s worst teams, if not the worst. There won’t be many uglier ignominies here or anywhere in 2015-16 than losing to Toronto.

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Le'Veon Bell is congratulated after his winning touchdown by fullback Roosevelt Nix. -- GETTY

Le'Veon Bell is congratulated after his winning touchdown by fullback Roosevelt Nix. -- GETTY

Column: ‘A lesser team would have crumbled!’

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DEJAN
SAN DIEGO — Ben Roethlisberger was telling me late Monday night, right after his healthy fellow Steelers yanked a rainbow-colored unicorn from a hat in trumping the Chargers, 24-20, on a last-second Le’Veon Bell touchdown, that his knee was feeling “good … really good, a lot better.” He even mustered a small smile and nod to support it.

That, I dare say, is about as meaningful a development as anything that took place inside Qualcomm Stadium. Because if any lesson was learned above all, it’s the one we’ve known all along: This team will go nowhere without No. 7.

Look, not to be the downer here, but let’s not pretend that a play like Antwon Blake’s 70-yard pick-six will occur with any regularity …

photo pick6_2_zpsdksfjewf.gif

Or that Michael Vick, after an underwhelming mess of misfired 5-yard tosses, will connect on a 72-yard touchdown to Markus Wheaton with any additional regularity …

photo Vick72_zpsok6gwfd9.gif

These Steelers minus Roethlisberger are many things, but a big-play armada they most definitely aren’t. They’ll need far better quarterbacking, far less petrified playcalling, far fewer special teams flags, far more consistent tackling, and at least some remote clue as to how NFL clocks operate, and a ton more beyond that. All concerned will need to ratchet up to compete with the 4-1 Cardinals this Sunday at Heinz Field, and I’m phrasing that kindly.

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Mike Johnston and Rick Tocchet talk from the Penguins' bench Saturday night in Glendale. -- GETTY

Mike Johnston and Rick Tocchet talk from the Penguins' bench Saturday night in Glendale. -- GETTY

Column: Penguins watered down in the desert

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DEJAN
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Jim Rutherford, Mike Johnston and their staffs escorted the Penguins into this 2015-16 NHL season with a plan that underscored depth: They’d roll four scoring lines, they’d split their stars on separate power-play units, they’d fan out their top defensemen, and they’d operate with a pack mentality, both in structure and scope.

And hey, let’s not kid anyone: It sounded great. It still does, actually.

But just two games into the schedule, two serious problems have poked into view:

1. They’re 0-2, this after the 2-1 loss Saturday night to the rebuilding Coyotes at Gila River Arena, as well as being blanked two nights earlier in Dallas. With the undefeated Canadiens and undefeated Senators coming to Consol Energy Center this week, there’s a very real risk of a very ugly start.

2. Sorry, but they aren’t that deep, at least not yet.

See this below?

photo Kesselgoal_zpsoamrfhah.gif

That, my friends, is the sum total of the offense through two games.

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