News with Views: Pitt’s (much) taller task

by • News/views •

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Pitt’s James Conner saw more green than the Amazon rainforest Saturday at Heinz Field. — PETE MADIA / PITT ATHLETICS

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

Paul Chryst barely mustered a monosyllabic hiccup in his Tuesday press conference when asked if Pitt will have difficulty avoiding overconfidence after crushing Delaware, 62-0, in its opener.

“No.”

That was it.

He wasn’t being glib, either. You could see from his expression he was actually reaching for a way to expound upon the answer, then didn’t even bother.

And why should he have?

No means no, right?

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Tuesday 12 Qs: Tomlin, Broxton, Geno, Dri, Clash

by • Five Qs at 5 • , , ,

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

photoWelcome to Tuesday Twelve Qs, our chat that takes place each week at 1 p.m. live from the Steelers’ headquarters on the South Side.

The format is simple: Use the comments section below to submit an entry, with no more than one per person, please. Submit it anytime you want. I’ll pick from those to get the thing rolling, then monitor new entries. All topics welcome, as always.

UPDATE 1:05 p.m.: Sorry, a little late. But away we go …

TLCinDC: If the Steelers finish worse than 8-8 this season, does Mike Tomlin end up on the Rooneys’ hot seat? In that instance, what’s your best guess on how that scenario plays out?

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Column: Shamarko, Dri are Steelers’ ‘X’ men

by • Columns •

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PHOTO-ILLUSTRATION: ALEX MESSMER  /  PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

The single most significant message the Steelers could possibly take from back-to-back 8-8 seasons is that something’s got to change.

And if the goal for 2014 isn’t just to beat mediocrity but to be markedly better, it stands to reason that something’s got to change a whole heck of a lot.

In all candor, I don’t know if this team can contend. Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, Troy Polamalu, Lawrence Timmons remain steady anchors, a sprinkling of youth and speed has been added, the offensive line is healthy — where’s that wood again? — and the AFC North looks pretty blah from top to bottom. At the same time, the preseason tackling was terrifying, the secondary was almost as scary, there’s zero depth at the most important position, there’s no sure-fire second receiver, and both running backs just proved to be dopes in every sense of the term.

Add up a bunch of good and a bunch of bad, and I’ll show you 8-8 Part III.

Someone needs to step up.

Someone needs to make a difference, maybe even be different.

Here are my choices for ‘X’ factor on both sides of the ball for 2014:

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Interview: Willie Gay, Steelers

by • Videos •

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

Willie Gay, the Steelers’ eighth-year corner, saw his NFL career revitalized in 2013 after being released by the Cardinals in March. He appeared in all 16 games, started 11 and had an interception, nine passes defensed and two forced fumbles.

Something not many know: Gay has never missed an NFL game, and his 112 consecutive games are the most of any current corner in the league.

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Monday planner: Beantown bound, then Browns

by • Site stuff

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

A look at the week ahead on DKonPittsburghSports.com:

• Monday: This morning and afternoon, I’ll cover the Steelers’ first practice of opening week. An accompanying column will go online Tuesday morning.

• Tuesday: Tuesday Twelve Qs from Steelers HQ, minutes after Mike Tomlin’s press conference. I’ll also cover Paul Chryst’s press conference earlier in the morning. A Pitt football News/Views feature will go up later in the day.

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Column: Huntington says ‘it’s all on me’

by • Columns •

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

Neal Huntington sees it. He does.

And I’d have to believe he feels it, too, when his Pirates have a day like Sunday at PNC Park. Where they’re one run, one bloop, one bleeder, one better pitch away, as they were in a 3-2 loss to the Reds. Where that loss snaps a four-game winning streak but also sets the stage for a 10-game road trip that figures to make or break the season.

Just one pitch can make the difference, like the flat sinker Jared Hughes served up for Chris Heisey’s decisive home run in the ninth inning …

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Column: Tyler, Pitt point the way

by • Columns •

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Tyler Boyd dives for a 12-yard touchdown catch in front of Delaware’s C.J. Jones. — PETE MADIA / PITT ATHLETICS

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

The totality of all that Pitt achieved in its 125th football opener on a sizzling Saturday at Heinz Field, the 501 yards of offense, the five times the defense allowed the chains to move, the cumulative 62-0 slaughtering of some sadly overmatched Delaware Sacrificial Chickens … the whole scene could still somehow still be summarized by the state of one finger on one player.

Yes, Tyler Boyd is OK.

Yes, in all likelihood, he’ll be ready for the ACC opener next Friday at Boston College.

The official prognosis of the Clairton Kid’s dislocated finger on his left hand, the result of ramming a tackler’s helmet on a punt return late in the first half, came from Paul Chryst with a vague, “We’ll find out.” And Boyd himself wasn’t available for comment because of the injury.

But Boyd’s teammates, to a man, sounded optimistic bordering on certain.

“He’ll be fine,” quarterback Chad Voytik was saying. “I talked to him for a little while.”

“I can’t speak for him,” left tackle Jaryd Jones-Smith said, “but he was in really good spirits.”

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Saturday site stuff: Login change coming

by • Site stuff

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PHOTO-ILLUSTRATION: ALEX MESSMER

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

A weekly look at what’s new and what’s coming on our site …

• We’ve heard you, and we’re acting on it: The login system will change.

We’ll be switching at some point, probably in the next week or so, to a more conventional username/password login. This will make entering the site simpler and, maybe more important, keep you logged in longer. The latter has been a problem more on mobile than anything, but it’s a problem that needed to be addressed. When the change comes, we won’t blindside anyone.

There will be plenty of advance warning, as well as highly specific instructions on the new system.

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Friday Insider: Rev up Penguins’ cycle

by • Friday Insider • , , ,

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

A weekly feature aimed at rounding up a whole lot of odds and ends from a whole lot of time spent around our local teams …

• Hints have been scarce about what the Penguins’ new system will look like under Mike Johnston, but I was able to cull this much from the staff, based on another hint that was dropped several months ago: They’re about to get back on the cycle.

My meeting this week with Johnston and assistants Rick Tocchet and Gary Agnew confirmed that one of the reasons they — and Jim Rutherford and management — are making such a priority of mobile defensemen is that they’ll attack the opponent more by wearing them down than by simply out-rushing them up ice. All three forwards will be expected to be proficient at the cycle, center included, and a defenseman will be involved, as well.

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Column: Top 10 takeaways of Steelers’ preseason

by • Columns •

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

At 7:33 p.m. Thursday, a helmetless Ben Roethlisberger strode casually to Heinz Field’s 50-yard line decal for the coin toss between the Steelers and Panthers. And as he did, Carolina countered by sending out all five of its captains, side by side, presumably to outweigh Ben in the karma category, possibly because … well, what the hey, it’s the fourth week of the NFL preseason and someone might as well pretend that something from what’s about to happen will actually matter.

Ben, to his considerable credit, escaped the pile by correctly calling heads.

That’s as good as it got, I swear.

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