News/views: Pirates keep Liriano, 3 years, $39M

by • News/views •

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Francisco Liriano had a 3.38 ERA and 175 strikeouts in 29 starts last season for the Pirates. — GETTY

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

News: The Pirates have reached agreement to bring back free-agent starter Francisco Liriano for three years at $39 million, according to several national outlets. This marks the most expensive external acquisition in franchise history, and it comes against a backdrop of several other teams bidding for Liriano.

Views: Well, there goes the ski lodge.

No, seriously, I’ll have much more on this after today’s 2 p.m. chat. First things first.

I will say for right now that you read in the past two Friday Insider features on this site that, one, Liriano, was the Pirates’ primary target and, two, they sounded quite confident they’d keep him. So good for them for backing up their words with real deeds.

Weekly shameless promo: Ho, ho … no!

by • Site stuff •

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Photo-illustration — ALEX MESSMER

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

Oh, no.

All too often, Alex Messmer, our resident graphics guru and Austria bureau chief, surprises me with something completely ridiculous when I ask for a promotional visual. But this topped them all.

The objective here was to remind readers about the gift subscriptions we’re selling for the Christmas season, which now have automated fill-in forms, as well as customized gift messages created by the madman himself. In the two weeks the package has been active, the response has been very uplifting, with 72 subscriptions bought.

If you’re interested, just click the big box below:

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And don’t forget all the silly stuff available at the DK on Pittsburgh Sports Shop.

We’ll have our Tuesday 12 Qs chat at 2 p.m., though the floor is open to submissions at noon.

Steelers PATs: Grasping for defensive answers

by • News/views •

Andy Dalton's fourth-quarter fumble Sunday was recovered by Arthur Moats. -- GETTY

Andy Dalton’s fourth-quarter fumble was recovered by Arthur Moats at the Cincinnati 24. — GETTY

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

CINCINNATI — One last look at the Steelers’ last game …

• This won’t be yet another spanking for the secondary. Those are stale and, what’s more, to borrow Mike Tomlin’s adverb of choice, this team’s pass defense is obviously the problem at hand.

So how to fix it?

The simple answer is that it can’t be done. Which it probably can’t. It’s too late in the season for external moves, there really aren’t any internal youngsters to promote, and the backups are worse than the starters, hard as that is to fathom.

At safety, Shamarko Thomas has potential, but he’s played exactly zero defensive snaps this season — it’s stunning to me how even some diehard fans are unaware that he’s appeared solely on special teams — and Carnell Lake strongly suggested to me last week he’s anything but ready to be tossed into a role that pivotal. Quarterbacks read off the safety. It’s their No. 1 focus at the line of scrimmage. When the safety messes up — as Troy Polamalu did, in particular, on Andy Dalton’s embarrassing 20-yard touchdown jog in the Steelers’ 42-21 win Sunday — it’s easily exposed and usually with devastating results. That’s not a smart risk at this point.

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Monday planner: Festive week ahead

by • Site stuff •

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

CINCINNATI — A look at the week ahead on the site …

• Monday: The weekly Steelers PATs feature will be up at 4 p.m. I’ll also be traveling back to Pittsburgh.

• Tuesday: Tuesday 12 Qs will take place at 2 p.m.

• Wednesday: We’ll have another Morning Java video and a Steelers column up by mid-afternoon. I’ll pay my weekly 5:30 p.m. visit to the 105.9 the X studios with Mark Madden.

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Column: Le’Veon Bell, Pittsburgh’s latest superstar

by • Columns •

Pittsburgh Steelers v Cincinnati Bengals

Le’Veon Bell tosses his gloves to Steelers fans at Paul Brown Stadium after the game. — GETTY

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

CINCINNATI — Football doesn’t lend itself to individual dominance.

One hundred and six players will step into any given stadium on any given NFL Sunday, and they’ll do so with highly specific roles, a hard separation between offense and defense, and a headstrong adherence to playcalling that’s more akin to choreography.

Football often demonstrates individual excellence, within those guidelines.

But dominance?

No, that sort of category should be reserved for what Le’Veon Bell has been doing for the Steelers these past three weeks, capped by singularly swinging a 42-21 score his team’s way on this particular Sunday against the Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium.

That’s singularly. I use the term advisedly.

“He’s doing so much in the run game, pass game, blocking game … and I don’t even know how many checkdowns he had today,” Ben Roethlisberger was saying. “His game right now is at a very high level, and it’s a lot of fun to watch.”

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Column: Steelers’ playoff sprint starts right here

by • Columns •

New Orleans Saints v Pittsburgh Steelers

Le’Veon Bell breaks free against the Saints’ defense on his way to 254 total yards last Sunday at Heinz Field. — GETTY

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

CINCINNATI —  The Steelers will win the AFC North Division if they win Sunday.

And the Sunday after that.

And the Sunday after that.

And the Sunday after that.

No, really, they will. It’s a hard fact. Because the Steelers (7-5) would have swept the Bengals (8-3-1) right out of first place and, even if the Ravens (7-5) and Browns (7-5) keep pace, the Steelers would take the second tiebreaker — the first, of course, is head-to-head — against both those teams because of a better record inside the conference.

So there it is: Just win out, baby!

Right, gentlemen?

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Column: The real divide between Duquesne, Pitt

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Duquesne and Pitt line up for the National Anthem before tipoff Friday at Consol. — DUQUESNE ATHLETICS

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

The divide between our city’s two Division I basketball programs is not 14 points.

Nor is it the 14 consecutive victories for one over the other.

Yeah, both those figures played out Friday night at Consol Energy Center with James Robinson’s career-high 23 points headlining Pitt’s 76-62 dunking of Duquesne in the 83rd City Game, but that symptomatic snippet doesn’t begin to tell the tale.

Because it isn’t about the Panthers getting a stunning 12-point showing from ultra-spare center Joseph Uchebo, any more than it’s about all the Dukes’ myriad shortcomings cited in a blistering postgame review by Jim Ferry, any more than it’s how the overwhelming majority of the 14,905 in attendance showed to support Pitt.

No, it’s about Ryan Luther.

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