9-0 Steelers

Every once in a while, I like to get back to my Pittsburgh sports blogging roots. So I said to myself, if the Steelers go 9-0, I'm definitely going to write a blog post about the team. Amazingly, I said this to myself immediately after the Steelers defeated the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday to go 9-0 for the first time in franchise history. Let's get the negative out of the way first. The Steelers running game is struggling. They are ranked 25th in rushing offense (out of 32 NFL teams), and the entire offense is only 24th in total yards per game. The Steelers seem to start slow as they trailed Baltimore 17-7 at halftime two weeks ago and 13-9 to the Cowboys at the half last week. Starting linebacker and emerging star Devin Bush is out for the year, a major loss to the team's defense. Plus, they "haven't played anyone." The Steelers are 15th of 16 AFC teams in strength of schedule. (Meanwhile, Kansas City is 16th of 16, yet I haven't heard anyone say that the Chiefs haven't played anyone.)

So everything that I wrote is true. You know what else is true? The Steelers are tied for 4th in points per game averaging 30.1 points in its 9 games. That's more than the Tampa Bay Bucs, Arizona Cardinals, and Buffalo Bills who all seem to get lauded for their dynamic offenses. The team's defense is 6th in yards per game, and more importantly, 3rd in points allowed per game. The Steelers are +9 in turnover differential, good for 2nd in the league, and they lead the lead for sacks. The team is even 3rd in punt returns. All of this is why the team has the second best odds to win the Super Bowl according to this site.

The Steelers are so much fun to watch this year. With JuJu Smith-Schuster, Diontae Johnson, and Chase Claypool, the Steelers may have the best group of wide receivers in the league. At a minimum, they have the best and most exciting group of young wide receivers with the three aforementioned players along with James Washington and Ray-Ray McCloud all being under 25. Meanwhile, if you like seeing defense pressure, T.J. Watt, Bud Dupree, Stephon Tuitt, and company regularly hit and sack opposing quarterbacks. Then, you get playmakers like Minkah Fitzpatrick, Cameron Sutton, and Steven Nelson making "splash" plays on the back end. The Bengals went 0-for-13 on 3rd down conversions on Sunday. When have you ever seen a professional team not convert one third down in a game?

While the Steelers have exceeded all expectations so far (I doubt even the players thought they would be 9-0 before the season started), they aren't going to finish undefeated. There are still difficult games against Baltimore, Indianapolis and at Buffalo and Cleveland. Still, I'm excited that the team is 9-0 and already close to clinching a playoff spot before Thanksgiving. Plus, Derek Lutz from the movie "Back to School" is fired up!

Photos by Charles LeClaire/USA Today Sports and Keith Srakocic/AP.

The Head and Shoulders Commercial Is Wrong

It’s quite possible that this commercial has aired for months, but I only saw it recently.



I have so many thoughts on this commercial.

- First, why is the Kiss Cam guy or girl showing these two? They definitely don’t appear to be a couple.

- The Steelers fan is way out of the Pats fan’s league.

- Rob Gronkowski attended Woodland Hills during his senior year and is a WHHS graduate. Perhaps this Pats fan is really a Steelers fan but is friends or family of Gronk, so that’s why he’s wearing the #87 jersey. Therefore, the two really struck up a rapport before the Kiss Cam came along.

- Okay, that last point seems highly unlikely.

- There is no chance that the Patriots crowd would support this kiss. There would be many more jeers and boos than cheers.

- Smart move by Head & Shoulders by having the Steelers fan wear a JuJu Smith-Schuster jersey than an Antonio Brown one.

Thanks again to Head & Shoulders for providing me with blog content for nearly a decade. (And if you click on the link, you'll see that some of the posts are so old that the videos no longer work.

Zlatan and JuJu

Welcome to a new feature here at Sean's Ramblings called Pittsburgh Athletes with World-Renowned Athletes. It's a working title. A few weeks ago, I wrote a post showing Sidney Crosby pictured with Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon. Today, I'm excited to share Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster with one of the most famous soccer players in the world, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, currently playing for the LA Galaxy.

Zlatan also just lost a bet with some guy named David Beckham.

Stay tuned for my next edition of Pittsburgh Athletes with World-Renowned Athletes (I need a better title!) which will likely feature LeBron James pictured with Pirates pitcher Trevor Williams.

Photo from JuJu's Twitter page.

JuJu Claus Is Coming To Town (Assuming Your Town Is Pittsburgh)

JuJu Smith-Schuster may be one of the most fun people in sports. He is the youngest player in the NFL and has been part of some epic touchdown celebrations.



JuJu only recently got his driver's license, so prior to this, he rode a bike quite frequently. It was national news when his bike got stolen, but after it was recovered, he made sure everyone knew that his bike would not be stolen again.



JuJu is also helping to give back to the community.

The jolly and giving man in the traditional red suit has been replaced! This Tuesday, December 12 at 6 p.m. at the Mall at Robinson expect a wide receiver in a chic, tailored red suit for a photo opportunity in the spirit of the season of giving. Yep, JuJu Claus is coming and all proceeds of the photo opportunity benefit the Homeless Children’s Education Fund.

The center court of the Mall at Robinson will be the headquarters for JuJu Smith-Schuster to be JuJu Claus in his David Alan custom-designed suit. Total Sports Enterprises will present the photos only opportunity for $19 per photo, which benefits the Homeless Children's Education Fund, along with the sale of #Team JuJu laces. Total Sports Enterprises will sell the laces in-store at the Mall at Robinson and online at tseshop.com for $7.99 youth, and $9.99 adult. To further support the cause, each purchaser of #TeamJUJU laces receives a ticket for a drawing to win a pair of authentic Adidas JuJu cleats.

For more information concerning JuJu Claus coming to the Mall at Robinson tonight, visit www.tseshop.com.

2017 Steelers Draft Recap

Although my sports focus right now is on the Penguins-Capitals series, the NFL draft took place last week, so I thought I would share my thoughts about the Steelers draft picks. Please note that this isn't exactly an in-depth, analytic blog post. It's slightly different.

1st round: T.J. Watt, Linebacker, University of Wisconsin

Watt is probably best known for being the little brother of J.J. Watt, the all-pro linebacker for the Houston Texans. Little known fact...there is also an A.J., B.J., C.J., D.J., E.J., and a U.J. in the Watt family. If T.J. has any success in the NFL this season (let's say 10 sacks), you can guarantee that there will be some JJ/TJ commercials in our future. The Watts could be the new Mannings.

2nd round: JuJu Smith-Schuster, Wide Receiver, University of Southern California

I could go the easy route and write that JuJu is the first Jew(Jew) on the Steelers since Randy Grossman and Josh Miller, but Antonio Brown already represented the Jewish community proudly. Instead, I'd like to think that the Steelers drafted JuJu to keep one of the team's biggest fans, Snoop Dogg, happy. JuJu played in the Snoop Youth Football League and attended his favorite college, USC. Snoop definitely approved!

S. Y. F. L. Legend now Steeler gang 👏🏾👏🏾💣💣👍🏾👊🏾👊🏾 https://t.co/D1pNXFgQuT pic.twitter.com/fdzcBTr76j

— Snoop Dogg (@SnoopDogg) April 29, 2017

3rd round: Cam Sutton, Cornerback, University of Tennessee

Last season, the team's best defensive player, Cam Heyward, was lost for the season in early November due to a pectoral injury. For some Cam insurance, the Steelers decided to draft another Cam to make sure there is always a Cam on the field. (Alternatively, perhaps the Steelers staff has been spending a lot of time watching Modern Family reruns and decided they wanted another Cam on the team based on Eric Stonestreet's character who is also a football coach.)

3rd round: James Conner, Running Back, University of Pittsburgh

No attempts at jokes here. James Conner is a cancer survivor and probably the second best running back in University of Pittsburgh history (after Tony Dorsett) which says a lot since Curtis Martin, LeSean McCoy, Craig "Ironhead" Heyward, and Dion Lewis all played at Pitt. Plus, from everything that I've read and heard, Conner is a great person. To paraphrase, Silver Linings Playbook, James Conner is the man.



4th round: Joshua Dobbs, Quarterback, University of Tennessee

Dobbs is an aerospace engineering graduate and is smarter than all of us, particularly the unrelated Lou Dobbs. He also knows pi to at least 48 digits.



My favorite parts of this video are the host wanting no part of being involved in the bet (but being told that she has to do it) and the guy executing the pie smashing. I wonder what is going through his mind during with his stone cold expression.

5th round: Brian Allen, Cornerback, University of Utah

Just to be clear, the Steelers did not draft Byron Allen, the founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of the U.S. television production company Entertainment Studios. This is Brian Allen...or is it?

6th round: Colin Holba, Long Snapper, University of Louisville

From the Steelers.com:

“Being a specialist, very rarely do guys get drafted,” said Holba. “Just for this to happen, it’s beyond my wildest imagination. I can’t wait to get to Pittsburgh and start working. I know (the Steelers) have Greg Warren. He has been there a while. He is one of the best in the business. I can’t wait to soak up all of the information he has to offer and do all that the coaches tell me to do and work my butt off.

“The Steelers have some of the best special teams in the NFL. I can’t wait to learn and soak up all the information (special teams coordinator Danny Smith) has to offer.”

Holba also wants to be around Sheryl Crow so that he can soak up the sun. Meanwhile, he's going to steal your girlfriend (in this scenario, "girlfriend" means Greg Warren's job).

7th round: Keion Adams, Defensive End, Western Michigan University

Did you know that Western Michigan University, located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, is only approximately 30 miles away from Three Rivers, Michigan? Based on its proximity to Three Rivers, you would think that the Steelers, who play near the confluence of the Alleghany, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers, would draft players from Western Michigan University more often!

For more of my amazing draft recaps of Pittsburgh sports teams, feel free to click here for the archives.