Mike Munchak: A superb hiring

Icy rivers, but a warm reception
in Pittsburgh for Mike Munhcak

When the Tennessee Titans fired head coach Mike Munchak on Jan. 7th, it came as a surprise to 'most everybody. Munchak had middling success in Nashville, but the Hall of Fame offensive lineman is generally well-regarded and highly respected across the NFL.

His name came into play immediately as a job candidate for head coaching vacancies in Detroit and Cleveland, where he interviewed. Both franchises went with choices that must have left their fans underwhelmed: Jim Caldwell in Detroit and Mike Pettine, the former Bills and Jets defensive coordinator, in Cleveland.

When Munchak came available, some fans and bloggers in Pittsburgh immediately put forth his name as a potential offensive coordinator for the Steelers, never mind that Todd Haley already holds that job.

At the time, it seemed a stretch to think Munchak would actually agree to take on the lesser, more focused role of offensive line coach. Yet here he is: Munchak is now Pittsburgh's offensive line coach.

This can be only a good thing.  Before being promoted to head coach in Tennessee, Mike Munchak had exceptional success coaching the Titan's offensive line.

Some people have wondered aloud whether adding another former head coach to the staff, the team's third, would potentially have Mike Tomlin looking over his shoulder. That's not going to happen.

We'll be more interested to see how the relationship between Haley and Munchak unfolds, and to what extent they stay on the same page.

One thing for sure: Munchak is the most accomplished offensive line coach the Steelers have had in years, maybe ever. His presence can only help the woeful running game and pass protection schemes. How much he will help to develop some of the players remains to be seen, but that is up to them more so than him. If Marcus Gilbert and Mike Adams don't have the commitment or the talent to be effective offensive tackles in the NFL, this will be the year decisions on them will be made.

One other thing: Hopefully, Munchak will help the Steelers be better prepared to open the season than they have in recent years. His Titans beat the Steelers at Heinz Field to open the 2013 season. His team was ready to play and, clearly, the Steelers weren't anywhere near ready to play -- until nearly mid-October.

That's mainly on the head coach, however, and for now, all Munchak really has to do is improve the offensive line. It's a good bet he will.

In case you were wondering ...

The Seattle Seahawks selected CB Richard Sherman in the fifth round, out of Stanford, as the 154th player and 35th cornerback taken that year. Corners taken ahead of the 6'3" Sherman included two who were drafted by the Steelers: Curtis Brown (from Texas, 3rd round, 95th overall) and Cortez Allen (from The Citadel, 4th round, 126th overall).

Here's what the 2011 pre-draft analysis on NFL.com had to say about Sherman:

"Sherman is a size prospect with some good intangibles that will help him mold into a contributing backup corner for a press-heavy team. However, he does not possess the natural coverage instincts, fluidity or burst to be considered a future starter. Is comfortable and capable in press man, using his size to disrupt receivers' releases off the line, but doesn't show enough make up speed to consistently recover when beaten. Awareness in zone and off-man are only adequate. Has average ball skills but some upside as a playmaker. Tough against the run but still developing from a technical standpoint. Sherman is a Day 3 prospect."

With the benefit of hindsight, that assessment is a bit off the mark, wouldn't you say?

Take the High Road, Show Some Class

What Richard Sherman doesn't realize is, that by calling Michael Crabtree a "mediocre" receiver, Sherman diminishes his own accomplishments. So, Richard, you were able to make a play on a mediocre receiver? Big deal.

Show some class.

As New England quarterback Tom Brady said, "win with graciousness."

Brady's own coach, Bill Bellichick, apparently will never learn to show graciousness in defeat. True to the form he has shown previously in post-season losses, Bellichick came off as a sourpuss sore loser following New England's loss to Denver. He grabbed headlines on Monday when he called Wes Welker's hit on Aqib Talib "one of the worst I've seen" and "deliberate."

One of the worst Bellichick has seen? We doubt that.  Deliberate? Maybe; maybe not. Never mind that Welker's "rub" route or "pick" block on a shallow crossing route over the middle of the field happens all the time in the NFL and is a play New England uses regularly.

It's hard to tell from watching replays whether it was an unavoidable collision or whether Welker had Talib lined up and went directly for him. Bellichick implies that Welker was trying to hurt Talib. It seems unlikely. Welker, the much smaller of the two players, seemed initially to get the worst of the collision. Not only is the 5'9" Welker smaller than the 6'1", 205-lb Talib, but Welker is not far removed from having missed three late-season games due to a concussion. He was wearing an oversized helmet to protect his brain. It seems unlikely he would seek out a high-speed collision, but who knows?

 One thing is for sure: Bellichik has no use for Welker, whose outstanding career as a star receiver in New England came to an unhappy end after the 2012 season. For sure, there's bad blood between Bellichick and Welker.

For all we know -- and we don't -- there may also bad blood between Talib and Welker, who were teammates for about the final two months of the 2012 season, after the Patriots acquired Talib in a mid-season trade from Tampa Bay.  Talib and Welker went up against each other in practice and, for what it's worth, Talib, a Cleveland native, has a history of conduct issues, including fighting with at least one teammate. Talib was suspended by the NFL for the first four games of the 2012 season (while with Tampa Bay, for performance-enhancing drugs), and Talib's Wikipedia page includes the following under the subhead, "Legal and Conduct Issues":

"Talib has had several conduct related issues since his NFL career started. At the NFL rookie symposium in July 2008, Talib was involved in a fistfight with fellow Buccaneers rookie Cory Boyd.[13] On August 20, 2009, Talib allegedly battered a taxi driver,[14] and he was arrested by Florida Highway Patrol and booked into the Pinellas County jail, charged with resisting arrest without violence and simple battery.[15] In March 2011, police in Garland, Texas issued a felony warrant for Talib for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after accusing him of firing a gun at his sister's boyfriend.[16] He was later released on $25,000 bond. Talib was indicted on the charge in May 2011.[17] On June 18, 2012, the charges were dropped due to insufficient evidence and character concerns with the accuser."

Talib's no choir boy, and neither is Welker. Was there also history between Welker and Talib when the two were teammates in New England? Was Welker's hit on Talib deliberate? We may never know.

What we will find out soon enough, however, is how Richard Sherman will react if Welker or one of Denver's other outstanding  receivers burn him in the Super Bowl.  Karma has a way of coming back on people and, with Peyton Manning throwing, Sherman may have his hands full with receivers like the likes of Welker and Eric Decker, who are better than "mediocre."

Everybody knows how successful Welker's been the past several years. This season, the 6'3" Decker had 87 receptions for 1,288 yards and 11 touchdowns. Will they fare better against Sherman than Crabtree did? We'll find out on Super Sunday.

Officiating Embarrasses the NFL, Again

That was the best officiating crew the NFL could offer?

San Francisco fans appear to have legitimate reason to gripe about the officiating in Sunday's NFC Championship game. The sequence of plays leading to Seattle taking the lead was set in motion by the running into the punter penalty. If that call had been roughing the punter, as it should have been, San Francisco would have had a first down and Seattle wouldn't have had a short field, which led to the go-ahead touchdown pass to Jermaine Kearse.

A short while later, San Francisco linebacker Navarro Bowman recovered a fumble  — which everybody saw, except for the officials. Seattle retained the ball and kicked a field goal.

Niners' fans also might wonder about what appeared to be a loosely defined, if not generous, space for the so-called tackle box, as in "the quarterback (Russell Wilson) was inside the tackle box, so there was no intentional grounding."  It looked like Wilson got away with a couple of throws that could have been called intentional grounding.

Nobody in the 49ers organization has squawked about the officiating, and it wouldn't help them if they did. But still, that was supposed to be one of the two best officiating crews the NFL could put together. And they were an embarrassment.

What we can expect the next two weeks ...

PEYTON MANNING, RICHARD SHERMAN, PEYTON MANNING, RICHARD SHERMAN, PEYTON MANNING, RICHARD SHERMAN, PEYTON MANNING, RICHARD SHERMAN, PEYTON MANNING, RICHARD SHERMAN, PEYTON MANNING, RICHARD SHERMAN, PEYTON MANNING, RICHARD SHERMAN, PEYTON MANNING, RICHARD SHERMAN, PEYTON MANNING, RICHARD SHERMAN, PEYTON MANNING, RICHARD SHERMAN, PEYTON MANNING, RICHARD SHERMAN, PEYTON MANNING, RICHARD SHERMAN, PEYTON MANNING, RICHARD SHERMAN, PEYTON MANNING, RICHARD SHERMAN, PEYTON MANNING, RICHARD SHERMAN, PEYTON MANNING, RICHARD SHERMAN, PEYTON MANNING, RICHARD SHERMAN, PEYTON MANNING, RICHARD SHERMAN, PEYTON MANNING, RICHARD SHERMAN, PEYTON MANNING, RICHARD SHERMAN, PEYTON MANNING, RICHARD SHERMAN, PEYTON MANNING, RICHARD SHERMAN, PEYTON MANNING, RICHARD SHERMAN, PEYTON MANNING, RICHARD SHERMAN, PEYTON MANNING, RICHARD SHERMAN.

Power to the Peaceful

In recognition of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the entire civil rights movement ...

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."
— Martin Luther King, Jr.

"We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies."
— Martin Luther King, Jr. 

For more quotes from Martin Luther King, Jr., visit BrainyQuote.:

The Running Blues

"Poor old Otis, dead and gone, 

Left me here to sing his song, 

Pretty little girl 
with the red dress on, 

Poor Old Otis dead and gone." 

— "Running Blues," by  Jim Morrison, presumably invoking Otis Redding

Three of the four teams playing in the NFL Conference Championship games this weekend ranked among the NFL's Top 10 for yardage gained running the ball. They are: San Francisco (No. 3), Seattle (No. 4) and New England (No. 9). The Broncos ranked 15th.

The Steelers ranked 27th.

Although the offensive line seemed to improve as the season progressed, the offensive line could never be counted upon to get a reliable push in the run game. That lack of push hampered the Steelers badly on third-down  attempts and in the red zone.

John Henry Johnson

As noted by by the Post-Gazette's Gerry Dulac:
"The Steelers finished 27th in the league in rushing and averaged 3.5 yards per carry. Only the Baltimore Ravens and Jacksonville Jaguars averaged fewer yards per carry. Last season, the Steelers were ranked 26th in rushing and averaged 3.7 yards per carry. The Steelers also allowed 43 sacks this season, six more than last season (2012), when Sean Kugler coached the offensive linemen."

And this all points back to an issue we hate to raise, but ... if Bruce Arians was fired and Todd Haley hired to help the Steelers get back to the run and protect Big Ben, those twin objectives have not been attained.

Talent is Talent

It's always fun watching the playoffs, and this weekend's games should be especially compelling. People who aren't into football as much as some of us are sometimes wonder why we take such an interest in the draft. Well, the simple answer is, that's how you build teams.

One example: With the 35th pick of the 2011 draft, the Cincinnati Bengals selected quarterback Andy Dalton. With the very next pick, the San Francisco 49ers selected quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

Do you think the Bengals would pick Dalton over Kaepernick today? The Bengals seem to have most of the pieces in place to still be playing this weekend — if Andy Dalton hadn't played so brutally in their home playoff loss to San Diego. The Bengals need a quarterback who can take advantage of all that talent around him and lift the team to the next level. In time, Dalton may do that. He hasn't done it yet.

Of course, it didn't help Dalton that his coaches (offensive coordinator Jay Gruden, who was just named head coach of the Redskins, and Marvin Lewis) had him. absurdly, throwing the ball 51 times in extremely windy, cold, rainy conditions; nor did it help Dalton that Giovanni Bernard fumbled the ball in the red zone.

Still, Dalton has yet to win a playoff game, and Kaepernick's been to the Super Bowl already and is on the verge of going again this year.  Do you think Cincinnati fans aren't wondering how Kaepernick would look throwing to A.J. Green, Mohammed Sanu,Tyler Eiffert, etc.?  But for the Bengals, Dalton was the safer choice, and look where it's got them. Home. Meanwhile, Kaepernick and the Niners will be getting busy against the Seahawks.

Where the chips fall
By the way, with the 31st in the 2011 draft, the Steelers selected defensive end Cameron Heyward, and he looks like an emerging force on the defensive line.

Like so many other Steeler fans, Joey Porter's Pit Bulls are always on the lookout for that next developmental quarterback who can be groomed as a backup to Ben Roethlisberger, and step in and play well if and when called upon. And, no, Landry Jones does not appear to be that guy.

At the time, in April 2011, Joey Porter's Pit Bulls liked the idea of Kaepernick playing for the Steelers and had him pegged, potentially, as that guy, if the Steelers could somehow snag him (even as high as the second round). His draft stock had been rising, and we'd been paying attention. He was no secret. Before the draft started on April 28, 2011, here's what we wrote to close out our final draft-preview. The following paragraphs are an excerpt from that draft-day post:

***

We suspect the Steelers will target three positions in the first three rounds -- cornerback, defensive line and offensive line — but, of course, it all depends how the chips fall. There are any number of guys we'd love to see in a Steelers' uniform next year ... even Nevada QB Colin Kaepernick.

In fact, Joey Porter's Pit Bulls would LOVE for the Steelers to somehow grab Kaepernick, but we don't see it happening. He is likely to be drafted early to mid-second round. Just a feeling the guy not only has a ton of legitimate NFL-quality talent, but he also seems to have his head screwed on straight, since he says things like ...

"I feel like I’m a good person. I'm not going to put myself in a bad position or the team in a bad position with things I do off the field. That's what you look for when you're looking for a leader. Is this person responsible and mature enough to realize no matter what as a quarterback you are face of that franchise and you need to carry yourself a certain way? Certain things you can’t get away with."

Sounds like Kaepernick gets it. 

Ante up for Courtroom Poker in the NFL's Concussion Settlement

More courtroom antics coming: The news that a federal judge in Philadelphia ruled the NFL's $765 million settlement looked, well, uh, too low ... it's interesting. And the ruling sounds right. That figure's too low.

Apparently the judge sniffed all the cologne worn by Roger Goodell's minions of lawyers, turned up her nose and said, "Something stinks."

Now to follow: more arguments, legal tedium, tomfoolery, hijinks, shenanigans, chicanery, tomfoolery and skullduggery. Sounds like torture, although the lawyers will get paid handsomely, and, in the end, we'll pay for it all with higher cable bills.

We wouldn't be surprised if the judge eventually tells the NFL's attorneys to take that $765 million figure, multiply it by at least 10 and use that $7.65 billion figure as a starting point for further discussion.

The O-Line Coach Conundrum

It's been nearly two weeks since the Steelers fired offensive line coach Jack Bicknell, Jr., and they still haven't named a successor. Offensive assistant Shaun Starrett has already interviewed for the position, according to the Post-Gazette's Gerry Dulac, who also has reported that Sarrett basically assumed many of Bicknell's duties even before the season ended.

Bicknell said he was stunned by the move, but "obviously" Mike Tomlin had his reasons. Speculation abounds, and we may never know Tomlin's reasons, but it appears the Steelers are waiting for the playoffs to play out before announcing Bicknell's replacement.

Why was Bicknell let go? Considering the degree to which the patchwork offensive line improved during the season, one would have thought Bicknell's job might have been safe. The running game never really got any serious traction, however, even considering the last two games, when Le'Veon Bell put up decent numbers.

Still, as Dulac noted, the team's overall numbers for rushing yardage and sacks allowed in 2013 were not good:

"The Steelers regressed statistically in Bicknell's one season as the team's offensive line coach. They finished 27th in the league in rushing and averaged 3.5 yards per carry. Only the Baltimore Ravens and Jacksonville Jaguars averaged fewer yards per carry. Last season, the Steelers were ranked 26th in rushing and averaged 3.7 yards per carry. The Steelers also allowed 43 sacks this season, six more than last season (2012), when Sean Kugler coached the offensive linemen." 

It may be that the Steelers want to interview one of the coaches from one of the playoff teams still playing. For all the sentiment that the importance of the running game in the NFL has diminished, the 49ers, Seahawks and Patriots rely heavily on the run. On Sunday, New England racked up 234 yards rushing, as the Patriots' ran roughshod over the Indianpolis Colts, with LeGarrette Blount running for four touchdowns.

No matter who the Steelers name as their next offensive line coach, Joey Porter's Pit Bulls have to wonder if the Steelers will ditch the zone blocking scheme that never took hold last season -- and which Bicknell was supposedly hired to implement. For the players they have, the zone blocking scheme just may not work.

It's so cold ...

It's psychedelic.

Images courtesy of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Who Dey? The Bungles!

A pivotal moment: Antonio Brown's momentum carried him
out of bounds vs. Miami in the snow at Heinz Field

Steelers' players and coaches must've been saying, "That should've been us," while watching the Chargers push around the Bengals.

It's the Steelers' own fault.

Blessed with a soft schedule, the Steelers fell flat against six teams they should have beaten: Tennessee, Chicago, Oakland, Minnesota, Baltimore, Miami.

That's six losses to teams that were poor to middling, at best, this year. And that says all you need to know about the 2013 Steelers. As a team, average, at best. There is room for improvement.

What a miserable day Cincinnati fans endured on Sunday, what with the weather and that execrable mess they witnessed on the field. And what a long, miserable off-season it's going to be for Andy Dalton. We'd say it may be a short off-season for Marvin Lewis, but owner Mike Brown is likely to stay the course. On the other hand, if Brown wants to keep defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer ...

Philadelphia Eagles fans

So much for the Eagles. Philadelphia fans are famously gentle and forgiving, however, so all should be happy and upbeat in the City of Brotherly Love.

The Saints were impressive in Philadelphia, but their recent track record of playing on the road is not good. Winning in Seattle won't be easy, but something tells us NFL defensive coordinators are beginning to figure out Russell Wilson and the Seahawks.

We could see New Orleans defeating the Seahawks to set up a Saints-49ers NFC Championship game, and that would promise to be a doozy of a wildly entertaining affair.

The 49ers have a defense, a running game and a play-making quarterback. They look like the team to beat in the NFC. Although Carolina beat San Francisco by a score of 10-9 in Week 10 of the regular season, the playoffs are a different animal. Carolina is going to have to actually accomplish something in the post-season before they convince Joey Porter's Pit Bulls they're legit.

What a performance by Oliver Luck and the Indy Colts vs. the Chiefs on Saturday. Good for them. Down 28 points in the third quarter, so much had to go right for them to win that game, and it did, including Alex Smith's fumble on an early third-quarter strip-sack by Robert Mathis, the extraordinary leaping catch by Da'Rick Rodgers, solid running by Donald Brown and the big-time breakout game by T.Y. Hilton.

Now, all the Colts have to do is go to Massachusetts and defeat Tom Brady, Bill Bellichick and the Patriots. Good luck.

Since about mid-season, we've suspected that San Diego is better than most people acknowledge. Still, it will be a big challenge for the Chargers to go into Denver and beat the Broncos. But they did it just a few weeks ago. And Peyton Manning has gone one-and-done in the playoffs, what? Eight or nine times? Should be interesting.

The Bengals had Zoltan Mesko punting? After his lousy performance with the Steelers, we were surprised to see him back in the NFL.

Last-minute playoff predictions

Joey Porter's Pit Bulls don't have the greatest track record with predictions. Before the 2013 season, we forecast (with no joy) that the Steelers would win three to five games. They won eight. Not a great season for the team, but better than the prediction.

What we'd like to see happen in the playoffs and what we think will happen are two different things. We'd kind of like to see Kansas City in the Super Bowl vs. either the Eagles (for the Andy Reid angle) or the 49ers (for the Alex Smith angle).

What we think will happen is New England coming out of the AFC to play the Eagles. If that happens, it will be an ugly, obnoxious couple of weeks before the Super Bowl, with Massholes and Eagles fans descending upon New York City.  Can you imagine?

Ugh. Say no more.

Then again, we could also see a couple of darkhorses emerge: San Diego vs. Green Bay. That's not likely to happen, but we wouldn't be at all surprised to see the Chargers beat the Bengals, and they've already proven they can beat Denver. And the Packers have Aaron Rodgers.  It could happen.

Happy New Year!