WALLACE HORTON DE HYATTSVILLE, MD: Do you think we need to reevaluate how we evaluate the tight ends? I see young and beautiful tight ends throughout the league, but we never seem to be able to select any of them.
ANSWER: Since the Steelers made Heath Miller the No. 1 choice in the 2005 NFL Draft, they have chosen seven tight ends – three in the seventh round, three in the fifth round and one in the third round. You don’t understand the type of tight end you’re talking about choosing a position in the draft stages where the Steelers chose them. General manager Kevin Colbert was the head of the personnel department in 2005, as he is now, so he recognizes one when he sees one. It turns out that the Steelers chose to meet other needs at the beginning of the draft, and I agree with them that there are other positions in a team more worthy of choices # 1 and # 2 than tight end.
BUDDY POWELL FROM FORT MYERS, FL: I wish someone could explain to me how TJ Watt didn’t get the Defensive Player of the Year award?
ANSWER: I can explain why TJ Watt did not receive the NFL 2020 Defensive Player of the Year award: He did not receive it because the winner has not yet been announced. The NFL will announce the winner as part of its NFL Honors program, which airs the night before the Super Bowl. Anyone can choose someone as the defensive player of the year, but the winner of the only prize that counts will not be known until the night before the Super Bowl.
MARGARET LONGAZEL, FROM BOCA RATON, FL: I believe that most football fans agree that Jim Brown is the greatest player of all time in Cleveland. What is the Steelers’ overall record for the Browns during their Cleveland career?
ANSWER: Let me start with this: there is no rational argument against Jim Brown being the greatest player in the history of the Cleveland Browns franchise. Anyway, in the 18 games against the Browns during Jim Browns’ nine-year career, the Steelers were 6-12.
CAL SABO DE AKRON, OH: If Matt Feiler is healthy enough to play, would getting him to do the correct tackle help in the racing game?
ANSWER: If Matt Feiler is healthy enough to play, I don’t think Coach Mike Tomlin will make several moves to accommodate his comeback.
JC LARKIN DE GALLATIN, TN: Do you know of any Super Bowl-era teams that chose to employ a special team strategy, using two different kickers with different skill sets? After seeing the accuracy of Matthew Wright’s accuracy on his NFL debut (s) and his college career record for such accuracy, it wouldn’t be worth considering a team to keep a “must-see within 50 yards” kicker, alongside a boomer who can we count on to handle the kickoffs?
ANSWER: In addition to committing an extra spot on the match day player list for a second kicker, you are also suggesting committing two spots on the 53 player list for kickers and wage cap space for two kickers. It is not an efficient use of resources. And if you’re really suggesting using Matthew Wright to deal with field goals within 50 yards and relegating Chris Boswell to the kickoffs, I sleep well at night knowing that you don’t have the authority to make decisions with the Steelers. Wright’s “record college career for such precision” made him convert 77.5 percent of his field goal attempts during his time in Central Florida, with a year-long best of 85.7 percent. The percentage of Boswell’s career at NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE is 88 percent, and he has 15 to 15 over his playoff career.
MIKE HOLT DE JACKSONVILLE, FL: So much talk about Ben Roethlisberger’s career made me wonder if any of the great 1970s Steelers took their starting positions in a similar way (wounded Maddox, Ben takes over; end of story), or did they for the most part, just positions won in battles on the training ground?
ANSWER: When Jack Lambert came to his rookie training camp at Saint Vincent College during the summer of 1974, there was no place for him as a starter. The players of the external linebacker were some Pro Bowl players, Andy Russell and Jack Ham, and middle linebacker Henry Davis was elected to the Pro Bowl after the 1972 season. But since 1974 it was a year of strike and the veterans were in the pickets when the camps were opened, newbies had a broader view of early summer. Lambert was being used as a reserve for Ham, but shortly after the veterans started showing up early in the preseason, Davis suffered a neck injury in the penultimate game of the preseason, and Lambert was moved to the middle. Davis had to retire because of the injury, and Lambert never left the starting lineup.
MARK WAKELEY DE DENTON, TX: Do the player and team statistics continue during the playoffs or are they separate? If TJ Watt takes two sacks against the Browns today, will his annual total increase to 17? If not, why keep them separate?
ANSWER: Team statistics and individual player statistics are separated for the regular season and the playoffs. TJ Watt’s total sack for the 2020 season is 15, and will remain at 15 regardless of what he does in that category during the playoffs. The NFL keeps them separate because that’s the fair way to do it, because not every player has the opportunity to increase their stats through extra playoff games.
SCOTT BUCHANAN OF OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA: I don’t know what the appropriate term is for the game, but many teams are using that little flip for a moving runner who receives it as soon as he passes in front of the quarterback. If it is a muff, is it a fumble or incomplete pass?
ANSWER: If the ball is advancing when it is transferred from the quarterback to the runner / receiver, it is an incomplete pass.
PAUL MARINACCIO FROM FRANKLIN LAKES, NJ: If a team decides to make a 1 point conversion after a touchdown and (for example) makes a muff on the snap, but ends up scoring by pass or run, does it receive a point or two?
ANSWER: Two.
GUY COURTNEY FROM FREDERICKSBURG, VA: I didn’t hear anyone say anything about the last play of the game, but do you think the Steelers deliberately lost the 2-point conversion to avoid taking a meaningless game into overtime?
ANSWER: I don’t think the Steelers did anything deliberate to avoid overtime on that 2-point play, but you might want to check with the game officials who ignored a very obvious passing interference penalty when a Browns defender came over the back from Chase Claypool and made contact before the ball arrived. Maybe they wanted to avoid overtime.
AL ALVAREZ DE LEXINGTON, KY: Field goal attempts are measured by where the ball is kicked. Why are punts not measured by the place where the player makes contact with the ball too?
ANSWER: Why are touchdowns worth six points and field goals worth three points? Why is it 10 yards for a first descent? Why do teams have three timeouts in half? The answer to all of these questions is the same: because that is the rule. Simple.
JOE CURRY DE MANASSAS PARK, VA: It is reported that Alex Van Pelt will assume the role of game call in the game this Sunday. Will he also make all the decisions of the head coach during the game, or has any of the other coaches been designated as the head coach for this game?
ANSWER: I work for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Asked and Answered appears on Steelers.com. What the Cleveland Browns do about the coaching staff is not in my interest or concern.