The opinions found in Asked and Answered do not reflect the views of the Steelers organization.
Let's get to it:
DOUGLAS PIPER FROM STATE COLLEGE, PA: I'm seeing a lot of criticism of the Steelers' defense from the Bills game. But they gave up exactly one touchdown and two field goals (that were not off turnovers). In my opinion, that should be good enough to win most football games. Do you think it's more fair to say that the offense lost this game, and from a scoring standpoint the defense played as well as could be expected?
ANSWER: You are certainly allowed to parse Sunday's 26-7 loss to Buffalo any way you'd like, but I saw that game as a loss where there wasn't a phase of the Steelers performance that distinguished itself. To give you an example of how I saw that game, I had a very difficult time selecting a Steelers Digest Player of the Week because I didn't think there were many deserving candidates.
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JENNIFER ENGLE FROM WARREN, OH: In Major League Baseball, you can only be nominated for the HOF 10 times and that's it. Is there a limit to the number of nominations in the NFL HOF?
ANSWER: I will not try to speak for the National Baseball Hall of Fame, because I am not sufficiently familiar with its rules. But the nomination process to the Pro Football Hall of Fame is rather informal in that it accepts nominations from people in non-official capacities. This is how ProFootballHOF.com explains it: "Any fan may nominate any qualified person who has been connected with pro football in any capacity simply by writing to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The only restriction is that a player must have last played at least five seasons before he can be considered, and players must have received at least one generally recognized postseason honor. (All-Pro team, Pro Bowl invitation, annual award from the Associated Press, as examples.)" For 25 years after the player retires, he is considered a part of the Modern Era. After that, he becomes a Seniors candidate.
MICHAEL ARCELA FROM SPRINGFIELD, MA: The Steelers have a litany of iconic players. I'm interested to know if they ever went full re-build and traded some of those stars and what did they get in return?
ANSWER: During the Super Bowl era, there was a 1989 trade of Mike Merriweather, a linebacker who was voted to 3 Pro Bowls in his first 6 seasons. But that was the result of a contract dispute, not a rebuilding move. The Steelers believe in trying to keep their best players, and there has never been a full re-build in terms of purging the roster to stockpile high picks in an upcoming draft(s).
ERIC HANSEN FROM DEATH VALLEY, CA: How many times have the Steelers played the Ravens in the last week of the season? What is the Steelers record in those games?
ANSWER: Since the Ravens' inaugural season in 1996, the Steelers have played them in the regular season finale 6 times. Each team won 3 of those games.
OLA OYE FROM LAGOS, NIGERIA: Please, how many first-round picks are presently on the Steelers team.
ANSWER: The Steelers currently have 10 former No. 1 picks on their 53-man roster or injured reserve. They drafted 5 of them – Cam Heyward, T.J. Watt, Broderick Jones, Troy Fautanu, and Derrick Harmon; and they signed 5 of them as unrestricted free agents – Andrus Peat, Jabrill Peppers, Patrick Queen, Jalen Ramsey, and Aaron Rodgers.
JIM WOLFE FROM ARLINGTON, TN: I was surprised to see that the replay assist removed a facemask penalty on the Steelers early in the first quarter. I didn't know that replay assist could remove a penalty that was called on the field. I thought it was primarily for catches/not a catch, fumbles, line of scrimmage, etc.
ANSWER: Replay Assist can remove an incorrectly called penalty, but it cannot assess an uncalled penalty.
HARVEY NIEBRUGGE FROM HUMBOLDT, SASKATCHEWAN, CANADA: When I see the Steelers struggle on offense I wonder if they ever copy/steal a play from another team that has successful plays. I feel like a lot of our plays are too predictable.
ANSWER: By and large in the NFL, plays do not succeed or fail due to predictability. I would think successful innovation comes from creative usage of the skill-sets of one's own players rather than to copy what another team might be doing with its players.
CJ McMUNN FROM FRANKLIN, TN: Who is your favorite NFL player to watch not on the Steelers? And why?
ANSWER: Being completely honest, when I watch football at any level – high school, college, or professional – my interest is focused on a team, or on what's at stake in a particular game.
BOB GAYDOS FROM SPRINGDALE, PA: I understand that communication between the head coach and quarterback can last 15 seconds through their headsets. Who actually turns the microphones off? Is it controlled by the coach or is it the NFL?
ANSWER: The communication from the sideline to the player on the field wearing the in-helmet microphone starts when the ball is spotted by the referee and lasts until there are 15 seconds left on the play clock. There are NFL representatives at every game that handle when communication can begin and when it ends.
ROD KEEFER FROM EDMOND, OK: While Joey Bosa's hit on Aaron Rodgers might have been worthy of a personal foul penalty, it highlighted another glaring issue – the complete lack of pressure by Pittsburgh's vaunted edge rushers on Josh Allen. What was the diminished Bills' offensive line doing that made it so difficult to get more than a hand on the quarterback?
ANSWER: Running the football. As a team, the Bills finished with 74 offensive plays in the game, and 51 of them were runs that gained 249 yards (4.9 average). James Cook alone accounted for 144 of those yards on 32 of those attempts. When an offense is running the football that often and that successfully, the defense has no real chance to generate any real pressure on the passer. Gotta stop the run.
ROLAND ORMONDE FROM ROCK RIDGE, MT: I have to disagree with your answer to the first question in the Dec. 2 Asked and Answered …
ANSWER: There was a lot more to your submission, but it will not appear here because you should understand that this is not a talk show or a debate, and I am not a therapist. This is a forum for readers to submit questions to be answered. It's also not a place for disrespectful name-calling, or rants that usually ends with "your thoughts?" Or "what say you?" I certainly support and believe in the right of fans to express an opinion, but this is not that forum. Thank you for understanding.
RONNIE CAP FROM YANKTON, SD: I have plans on going to the Monday night game against the Dolphins on Dec. 15. Getting there Saturday night and staying through Tuesday morning. How can I see the Hall of Honor Museum, and is there any must see Catholic churches in the area? Can you give any pointers to get involved in a tailgate pregame? This is my second Steelers game in Pittsburgh and I'm very excited to make the most of it if possible.
ANSWER: There currently are time slots available for tours of the Hall of Honor Museum on the Sunday and Monday of the weekend capped by the Game against the Dolphins at Acrisure Stadium. To book a tour, visit Steelers.com. On the top nav bar you'll see an icon (…). Click on that, and you'll get a drop-down nav bar. On the far left, there is a link for "Hall of Honor Museum." Click on that, and you'll be taken to a page to help you book your tour. As for you other questions, my best suggestion would be to go to VisitPittsburgh.com. Those folks do great work promoting the city and activities within the city for out-of-town visitors.
