The opinions found in Asked and Answered do not reflect the views of the Steelers organization.
Let's get to it:
ERIC HANSEN FROM DEATH VALLEY, CA: Have the Steelers ever worn white jerseys for a home game?
ANSWER: Back in the earlier days of the NFL, and the Steelers have been a part of the league since 1933, there were no strict "rules" governing which team wore which color jerseys. There even were games when both teams were outfitted in "color," with one example being the Steelers would wear black and the Chicago Cardinals would wear red in a game against each other. Then there was a time during the 1950s-1960s when NFL teams routinely wore white at home, much in the way that Major League Baseball teams did, and the Steelers followed that trend occasionally as well. The photo that led you into this installment of Asked and Answered was taken during Chuck Noll's inaugural game with the Steelers, which was against Detroit and played on Sept. 21, 1969, at Pitt Stadium. You can see in the photo that the Steelers wore their white jerseys. The Steelers won that game, 16-13, and it was the only victory in what ended up being a 1-13 season. Once the NFL and the AFL merged in 1970, which also was the year Three Rivers Stadium opened, the Steelers have worn black jerseys at home.
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JIM PATTERSON FROM CUMBERLAND, MD: On a defensive pass interference call where the ball is not caught and the offense is awarded the penalty yardage, do the quarterback and receiver get credit for the yardage in their stats?
ANSWER: No. That yardage is considered penalty yardage and is not credited to any individual players, as far as NFL official statistics are concerned.
PAUL BUREK FROM GAINESVILLE, GA: Could you please help me understand when the last game of the NFL season started out as TBD, and why it was changed?
ANSWER: I can tell you the why. It was because the NFL wanted as few of its end-of-season games to be meaningless as possible. Some games are going to be meaningless just based on the teams' records heading into the final weekend of the season, but what the NFL wanted to avoid was having the outcome of a game in the early time slot – 1 p.m. on Sunday – render a game meaningless that was scheduled in the afternoon time slot (4:25 p.m.) or the Sunday night time slot. Since there was no way to predict when the schedule was announced in May which games would be meaningless or might create a meaningless situation for a game in a later time slot on the final weekend of the regular season, the decision was made to list all Week 18 games as TBD at first, and then sort things out after the Week 17 games had been played.
DANA FISHER FROM ROCKPORT, ME: Am I the only one who thinks Joey Porter Jr. was a Pro Bowl Games snub? He has gone against a lot of No.1 receivers, and has more than held his own. When will he start getting the credit he deserves?
ANSWER: Here is a pertinent statistic posted by Matt Williamson, a contributor on both Steelers.com and Steelers Nation Radio: "Joey Porter Jr. has played 1,444 consecutive coverage snaps without allowing a touchdown, the longest active streak among cornerbacks and more than twice as long as the next closest streak. His last touchdown allowed was in Week 8 of 2023. Porter has made a play on the ball on 21.5 percent of his targets this season, the 5th-highest rate among cornerbacks with at least 50 targets, helping him to allow a 53.8 percent completion percentage (15th-lowest)."
I don't know whether that's "worthy" of a spot in the Pro Bowl Games, the voting for which is largely a popularity contest, but hopefully it cuts down on all the whining I get every time he gets flagged for a penalty.
MICHAEL CASSISA FROM ALBUQUERQUE, NM: It seems there have been more mid-season free agent acquisitions this year, particularly at the cornerback, wide receiver, and safety positions. It feels more frequent than normal. Is this just year-to-year circumstance, or a subtle change in how the team is approaching the draft.
ANSWER: A bunch of roster additions during an NFL regular season is a sign that the team has sustained a lot of injuries and therefore is constantly looking to shore up the spots on the roster most impacted by those injuries. In the secondary for example, DeShon Elliott is on injured reserve, and both Brandin Echols and James Pierre have missed multiple weeks with injuries. Staying with the secondary, the team did miss with the free agent signings of Darius Slay and Juan Thornhill, and so that was a factor as well. The Steelers will not shift their attention to the draft until the season is over, but that doesn't mean their scouts haven't been visiting the colleges as part of the foundation of their preparation for the draft.
JOSEPH POPROCH FROM HAZLETON, PA: Why don't the players have to wear their mouthpiece? Most of them have it hanging down off their facemasks.
ANSWER: There is no rule requiring players to have a mouthpiece, or to wear it during play. This is not high school. It's professional, and these professionals are represented by a union. I'm not saying it wouldn't be smart to wear a mouthpiece. I'm just saying there is no rule requiring it.
CHARLES LEWIS FROM VALRICO, FL: If the Steelers and Ravens finish with the same record, what determines who is the AFC North Division champion?
ANSWER: It would come down to the second tiebreaker, which is best record within the division. In the case of both teams finishing 9-8, the Steelers would have a 3-3 division record, with one loss each to the Browns, Bengals, and Ravens; by winning on Sunday night, the Ravens would have a 4-2 division record, with one loss to the Steelers, one loss to the Bengals, and a sweep of the Browns.
ED COURTNEY FROM SPOTSYLVANIA, VA: When Derrick Henry was hitting free agency did Pittsburgh show any interest in acquiring him?
ANSWER: No, the timing wasn't right. The Steelers used a No. 1 pick on Najee Harris in the 2021 NFL Draft, and he had posted 1,000-yard seasons in 2021, 2022, and 2023, when Derrick Henry became an unrestricted free agent in March 2024.
ADAM STATTI FROM NAPLES, FL: Has the NFL given any thought to making a fourth down stop count as a turnover?
ANSWER: I have no knowledge of what the NFL is thinking about, but as far as replay review, a fourth down stop already is considered a turnover because such a play is automatically reviewed without a coach's challenge having to be used. But when the league puts out its weekly stats package, fourth-down stops are not counted among a team's takeaways or giveaways.
ROB BEBOUT FROM SPRINGFIELD, OH: It seems to me that the defense tends to try to rip or punch the ball from a runner's hands instead of making the tackle, adding yards to the runs. This happened against the Browns on several plays. I was taught to make the tackle and not reach for the ball instead. Thoughts?
ANSWER: With all due respect to your athletic career, when you were "taught," what level of football were you playing? Pop Warner? High school? In the NFL, a player is taught to try to create a turnover if he is the second or third defender in on an offensive player with the football. I'm not going to tell you it's executed perfectly every time, but creating takeaways is a major part of playing defense in today's NFL, because of the many rules favoring the offense and how those rules are enforced by the officials. Those are my "thoughts." And here are some "facts": After their first two possessions, the Browns managed 5 first downs and 134 total net yards over the rest of the game. And the only points they scored came on a field goal after a failed fourth-down conversion at the Steelers 20-yard line by the offense. You imply that this tactic was a significant contributor to the outcome, and it clearly was not.
