Pregame Blog: Steelers vs. Bengals

Salute to Service: The Steelers will honor active duty service members and veterans during the Steelers Salute to Service game. The Salute to Service game, an annual NFL initiative, honors our nation’s service members, veterans, and their families. The Terrible Towel Twirl will be led by Steelers legend and Vietnam Veteran Rocky Bleier, along with actor and Pittsburgh-native Joe Manganiello, a strong supporter of the military whose family has served dating back to the Continental Army in the American Revolution and Lieutenant General Jody Daniels, Chief of Army Reserve and the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Reserve Command. The Terrible Towel unfurl will be led by Lieutenant General Donna W. Martin, The Inspector General for the entire U.S. Army and Brigadier General Jake S. Kwon, Commander of the 316th Expeditionary Sustainment Command of U.S. Army Reserve. In addition, members from the 28th Infantry Division Band and 316th Expeditionary Sustainment Command of U.S. Army Reserve will take part. The Color Guard will be a Joint Services on representing the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Space Force. The National Anthem will be performed by the United States Army Herald Trumpets. Following the Anthem and prior to coin toss, a team inspired Salute to Service video will play, followed by a PA announcement inviting active and veteran service members to stand The 28th Infantry Division Band will perform at Stage AE prior to the game and throughout stadium grounds pregame. On Friday, cornerback Levi Wallace, whose parents both served in the United States Air Force, presented local female and minority veterans with a banner and tickets to the game. The banners will be displayed on Art Rooney Avenue during the game. There will be a pregame presentation at the POW/MIA Chair pregame. Local leaders will join members of TAPS, a military organization who helps the families of fallen service members. They are a national non-profit organization that provides support for those grieving the death of an active military or veteran loved one. Active-duty service members will be the flag runners to lead team out of tunnel representing the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Space Force. It will be led by American Flag and POW/MIA Flag. The American Red Cross will staff a holiday card signing station for deployed military members, veterans and their families. Fans can visit the display in the Fed Ex Great Hall from when gates open until the end of halftime. 5,000 cards will be on hand for Steelers fans to sign. The Neighborhood Ford Store will hold a donation drive on Sunday to benefit the Pittsburgh VA’s Homeless Veterans Programs and the DAV Transportation Program. The Neighborhood Ford Store is a long-time supporter of veterans programs, these two in particular as they have been involved with the DAV program for 100 years now. Halftime will feature an on-field competition featuring all five branches of the military in a punt, pass and kick competition, playing for their designated charities. The challenge is to make it 100 yards with a combination of your punt, pass and kick. Each charity will receive $5,000. In addition, there will be military shoutouts throughout the game on the jumbotron from local deployed service members and fans. Gameday employees who served in the military will be honored. ‘I Salute’ placards will be handed out to fans. Salute to Service banners and stencils will be on display throughout the stadium. A video celebrating the 240th Anniversary of the inception of the Purple Heart will play in pregame. The 50/50 drafting will benefit military charities.Honoring a Hero: The U.S. Steel Salute to Heroes recipient is United States Army Captain James McCormick, who served 22 years in the Army and Army Reserve and completed tours of duty in Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom. McCormick is a Silver Star recipient, three-time Bronze Star with Valor recipient and three-time Purple Heart recipient. Highly decorated for his multiple acts of heroism on the battlefield including a storied mission in which he was outgunned and outnumbered. He had been shot multiple times and without regard for his own life, bloodied and battered, he gallantly stepped up and found a way to prevent enemy penetration of a U.S. compound saving hundreds of U.S. lives on Easter Sunday morning. After serving his country, McCormick retired due to injury, and now uses his time to serve America’s veterans. McCormick was surprised on the field with a trip for two to the Super Bowl, with Rocky Bleier and John Banaszak delivering the oversized ticket to him.A special surprise: In conjunction with the NFL and TAPS, the family of fallen service member James Philip Buriak of the United States Navy was honored pregame. Buriak’s wife, Megan, their son Caulder and his parents were guests at the game and took part in the POW/MIA empty chair presentation. The family was then taken to the field, where Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph, surprised them with two tickets to Super Bowl LVII.Giving back: The Community Organization of the Game is the Veteran’s Leadership Program. Pennsylvania's premier Veteran-centric organization providing essential services to veterans and their families. Since 1982, VLP has operated with a focus on empowering veterans to navigate the transitions of life. VLP proudly serves all who have served, regardless of their Veterans Administration (VA) eligibility, discharge status, or their length of service. They currently operate housing, career development and supporting programs that include emergency financial assistance, benefit assistance, Women Veteran program, court justice programs and wellness programs. For the past 40 years, VLP has provided necessary support to local Veterans who are facing challenging transitions to reach their fullest potential.Time change alert: The Steelers game on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals has been flexed by the NFL. The game, which will be played on Sunday, Nov. 20 at Acrisure Stadium, has been changed to a 4:25 p.m. kickoff. The game will be broadcast on CBS, KDKA-TV in the Pittsburgh market. The game was originally scheduled to kickoff at 8:20 p.m. on Sunday Night Football. This is the first game this season that the Steelers have had flexed.Color Rush: The Steelers will wear their Color Rush uniforms this week when they play the Cincinnati Bengals at Acrisure Stadium, the first time they have worn the uniforms during the 2022 season. Shop the Color Rush Collection Now >>> The Steelers are 7-1 when wearing the Color Rush uniforms, defeating the Chicago Bears, 29-27, on Monday Night Football in 2021. The Color Rush uniform has become a favorite with players and fans alike, a monochromatic look that was first introduced to wear primarily on Thursday Night Football. “It brings a different energy,” said linebacker T.J. Watt. “Any time you get a signature game with its own jersey, it brings its own ice to it. We all get fired up. We love wearing the all black uniform with the gold. It really pops out. The fans get into as well. I know it’s not a night game, but at 4:25 it’s going to be dark. The gold will be popping and go along well with the Terrible Towels.” The uniform is a black jersey with gold numbers and gold stripes on the sleeves, while the pants are all black, with a gold stripe. “I really enjoy those,” said linebacker Robert Spillane. “That all black look…it’s a clean, sleek look. When you wear those, you have to bring that black Air Force One energy as Coach (Mike) Tomlin would say. It’s fun to come out in a different uniform. I think everyone in the NFL enjoys how they look on game day. They take pride in how they look. It’s another opportunity to go out and have fun and do what we love to do, which is play football.” Shop the Color Rush Collection Now >>> The Steelers first wore the uniforms on Christmas Day in 2016 when they defeated the Baltimore Ravens, 31-27, to win the AFC North. The team also wore them in 2017 against the Tennessee Titans, a 40-17 win. In 2018 the team wore them twice, the first time on Thursday Night Football when they defeated the Carolina Panthers, 52-21. They wore them a second time against the New England Patriots, a 17-10 win.Enter early: Heinz Field Management and the Pittsburgh Steelers are reminding fans to enter the stadium early to ensure they will not miss kickoff. Fireworks, which will be presented by Zambelli Fireworks, will be set off an hour prior to kickoff and 30 minutes prior to kickoff to serve as reminders for fans to enter Acrisure Stadium so they will not miss all of the pregame activities, including Steelers introductions and kickoff. Fans are also being reminded of the mobile ticketing process in place at Heinz Field starting this year. Prior to coming to Acrisure Stadium, fans should: • Save their mobile tickets to the digital wallet on their smartphone. • Make sure their phones are fully charged.Minkah Magic: Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick is taking part in a community outreach program in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, donating tickets to Steelers home games to the Pittsburgh Police for them to take youth in city neighborhoods to games, as well as enjoy a pregame tailgate party inside of Stage AE. The tickets are distributed to different police zones each week, allowing a wide range of kids the opportunity to not only see a game, but spend quality time interacting with the police and getting to know the men and women who are there to protect them.Security screening for this season: Acrisure Stadium will deploy next generation security screening at stadium gates this season. This technology will expedite fan entry into the stadium. Guests approaching the gates, will be instructed not to remove any items from clear bags or pockets and walk through the security screening system while following the instructions of Acrisure Stadium Team Members.Hearing from a Legend: A live Legends Q & A will take place at the FedEx Great Hall Stage at 3 p.m. Arthur Moats will host it and his guest will be Hall of Famer Donnie Shell.What’s New at Acrisure Stadium: This season also marks the introduction of seven new food items, so if it's your first game, or you are a regular, be sure to check out the new offerings. • Caliente Pizza – section 150 Ford Fan Zone, UPMC Club, West Club • Auntie Anne’s Pretzels – Main Concourse section 138, UPMC Club and West Club • Buffalo Chicken Nachos – UPMC, West and North Club • Cuban Sandwiches – UPMC and West Club • Pulled Pork Burger – UPMC and West Club • Spicy Chicken Waffles – UPMC and West Club • Mojo Pork Nachos – section 129 and 526WATCH/STREAM The game broadcast is carried nationally on CBS (KDKA-TV locally in Pittsburgh). Game coverage begins Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET; The Neighborhood Ford Store Steelers Xtra Point Postgame Show starts immediately following the game on Pittsburgh CW. The Postgame Show will also be archived on the Steelers YouTube channel. Greg Gumbel (play-by-play), Adam Archuleta (analysis) and AJ Ross (field reporter) are on the game call. The NFL also offers fans a number of ways to watch this preseason game on their digital devices: NFL+ Premium gives you the freedom to watch LIVE local & primetime Regular Season and Postseason games on your phone or tablet, full & condensed replays of every game, and MORE! Whether you are at the stadium or on-the-go, you will never miss a moment with NFL+. NOTE: NFL+ is only available to users within the United States. For a full description of features, requirements, limitations, and other information, visit NFL+ Support Fans outside of the United States can stream the game via the NFL's GamePass International product. Don't forget all Steelers postgame press conferences are streamed live on Steelers.com, the Steelers Official Mobile App, Facebook and Twitter.LISTEN Steelers Radio Network - Game coverage begins at 4:25 p.m. ET; Pregame programming begins at 12:25 p.m. ET; Postgame coverage starts immediately following the game. Bill Hillgrove (play-by-play), Craig Wolfley (color analyst), Missi Matthews (sideline) and Max Starks (sideline) are on the call. Fans in the Pittsburgh area can listen locally on WDVE 102.5 FM & WBGG 970 AM. The Steelers Radio Network will broadcast the game live through our radio affiliates. Click here for a list of our radio affiliates. The game broadcast is also carried on Steelers Nation Radio (SNR). SNR is streamed on Steelers.com and the Official Steelers Mobile App. Fans can listen to pregame and postgame programming from anywhere in the world on these platforms. NFL geographical restrictions apply to the game broadcast stream for mobile web and mobile app users. Desktop user may listen to this broadcast from anywhere in the world on Steelers.com. SiriusXM subscribers can listen to Steelers game live. Please visit SiriusXM's Steelers broadcast page for channel details.CONNECT Check out Game Day Central on Steelers.com for up to the minute stats and more. On the go? Download the Steelers Official Mobile App and follow along with our Game Center that features stats and drive charts. Play the YinzChat presented by UniBet the Steelers Official Mobile App prior to each week's game to win prizes. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. Don't forget to use #HereWeGo. Don’t miss live pre and postgame programming on Facebook Watch Coach Mike Tomlin’s press conference, LIVE immediately following the game, on Steelers.com, the Steelers Official Mobile App, Facebook and Twitter.EN ESPANOL Puedes escuchar la transmisión del partido en español en cualquier parte del mundo en steelers.com/espanol desde tu computadora. Si estas en México y en el área de Pittsburgh ahora puedes escuchar también desde tu dispositivo móvil y desde el App Oficial de Steelers. Simplemente haz Clic en la esquina superior derecha de la pagina principal del App donde dice "Live Audio" y selecciona español. También nuevo para este año, todos los juegos de los Steelers de la temporada 2022 serán transmitidos por Radio Imagen en México. Haz clic aquí para ver la lista de esas estaciones. Luis Rodríguez, Álvaro Martín, y Arturo Carlos serán nuestro equipo del Steelers en español este domingo. Luis está en su octava temporada como comentarista oficial de Steelers en español. Álvaro Martín está en su tercera década de crónica de la NFL y en su cuarta temporada como comentarista de Steelers en español. Arturo Carlos esta entrando en su cuarta temporada como play-by-play de Steelers en Español. Game Pass International Inicia tu prueba GRATIS ahora para ver todos los juegos de los Steelers en vivo en y más con NFL Game Pass International. Para iniciar tu prueba y regístrarte haz clic aquí. Activa las notificaciones en español del App Oficial de Steelers Abre la aplicación, haz clic en la esquina inferior derecha en "More," haz clic en "Settings," haz click en la tercera opción "Notifications" y activa el icono en "Español."