Rooney: defense, re-signing Roethlisberger top priorities

By Will Graves

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/teams/pit/

January 21, 2015

Ben Roethlisberger (7) passes against the Indianapolis Colts in the second quarter of the NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2014, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The Pittsburgh Steelers took a calculated risk last spring when they opted not to re-sign quarterback Ben Roethlisberger with two years remaining on his current deal, opting instead to focus on bolstering the roster elsewhere.

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It's going to cost them, and president Art Rooney II knows it. Then again, there are worse positions than negotiating with a player coming off the best statistical season of an already remarkable career.

''I'll take that problem,'' Rooney said with a laugh Wednesday.

It may be one of the easiest ones to solve over the next few months for the AFC North champions. Pittsburgh returned to the playoffs in 2014 after a two-year absence, going 11-5 and riding a dynamic offense and a perfect December to its first division title since 2010. While Rooney called it a ''good'' season with ''a lot of positives'' the Steelers' last Super Bowl appearance is becoming an ever smaller speck in the rearview mirror.

''Obviously we didn't achieve our ultimate goal,'' Rooney said.

Maybe, but Pittsburgh looked closer than in consecutive 8-8 seasons in 2012 and 2013. Rebuilding is nearly complete, at least on offense. The Steelers set franchise records for points and yards behind Roethlisberger, All-Pro running back Le'Veon Bell and All-Pro wide receiver Antonio Brown. Press Rooney on if this means the franchise's identity has shifted away from its roots on the other side of the ball and he politely disagrees.

''I'd say we still strive for a team with a strong defense and that's something we'll always try to have,'' he said while adding the offense was ''fun to watch.''

The goal is to make it just as enjoyable when the defense takes the field. That part might be tricky. The Steelers finished 18th in yards allowed, their worst performance since 1991. Hall of Fame defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau resigned earlier this month and the status of longtime fixtures Brett Keisel, Ike Taylor, Troy Polamalu and James Harrison is uncertain. Rooney said it will be a few weeks before any decision is made on who to bring back and who to let walk. Keisel and Polamalu both have a year remaining on their current deals while Taylor and Harrison are free agents, though Harrison didn't rule out one more season after occasionally brilliant play at age 36.

Whoever returns out of that group would be short-term investments at best, and likely a relatively inexpensive one. That's not the case with free agent linebacker Jason Worilds. The team placed the transition tag on Worilds last spring, and he responded with 7.5 sacks. With little established depth at outside linebacker - where former first-round pick Jarvis Jones has struggled to stay out of the training room - Worilds provides some stability.

To retain him, the Steelers will need to pay him like he's one of the elite at his position even if Worilds has yet to make a Pro Bowl. Rooney declined to put Worilds in any particular category, saying only the team would like to have him return in part because his specialty happens to be the current group's biggest weakness.

''We've got to get more sacks and put more pressure on the quarterback and I think in the games we were successful, we were able to do that,'' Rooney said. ''That's a key piece of the puzzle that we have to look at as we build this defense going into next year.''

While Rooney doesn't believe new defensive coordinator Keith Butler - promoted after more than a decade as an assistant - will make drastic changes from the 3-4 scheme favored by LeBeau, he does expect Butler to offer more than tweaks. Finding new and creative ways to become disruptive in the backfield is a must.

''It is a challenge now for a defensive coordinator to keep up with these high-powered offenses,'' Rooney said.

And it will be Butler's responsibility to build around a core that includes defensive end Cam Heyward and linebacker Lawrence Timmons. There is a significant need for help in the secondary, especially if Taylor and Polamalu do not return. Rooney lauded the play of converted special teamers like Antwon Blake but understands defensive back will be a major need when the draft comes. The Steelers haven't taken a cornerback in the first round since Chad Scott in 1997.

That may have to change if Pittsburgh wants to get serious about returning to league's upper echelon. Rooney anticipates having a bit of money to spend in free agency, though the team rarely splurges on high-priced veterans.

''If there's an opportunity to sign somebody like that, we'll look at it,'' he said. ''I wouldn't rule that out at this point but it kind of depends on what's available to us and what we're able to do at that point in time.''

---

AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL

They changed coordinators, now will the Steelers change priorities?

By Mark Madden, Special to The Times 

http://www.timesonline.com/sports/

January 16, 2015

Keith Butler (George Gojkovich / Getty Images North America)ica

Over the last three seasons, Denver Coach John Fox went 38-10 and won three division titles. He made it to last season’s Super Bowl, losing badly to Seattle. Fox also presided over two playoff one-and-dones.

Over those same three seasons, Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin went 27-21 and won one division title. He coached one playoff game, losing it.

Fox got fired. Tomlin’s job security is beyond question.

Football can be a funny game.

That’s not to suggest Tomlin should be terminated or that Fox should have been retained. Each franchise has different priorities and procedures.

Moving forward, let’s see if the Steelers’ priorities and procedures change.

More than any NFL team, the Steelers are high on loyalty and pay homage to tradition. But they just canned legendary defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau. Troy Polamalu, James Harrison and Brett Keisel won’t be far behind. (Sorry, Mr. Taylor, but there is no “Ike” in “icon.” Uh, wait ... I guess there is. Darn. Anyway, you're out, too.)

None of this is bad. Mostly, it’s rational.

But Chuck Noll held onto his Super Bowl veterans a bit too long. It just seems odd to see the current Steelers draw the line so decisively.

Fan backlash to LeBeau’s dismissal was minimal, reflecting the move’s logic. The same media drones who lambasted hiring Jim Rutherford as Penguins GM because he’s “too old” criticized the LeBeau firing, citing LeBeau’s health, workout regimen and presumed immortality. Rutherford is 65. LeBeau is 77.

New defensive coordinator Keith Butler faces an odd challenge. Butler was groomed to be Dick LeBeau Jr. To carry on in LeBeau’s footsteps and do the same things. Now the demand exists to be anything but.

No more bend, but don’t break. No more needing two years to learn the defense. That’s absurd. You can learn French in three months. The NFL is a fast-food league. Get that young talent on the field.

Is the 3-4 dead? Is the zone blitz dead? It was once thought that Butler would merely have to maintain. Now he’s got to overhaul. Overhaul systematically by way of hybrid packages and 4-3 looks. Overhaul personnel by way of replacing a fistful of key players, past their prime but nonetheless established.

It’s difficult to criticize LeBeau’s moves this past season. He took terrible personnel and molded it into a defense that, by season’s end, was decent. Making that group average may be one of LeBeau’s finest accomplishments.

But Keisel consumed snaps while Stephon Tuitt sat. Harrison played because Jarvis Jones got hurt, but the commitment to Harrison was quick and absolute. Injuries plagued Shamarko Thomas, but he got two plays on defense all year. Thomas has been with the Steelers two years, but remains a mystery.

Tuitt was established by season’s end. Jones must stay healthy, and can’t disappoint. Thomas needs thrown in at the deep end. Sink or swim. Ryan Shazier must stay healthy, deal better with aches and pains, and find consistency. The only way to achieve that is by playing, not watching Vince Williams.

The Steelers’ draft could be revelatory.

“Take a cornerback!” is the mantra, and the Steelers certainly need one. Or two. Or three. But drafting strictly by need/position has damaged the Steelers before. (See Edwards, Troy.) Depending on what’s decided with Jason Worilds, getting a pass rusher may actually be more important.

Just don’t pick an inside linebacker. That would be too typically Steelers, and would show that real change will be minimal.

Resilient Penguins survive bumpy first-half intact

By Will Graves

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/teams/pit/

January 14, 2015

Minnesota Wild's Zach Parise (11) can't get a shot past Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury (29) during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2015. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The do-everything, be-everything center is slumping, at least as far as superstar slumps go.

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The elder statesman, resident prankster and unquestioned heart is out for the year and maybe forever with blood that just won't behave.

The wunderkind 20-year-old defenseman beat cancer but not a shaky shoulder.

The businesslike and still kind of mysterious rookie head coach remains months away from the real litmus test, but the early results are encouraging.

And then there's the mumps.

For the better part of a month, the Pittsburgh Penguins saw their roster almost comically ravaged by a childhood virus that temporarily -and quite painfully - turned Sidney Crosby's face into something created by a 4-year-old with Play-Doh and took a handful of teammates along for the ride.

Yet here Sidney Crosby and the new-look Penguins are at the midpoint of an already eventful season back in their usual spot this time of year: near the top of the Eastern Conference and cruising toward the playoffs, which is only barometer that really matters.

Pittsburgh trails the first-place New York Islanders by a point in the Metropolitan Division and are on pace for the second-best regular season in team history. Not bad considering nearly three dozen players - including a steady stream of prospects or minor leaguers thrust into action out of necessity rather than merit - have suited up.

''It hasn't been easy but to everybody's credit they've done what they had to do,'' general manager Jim Rutherford told The Associated Press.

Even if Pittsburgh is doing it in sometimes very un-Penguinlike ways. With defense. With goaltending. With responsible checking and attention to detail. While coach Mike Johnston allows plenty of work remains to be done by the time April rolls around, considering what his team has gone through during Johnston's first four months in charge, things could be a worse.

''The first half we were still learning a lot of different things, getting used to a new system still,'' forward Brandon Sutter said. ''Now I think in the second half it's been kind of time to cement that into our game.''

The Penguins hired Johnston to replace Dan Bylsma last summer and tasked him with finding a system that could thrive in both the regular season and the playoffs. The first six weeks went relatively smoothly, even with forward Pascal Dupuis sent to injured reserve with blood clots that have jeopardized his career and Olli Maatta missing a few weeks while a cancerous tumor was removed from his thyroid.

It was a mirage. The injuries and illnesses began piling up in December, forcing Johnston to abandon teaching the finer points and simply trying to find enough healthy bodies to throw onto the ice on a given night.

It's also forced the Penguins to learn to win by any means necessary, relying more heavily on goalie Marc-Andre Fleury and less on the scoreboard-tilting exploits of Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Pittsburgh is just ninth in the league in scoring, with Crosby on pace for his lowest goal total over a full season. A sputtering power play over the last month hasn't helped, though Crosby did score an overtime goal at Montreal last weekend.

Crosby brushes off any concern about his production. Really, wasn't the point of the offseason front office overhaul to find a way to make the team less reliant on their two centerpieces? Crosby and Malkin are both in the top five in the league in points and the Penguins have had 24 different players find the back of the net, the most of any team in the league.

''In the whole scheme or things it's more about how you're playing and making sure the chances are there and everyone is contributing,'' Crosby said. ''That goes further than anything.''

Crosby hardly looked like a guy struggling to find his game in a 7-2 win over Minnesota on Tuesday, collecting three assists and putting together a handful of sublimely spectacular dashes to the net.

''We've had so many injuries and so many moving parts here, both him and (Malkin) don't get to play with the same guys all the time,'' Rutherford said. ''Hopefully we can get these guys some regular linemates.''

The process is already well underway. Forward Chris Kunitz appears all the way back from a foot injury that kept him out for 10 games. Rutherford acquired David Perron from Edmonton on Jan. 2, and the talented forward has four points in his first four games, including a slick forehand to backhand rebound from in front of the net on Tuesday night that showcased his soft hands.

Rutherford isn't sure the Penguins are done shopping. With Blake Comeau and Patric Hornqvist also nearing returns from their own medical issues and a schedule that includes games against the Rangers, Philadelphia and Chicago over the next couple weeks, there's a chance to build chemistry and make a statement at the same time.

''I'll get a better sense for it by the middle of February,'' Rutherford said. ''I want to see Hornqvist and Comeau get back in there and get that group of forwards together. I do feel we're edging in the right direction.''

Time was right for Steelers, LeBeau to part ways

By Chris Mueller Special to The Times 

http://www.timesonline.com/sports/

January 14, 2015

Keith Butler, Dick LeBeau and Mike Tomlin

Knowing when to part ways is awfully difficult in sports. We see athletes hang on too long and tarnish their legacies. We see teams hold on to long-tenured players well beyond their expiration date.

In asking for Dick LeBeau’s resignation, the Steelers avoided hanging on for too long with their longtime defensive coordinator.

Brett Keisel, Troy Polamalu and Ike Taylor are all likely done with the team. James Harrison may be as well. Those four were the last real holdovers from the beginning of LeBeau’s second stretch with the team. The time was right to clean the slate and let Keith Butler take over.

Truth be told, LeBeau’s defense had been slipping for a few years. Teams copied his 3-4 model and made player acquisition more difficult. The transition of the NFL to a pass-based league saw the Steelers playing less and less base defense. LeBeau’s consistent run of success was what started to finally allow other teams to catch up.

However, LeBeau could have done more to stem the tide. He bears some of the blame for the Steelers becoming fallible on the defensive side.

He played his veterans almost exclusively, which was understandable, given their success. However, that approach led to the team being unprepared when those players started getting long in the tooth. Rookies rarely cracked the lineup and didn’t make much impact when they did. This was often connected to the idea that LeBeau’s defense was complicated and took significant time to learn.

Again, those things would be excusable and understandable if the defense was playing at a consistently high level. Over the last two seasons, it was not. The need for youth was obvious, the lack of speed glaring. Still, the cast of characters remained largely the same. Injuries only explained that to a certain degree. It was clear that LeBeau was most comfortable with his veterans, even if their decline was obvious to outsiders.

William Gay’s pick-sixes aside, the Steelers of recent vintage haven’t forced a ton of turnovers, and they have seen their points allowed total jump from 227 in 2011, all the way to 370 last year, and 368 this season. They simply aren’t a fearsome, impactful, game-altering unit anymore. That is an indictment not only of Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert’s drafts, but also of LeBeau’s ability to scheme for and confuse opposing quarterbacks.

In the past, only elite signal callers gave the Steelers real problems. This year, they were bested by Mike Glennon and the league-worst Buccaneers -- at home, no less -- as well as Brian Hoyer and the mediocre Cleveland Browns. That suggests that LeBeau’s once-novel blitzing schemes aren’t as daunting anymore.

All of these results caused many of the faithful to question both defensive players, as well as Tomlin and Colbert. The one person that almost always dodged any pointed criticism was LeBeau. Excuses were made left and right. Many said the players weren’t good enough, the drafts had been barren, and that LeBeau had done his best with what was on hand. No Steelers game passed without at least one reference to LeBeau’s “exotic schemes,” even if his defense was getting torched.

It’s as if everyone was on autopilot with regard to LeBeau.

Sorry, but some of the blame has to fall back at the feet of the master himself. A great coordinator, working at a high level, would have found a way to mask deficiencies. He would have found ways to put players in better position to succeed. He would have perhaps developed new schemes that confused quarterbacks young and old. The stats suggest that LeBeau did not do that in recent years.

Dick LeBeau made it clear that he was resigning from his post as defensive coordinator, not retiring. It’s likely he will get another chance to coach in the NFL, even at 78. If he finds employment, good for him.

Meanwhile, the Steelers will move on with Butler, LeBeau’s protégé. Tomlin will likely have more input on the defense than ever before. Fresh voices will rule the day in the Steelers’ defensive meeting rooms.

That is as it should be. No matter how much his charges revered him, no matter how gaudy his reputation, Dick LeBeau’s time with the Steelers had reached an obvious expiration date.

Good on Tomlin and the team for not hanging on too long.

© 2015 Timesonline.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Penguins pound floundering Wild 7-2 to 6th straight loss

By Will Graves
http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/teams/pit/
January 13, 2015

Pittsburgh Penguins' Chris Kunitz (14) gets a shot behind Minnesota Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom (32) for a goal during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2015.(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Languishing on a perpetually rebuilding team for more than a year taught David Perron a valuable lesson about confidence.

Three Stars

1. 
   1)David Perron
   #39, Pittsburgh

   G:	2
   A:	1
   Pts:	3
   +/-:	1
   PPP:	0
   SOG:	4

2. 
   2)Chris Kunitz
   #14, Pittsburgh

   G:	1
   A:	1
   Pts:	2
   +/-:	1
   PPP:	1
   SOG:	4

3. 
   3)Zach Sill
   #38, Pittsburgh

   A:	1
   Pts:	1
   +/-:	1
   PPP:	0
   SOG:	1

Good teams have it. Bad ones not so much. After wasting away in Edmonton, Perron has rediscovered his soft hands - and the back of the net - in Pittsburgh.

The forward scored twice and added an assist in a 7-2 thrashing of reeling Minnesota on Tuesday night, as the Penguins put together the kind of outburst that has been rare at times this season for one of the league's most potent attacks.

''As soon as I stepped in here I could feel the (confidence) in this group,'' said Perron, acquired on Jan. 2 to give Pittsburgh some needed scoring depth. ''We started feeding off of that pretty quick and it was a good night for everyone.''

A series of injuries has forced the Penguins to rely heavily on goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to keep them in their usual spot near the top of the Eastern Conference. The players on injured reserve, however, are dwindling. The team that pushed the Wild around looked a lot like the one that steamrolled through the first month of the season.

Paul Martin, Kris Letang and Chris Kunitz each had a goal and an assist for the Penguins. Marcel Goc and Brandon Sutter also scored for Pittsburgh and Sidney Crosby picked up three assists as the Penguins posted their second-highest goal total of the year.

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''We haven't been scoring like we thought we could,'' coach Mike Johnston said. ''Certainly getting some lines back together and playing two or three games with similar combinations, you're seeing some improvement.''

Fleury made 30 saves and has now beaten every other team in the league.

Niklas Backstrom stopped 29 of the 35 shots before being pulled following Letang's goal midway through the third period. Jonas Brodin and Justin Fontaine scored for the Wild, who have lost six straight and did little to make a case for embattled coach Mike Yeo. The team held a lengthy players-only meeting afterward, but it will take more than just clearing the air to get Minnesota back on track.

''We're so easy to play against,'' forward Zach Parise said. ''We lose battles. The details of our game are terrible. We don't make it hard on the other team.''

The Wild have been one of the league's biggest disappointments at the season's halfway point, wasting any momentum carried over from last year's surprise run in the second round of the playoffs.

View gallery

Pittsburgh Penguins' David Perron (39) celebrates his goal with teammates during the first perio …

The opening 20 minutes against the Penguins was a microcosm of the last three frustrating months. Minnesota dominated at stretches early thanks to some sloppy play by Pittsburgh, which gave the puck away in its own end with alarming regularity. Yet the Wild couldn't convert on several glistening opportunities and once the Penguins found their footing, Minnesota was simply no match.

''We use the word 'unflappable' and for whatever reason it's not in our vocabulary right now,'' Yeo said. ''For whatever reason we just fall apart and we start to press and make bigger mistakes.''

Goc scored for just the second time since the Penguins acquired him from Florida last March, swatting a rebound out of the air past Backstrom 6:16 into the game. Forward Zach Sill picked up the primary assist, giving him his first NHL point in his 48th game, the second-longest pointless streak to start an NHL-career in league history.

Perron collected his second goal in Pittsburgh and seventh of the season 12:04 into the first, grabbing a meaty rebound in front of Backstrom, then switching quickly from forehand to backhand and slipping the puck by the stunned goaltender.

Backstrom stuffed Kris Letang on a breakaway early in the second and the Wild responded with Brodin's second goal of the season on a wrist shot from near the top of the right circle. It was a one-goal game for all of 93 seconds. Kunitz camped in front of Backstrom and flipped a rebound that caromed off Evgeni Malkin into the net.

It was all the cushion Fleury would need. The Penguins poured it on in the third and tied its largest margin of victory this season.

NOTES: Penguins F Steve Downie left early in the second period after taking an elbow to the face from Minnesota D Ryan Suter. ... Penguins D Olli Maatta will undergo shoulder surgery on Wednesday and miss the rest of the season. ... Pittsburgh plays at the New York Islanders on Friday. ... The Wild visit Buffalo on Thursday.