Steelers Morning Huddle 2/11/2014
By Kim Myers
Oct 13, 2013; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (7) calls a play in the huddle during the first half of their game against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports
Steelers season goes all year long so whether we’re looking ahead to the start of free agency, predicting the possible draft choices, or looking around for mentions of your Black & Gold we’ve got you covered. Here’s what’s being said about your Pittsburgh Steelers around the block.
Cortez Island
Mike Prisuta of the Steelers website caught up with Steelers CB Cortez Allen about where he sees himself in the future as part of the Steelers secondary. Allen saw how Ike Taylor’s role was slightly altered in 2013 after he has mainly been the guy assigned to cover the opposing teams’ top receiver. Allen hopes to fill that role someday.
“I’m still trying to get better, trying to be as consistent as possible, trying to correct little things. There’s always room for improvement, but I think I’m making good strides in the right direction. I feel like I’ll never be satisfied as far as where I want to be. As long as I can keep tackling, keep playing close, keep running, I’ll be all right.” – Cortez Allen
Steelers strong 2014 schedule
The Steelers got a pretty favorable schedule for 2014, according to ESPN’s Scott Brown. The fact that they have the 25th ranked easiest schedule should help them build upon their late-2013 success but they must be mindful that both the Browns and Ravens have statistically easier schedules than they do for 2014. The biggest boost for the Steelers in 2014 would be the fact that there are no west coast trips at all on the schedule. The Steelers do not play west of the Mississippi River in 2014. That means no west coast travel plans to critique and/or complain about and hopefully by the time the Steelers do need to cross several time zones again, they’ll have rethought their travel routine that has been in place since the Cowher days.
Steelers to cut ties with Troy
I came across this blog post by way of Fox Sport’s Yardbarker, naturally because of the headline. The post amused me because it’s clearly meant to grab your attention with the headline, but only states facts already widely known and teams it up with speculation and ideas to round it out. Obviously, the Steelers are going to be concerned with the fact that Troy Polamalu will count so much against the salary cap this season. Both sides have indicated no intentions on cutting ties, however. While I acknowledge the face that the Steelers are entering an offseason where they will be forced to make some major roster changes because of their salary cap situation and number of free agents, I doubt this will go down anything like last year with James Harrison. I just see this playing out a bit differently. The author of this post also describes the details involved in the Steelers hypothetically putting Troy on the “trading block”. This kind of stuff always amuses me. The biggest reason why NFL trade talk amuses me is that it’s because it almost always is just talk. Know why the Trent Richardson deal from Cleveland to Indy was so monumentous feeling? It’s because it hardly ever happens that a big named player gets traded these days in the NFL. It’s just now how business is done around this league. I realize that there are all kinds of trades in your fantasy leagues and whatnot but that’s just not how it works in reality. I’m not going to say never, but the idea that the Steelers will trade Troy Polamalu is about as likely as Roger Goodell getting a Steelers logo tattooed on his rear end.
What are your thoughts, Steeler Nation? Do you think Cortez Allen has what it takes to be a shut-down corner? Do you like the Steelers 2014 chances based on their strength of schedule? What do you think the odds are the Steelers would actually trade Troy Polamalu?
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