Let's get to it:
TOM McCORMICK FROM FINDLAY, OH: Our historical averages – not winning in Philadelphia and losing on the road on Thursday night – proved out for a couple of our recent games. So, how have we done on Dec. 25 in the past?
ANSWER: According to the Steelers Media Guide, there have been two Christmas Day games in franchise history: In 2016, the Steelers defeated the Ravens, 31-27; and in 2017, the Steelers beat the Texans in Houston, 34-6.
• In the win over the Ravens, which clinched the AFC North for the Steelers and eliminated Baltimore from the playoffs, Ben Roethlisberger completed 24-of-33 (72.7 percent) for 279 yards, with 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions; Le'Veon Bell rushed for 122 yards on 20 carries (6.1 average) and 1 touchdown; and Antonio Brown caught 10 passes for 96 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown with 9 seconds left in which he powered through an attempted tackle by Eric Weddle and extended the ball across the plane of the goal line. On defense, ILB Lawrence Timmons had 10 tackles and a sack, and ILB Ryan Shazier had 10 tackles and iced the outcome with a final play interception.
• In the win in Houston, Roethlisberger completed 20-of-29 (69 percent) for 226 yards, with 2 touchdowns and no interceptions, while the Steelers offense scored 4 touchdowns and 2 field goals over its first 8 possessions of the game. On defense, CB Mike Hilton had 6 tackles, 3 sacks, and 1 forced fumble; DT Cam Heyward had 4 tackles, 2 sacks, and 1 forced fumble; and DE Stephon Tuitt had 2 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 forced fumble.
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TOM HENSON FROM MARTINSVILLE, IN: My wife and I are headed to town on Christmas Day for the game against Kansas City. Is the Hall of Honor Museum open on game day? We did the tour for the first time last year and loved it, but with this year's class I thought it might be worth a follow-up visit.
ANSWER: The Hall of Honor Museum is not open on Christmas Day.
DENNIS THOMPSON FROM NITRO, WV: How was taunting not called on Marlon Humphrey's pick-6?
ANSWER: I thought the same thing as I was watching the play unfold in real time. It also would've been interesting if the call would have taken the touchdown off the scoreboard, because it appeared to me that the act of taunting began before Humphrey crossed the goal line.
JEFF MAYER FROM FORT MYERS, FL: Not to imply that this would have had any impact on the outcome of the game, but how in the world was there not a taunting penalty on Marlon Humphrey on the Wilson pick-6?
ANSWER: Maybe because it wasn't George Pickens.
WAYNE EPPEHIMER FROM JAMESTOWN, NY: Now that the Steelers lost to the Ravens, what has to happen for them to win the division title?
ANSWER: The Steelers will win the AFC North Division if they win their final two regular season games – vs. Kansas City on Christmas Day and vs. Cincinnati on a day and at a time still to be determined by the NFL.
PETER VALETA FROM LAKE BARRINGTON, IL: Is it fair to suggest Russell Wilson should recognize his limitations? He's not there to win the game. Play for no mistakes, and let the team win. His fumble and interception against the Ravens were critical. Love what he's brought, but there's another layer.
ANSWER: I actually believe it's the job of every NFL starting quarterback to win the game, but maybe you're referring to a player getting into trouble trying to do too much. On the scramble, my opinion is it would've been fine if he had just secured the ball a little bit better as he was going for the goal line. Time was not of the essence at that point, and so it's OK for me to go for the goal line as long as the ball is secured. On the pick-6, that happens. No argument that it was not a well-placed throw, but there was nothing reckless about trying to make that play.
MILTON MANION SR. FROM LOUISVILLE, KY: In Saturday's game against the Ravens, Pittsburgh had the ball, but right when they were about to snap the ball, the officials stopped the play because a Ravens player went to the ground with a contact lens problem. Why didn't they get charged with a timeout?
ANSWER: When a player has an issue with an eye, whether it's a contact lens or a foreign substance in the eye, that's considered an injury situation, and the on-field officials will stop play to get medical attention to the player while also allowing the team to substitute a healthy replacement.
BILL BLAINE FROM WOODLANDS, TX: In the first quarter against Baltimore a punt appeared to break the plane of the goal line. Without discussion, the ball was placed at the 2-yard line. Doesn't the plane of the goal line come into play on kicks?
ANSWER: On punts when it's an issue of whether the ball is downed in the field of play or is a touchback, the football is treated the same way the ball is considered to be either in bounds or out of bounds in basketball. If a player has both feet in bounds and jumps into the air, he can "save" the ball by tipping it back into the field of play before he lands. "Breaking the plane" only matters in scoring touchdowns.
MICHAEL WOLOZYN FROM OIL CITY, PA: Something unrelated to the Steelers but thought that you might help me understand. I was watching the Browns-Bengals game and saw something with which I didn't agree or understand. Early in the third quarter, Cleveland threw an interception that was caught in the end zone. The intercepting Bengals player, after catching the pass, made several obvious moves while in the end zone so as to appear to be attempting to return the ball, though not touched until he stopped moving when he recognized that he would be tackled. Admittedly he never left the end zone itself. The call by the officials was a touchback. Why wasn't that called a safety since he obviously made moves to attempt a return?
ANSWER: In the situation you describe, that only would have been ruled a safety if the interceptor had run the ball across the goal line into the field of play and then had run back into the end zone of his own accord and then been tackled in the end zone. Then it's a safety. Otherwise, it's a touchback.
STEVE PIKE FROM OCEANSIDE, CA: Tony Dungy and Monte Kiffin are credited with the Tampa-2 defense. Is this more or less what the Steelers ran in the 1970s? Dungy played safety for the Steelers at that time.
ANSWER: Actually the defense that came to be known as the Tampa-2 and was popularized when Tony Dungy was the coach in Tampa Bay and Monte Kiffin was his defensive coordinator was "invented" in Pittsburgh in the early 1970s when Chuck Noll was the coach and Bud Carson was his chief defensive assistant.
WILLIAM TOKARCZYK FROM PITTSBURGH, PA: In today's NFL, the speed of the game has increased dramatically. For that matter, might the NFL need one more on-field official? It seems to me that assigning one man to watch the entire line of scrimmage is just not possible for that man to see everything that transpires.
ANSWER: My opinion is that what the NFL needs are better officials on the field, not more officials on the field.
JOE LaMOLINARE FROM DALLAS, GA: When there is a pass interference call on the defense, does the quarterback get credited with a completion and the yardage?
ANSWER: No individual statistics are awarded in the situation you describe.
DON GARY FROM MUSKEGON, MI: Now that Diontae Johnson is available, what are the chances the Steelers will pick him up to help this season?
ANSWER: I would handicap this as you having a better chance of being "picked up to help this season."
