Let's get to it:
TODD FURST FROM ALLENTOWN, PA: For Thursday night's Browns game, was Mike Williams active? I did not see him listed on the Steelers injury report and also didn't see him in the final box score.
ANSWER: The playing time for the Steelers wide receivers in the game against the Browns in Cleveland was as follows: George Pickens played 62 offensive snaps, which was 90 percent of the Steelers' total of 69 for the game; Calvin Austin III was next with 40 snaps, which was 58 percent of the total; Mike Williams played 19, which was 28 percent of the total; Van Jefferson played 18, which was 26 percent of the total; and Ben Skowronek played 2 snaps, which was 3 p3ercent of the total. For the second straight game, Williams was not targeted and had no catches. Since being acquired at the trading deadline, Williams has been targeted just one time, and that came against Washington when he caught a 32-yard pass for the decisive touchdown. But he has appeared in every game, and his snap total has been in the middle of the pack among the wide receivers in uniform.
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TOM HENSON FROM MARTINSVILLE, IN: Has it always been a rule that illegal touching supersedes intentional grounding? By that logic, pass interference 20 yards down the field could just become defensive holding and a 5-yard penalty as long as the defensive back was "holding" the receiver. And if that really is the rule, why don't we see quarterbacks avoiding sacks by throwing at offensive lineman more often? Being able to repeat the down is huge in those scenarios.
ANSWER: I'm not going to pretend to know the details of the applicable rules governing the situation that certainly looked to be a clear case of intentional grounding but instead was ruled to be illegal touching. All I can do is present this from former NFL referee and CBS NFL rules analyst Gene Steratore. His explanation was made during his weekly appearance on the DVE Morning Show, and it appears here via Tim Benz of TribLive: "Steratore said that because Jameis Winston was hit during his throwing motion, that ostensibly took the possibility for intentionally grounding out of the equation — as did the fact that Cleveland offensive lineman Michael Dunn reported as an eligible receiver and was 'in the vicinity' of the pass. Steratore said, 'By rule, even if the contact isn't extremely significant, if the quarterback begins his throwing motions to a receiver and then is hit by a defensive player as that motion begins, where the football goes from that point on is irrelevant — whether it gets back to the line of scrimmage, whether there is a receiver in the area or whatever the case may be. In that regard, I believe that is what (referee) Brad Allen was thinking in that space.'"
HOWARD RADZIMINSKY FROM SCOTTSDALE, AZ: In my opinion, the most significant play in Thursday night's loss to the Browns was Corliss Waitman's 15-yard punt to our 45-yard line in the fourth quarter. Cleveland only needed a field goal to win at that point, and the field position was a critical turning point in their last possession. Am I wrong?
ANSWER: Certainly a case can be made that a 15-yard punt in that situation was a critical mistake, but after watching the whole game I find myself reluctant to point a finger at a single play or one individual and identify it or him as the reason for the loss. It is an oft-repeated cliché by both players and coaches that "we win as a team and lose as a team." What I came away with after Thursday night in Cleveland was that was a team loss.
PHILLIP COLGROVE FROM CHELMSFORD, UNITED KINGDOM: I would guess that wearing white jerseys during a snow game is not ideal. Can a team change its jerseys at halftime?
ANSWER: No. The applicable rule in the NFL is that shortly after the regular season schedule is announced in May, each team is required to pick the color jersey it will wear at its home games. Then the visiting team is left with the other color. Once the Browns registered their pick of brown jerseys for the game in Cleveland against the Steelers, the Steelers were left to wear white.
MARSHALL HANCOCK FROM RUSTON, LA: I know this question would get me banned from any bar in Pittsburgh, but has T.J. Watt lost a step this year? Even in games where he has a sack or two it seems those are the only pressures he gets. He is still great, causing fumbles and making tackles but he doesn't quite seem to be the same player. Could it be age?
ANSWER: You write, "Even in games where he has a sack or two it seems those are the only pressures he gets." If any defensive player turns in a multi-sack game, expecting him to record multiple pressures in addition to those sacks is just unreasonable. Granted, Watt has set an extremely high bar for his own performances, and his total of 3 sacks over the previous 6 games – 1 against the Ravens on Nov. 17 and 2 against the New York Giants on Oct. 28 – is more unacceptable to him than anyone else. But in some ways, Watt is in a similar situation to Minkah Fitzpatrick's in that opponents make it a part of their plan to minimize them. For Watt, that comes in the form of straight double-teams, and those often are supplemented by chipping from a tight end or a running back on the way into the pass pattern.
What I would like to see is Watt being moved around within the alignment of the defense, but I imagine there hasn't been a lot of that because of the injuries over the course of this season to Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig. Unable to have a consistent presence opposite Watt, the Steelers have had to line him up in the same spot on the same side of the defense for most of his 618 snaps this season. Allowing Watt to move around within the front 7 and wreck games from various locations has the same requirements as allowing Joey Porter Jr. to move around in the secondary, which requires Donte Jackson to be able to play both sides in the defensive backfield. The player on the other side must be able to move around too, and because the coaches can't strategize and rep that with Watt and the outside linebacker on the other wide, it has turned Watt into a sitting duck.
GREG PARSONS FROM MOUNT LAUREL, NJ: It seems like the Steelers go for it on fourth down a lot with little success. How many times have the Steelers gone for it on fourth down this year, and how many times have they made it? On the failed attempts, how many were running plays for loss of yards?
ANSWER: On the season, the Steelers are 7-of-14 on fourth downs (50 percent), and 4 of their 7 failures have come in the last three games. And of the 7 failures to convert on fourth down, there were only two running plays that lost yardage, and both of those happened vs. Cleveland. Rather than being a fourth-down conversion issue, the numbers indicate it's more about an issue of playing poorly in Cleveland.
THAD SPREG FROM MAKAKILO, HI: Who was the Steelers head coach before Chuck Noll?
ANSWER: Bill Austin was the Steelers coach for three seasons – 1966-68, during which he compiled an 11-28-43 record. Austin was fired following the 1968 season, and Chuck Noll was hired in January 1969;
DAVID MEYERS FROM FREDERICK, MD: Why doesn't the NFL let fans know how bad officiating is and when it's punished/fined? Keep seeing a lot written about George Pickens getting in a fight at the end of the game. What about the defender who's holding him and pushing him out of bounds and into the wall behind the goal post, all while the ball is in the air? That's not the only reason Steelers lost, but it sure adds to the sum.
ANSWER: When it comes to watching their favorite team, many fans want a public flogging of whomever and whatever contributed to any loss. The NFL is never going to do that when it comes to its officiating. Not going to happen. Ever.
