Let's get to it:
PHIL HAYWOOD FROM BIRMINGHAM, UK: Picking a bright spot from the Browns game a couple of weeks ago. Was the Jaylen Warren 74-yard touchdown run the same play as Willie Parker's 75-yard touchdown run in Super Bowl XL vs. Seattle?
ANSWER: For the answer to this, I went to Max Starks, who was the Steelers starting right tackle in Super Bowl XL and currently is a sideline reporter for the broadcast of games on the Steelers Radio Network. As Starks explained it, the Willie Parker touchdown in Super Bowl XL was a counter-play, where left guard Alan Faneca pulled around to the right and made a key block to kick out a Seahawks defender and create the crease through which Parker exploded on the way to his 75-yard sprint into the record books. Jaylen Warren's run was a play designed to get Warren into "the alley between the numbers and the sideline," and it contained no counter look/action in the blocking by the offensive line. And let me close with this little factoid: Willie Parker and Jaylen Warren are distant cousins.
- Download and listen to the Ask & Answered Podcast here: Apple Podcast | Spotify
ROBERT YEAGER FROM CANYON COUNTRY, CA: Did Mike Sullivan get the "game ball" from Kenny Pickett after the Steelers beat Cincinnati? I ask because I noticed Pickett keeping the ball post "victory formation." Also, in general, who decides who gets game balls?
ANSWER: Coach Mike Tomlin typically is the decision-maker when it comes to the awarding of "game balls," but he has said his view of the practice is to be thoughtful about when to hand them out so as to make the occasion more special when it happens. I don't know if there was a "game ball" awarded following the win over Cincinnati, and I would find it unlikely for Mike Sullivan to get one and not Eddie Faulkner as well. Maybe what happened is that Pickett simply kept the football after the game ended. Maybe he chose to give it to someone, maybe he handed it to a member of the equipment staff once he got into the locker room, or maybe he just hung onto it himself.
DENNIS MOORE FROM ALBRIGHTSVILLE, PA: On the Diontae Johnson non-touchdown play in the Bengals game, why not call a timeout if Coach Mike Tomlin didn't see it and there was a question about it?
ANSWER: Because the pass was ruled incomplete on the field, it was not going to be subjected to the automatic review that accompanies every scoring play, and because this isn't college football, calling a timeout doesn't necessarily trigger a review of the play. Had Coach Mike Tomlin called a timeout, the CBS broadcast of the game would've gone to commercial, which means there would have been nothing to watch on the TVs within the stadium via the network feed, and the Bengals certainly wouldn't be replaying the play via the in-stadium feed because that could've helped the Steelers make a decision on whether to challenge. So, once CBS came out of commercial, Tomlin would've been right back where he was before, which was without a clear view of the play and without the guys in the coaches' box having had any additional views than they had previously because of the commercial break. Then if Tomlin wanted to challenge, and lost the challenge, that would've cost the Steelers a second timeout.
AMOS HOUSTON FROM MINNEAPOLIS, MN: According to that rule, wasn't the Jesse James catch a catch that should've' been a touchdown?
ANSWER: No. What happened was the enforcement of the rule changed between the Steelers-Patriots game on Dec. 17, 2017, and that season's Super Bowl – Super Bowl LII – which was played on Feb. 4, 2018. Poetically, that was the Super Bowl when the Eagles benefitted from the "new" rule to upset New England, 41-33.
STRAY JUNIOR FROM GREENVILLE, SC: In the Nov. 28 Asked and Answered, you listed the following quarterbacks as part of the carousel between Terry Bradshaw and Ben Roethlisberger: Cliff Stoudt, Mark Malone, David Woodley, Bubby Brister, Todd Blackledge, Neil O'Donnell, Mike Tomczak, Kordell Stewart, Kent Graham, and Tommy Maddox. In your opinion, who was the best of that bunch? Not the most accomplished, but the best quarterback?
ANSWER: I believe Kordell Stewart had a Lamar Jackson-like skillset, but the NFL simply wasn't ready to embrace the concept of a dual-threat quarterback in the mid-1990s because the prevailing opinion at that time was the way you win in the Sunday league was with a quarterback operating from the pocket. With that said, I always liked Bubby Brister as a player. He had a good arm, was tough and a team guy, and all that mattered to him was winning games. Had Bill Cowher chosen Brister over Neil O'Donnell in 1992 as the starter, I believe the Steelers would have won Super Bowl XXX because Brister would have stood in the pocket and taken the hit instead of throwing off his back foot as O'Donnell did on that fourth quarter interception to Larry Brown that proved to be the difference in the game.
TIBOR OUYANG FROM NORTH LAS VEGAS, NV: Please withdraw my previous submissions regarding Josh Dobbs vs. Kenny Pickett. My perspective was clouded by a couple of good games Dobbs had. I'm watching him against the Bears on Monday Night Football, and he looks horrible. He is definitely not the answer for the Steelers, and I see why he was traded. Four interceptions. I support Pickett 100 percent and feel bad for criticizing a guy who has helped the Steelers win 7 games so far this year.
ANSWER: Sorry, but as we used to say on the playground, "No backsies." If it's any consolation, you were just one in a number of "expert fans" who were totally captivated by Josh Dobbs' recent hot streak and chose to ignore the fact he had played for seven teams over the last 7 seasons. And in an NFL where teams always are on the lookout for quarterbacks, there had to be something about his game that was causing teams to give him a look and then move on and keep searching. Dobbs isn't starting-caliber, but he does have enough qualities to make the case that he belongs in the league. But there also is an obvious difference between him and a player who was the 20th overall pick in a draft. I also want to credit you personally for having the guts to admit your mistake, because all of the others who had been filling the Asked and Answered submission queue with the same opinion while chastising me for not sharing it have adopted radio silence. Or as the kids say on social media, "crickets."
ALAN WARNER FROM EAST SPRINGFIELD, PA: I don't believe this has ever happened, but it is possible. If a field goal attempt was to bounce in the end zone and subsequently go through the uprights would it be good?
ANSWER: Once an attempted field goal hits the ground beyond the line of scrimmage it cannot end up being a successful field goal.
MICHAEL POLECHKO FROM MOUNT PLEASANT, PA: Regarding the Diontae Johnson "touchdown" that was nullified, aren't all touchdowns reviewed automatically by the replay official and thus rendering a challenge irrelevant?
ANSWER: That's what is the crux of the matter, because the play was ruled an incomplete pass, not a touchdown, and because of that the automatic review mechanism that accompanies every scoring play was not triggered.
MILTON MANION SR. FROM LOUISVILLE, KY: When a player gets called up from the practice squad does his pay stay the same?
ANSWER: If a practice squad player is called up to the 53-man roster for a game – even if he is inactive for the game – he receives a game check based on his years of service in the NFL.
DALE GELLER FROM CAPE CORAL, FL: Since there is an outside chance of a three-way tie for the AFC North, what would the tiebreakers be? Then (if applicable) would there be a different tiebreaker to determine the Wild Card seeding, or would it be the same one that determined the division winner?
ANSWER: Below is a listing of the applicable tiebreakers, with the first set being the ones applied to breaking a tie for the division championship and the second set being how the NFL would break a tie for a Wild Card berth in the playoffs. In looking them over, you will see there are some differences.
DIVISION TIEBREAKERS
Three or More Clubs (Note: If two clubs remain tied after a third club or other clubs are eliminated during any step, the tiebreaker reverts to step 1 of the two-club format):
• Head-to-head (best won-lost-tied percentage in games among the clubs)
• Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the division
• Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games
• Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference
• Strength of victory
• Strength of schedule
• Best combined ranking among conference teams in points scored and points allowed
• Best combined ranking among all teams in points scored and points allowed
• Best net points in common games
• Best net points in all games
• Best net touchdowns in all games
• Coin toss
WILD CARD TIEBREAKEERS
Two Clubs
• Head-to-head, if applicable
• Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference
• Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games, minimum of four
• Strength of victory
• Strength of schedule
• Best combined ranking among conference teams in points scored and points allowed
• Best combined ranking among all teams in points scored and points allowed
• Best net points in conference games
• Best net points in all games
• Best net touchdowns in all games
• Coin toss
ROSS FISCHETTTI FROM CESÁRIO LANGE, BRAZIL: I appreciated the Thanksgiving Day edition of Asked and Answered about Ben Roethlisberger's qualifications for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. With that in mind, let's say you have the ball on your 1-yard line in the last 2 minutes of the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl, and you have the best players in Steelers' history at each of their respective positions. Between Terry Bradshaw or Ben Roethlisberger, who would you rather have at quarterback to lead that drive?
ANSWER: I would pick Ben Roethlisberger because he, more than Terry Bradshaw, was more of an aficionado when it came to engineering late drives for comeback victories.
TIM DOWNEY FROM DERRY, PA: Since the Steelers lost two inside linebackers for the season, do you think it would be beneficial to move Alex Highsmith inside and use Nick Herbig more on the outside? Or perhaps just use Herbig inside, since he seems to do well when given opportunities.
ANSWER: Either of your suggestions would be a case of messing with two positions in order to try to fix one, and the reason Nick Herbig "seems to do well when given opportunities" is because he has been prepared for those opportunities. Don't mess with success.
ARTUR HOFER FROM MAIDEN, NC: I notice each week that Montravius Adams and Minkah Fitzpatrick are out, is there a reason other than the coaches hoping they will be ready as to why they haven't been put on injured reserve? I also just cannot understand why we have four running backs along with four tight ends on the 53-man roster. Seems like some wasted roster spots when we are running thin elsewhere.
ANSWER: The bottom of the depth chart at both running back and tight end are manned by guys who are core contributors on special teams, and with the rule allowing the Steelers to bring guys up from the practice squad for the game and then return them to the practice squad after the game I cannot imagine there's anyone who has to be available on game day who isn't. And the decision to keep Montravius Adams and Minkah Fitzpatrick off injured reserve is that in case they're able to play before missing four games, then they would be available. It's very rare when there's a hard-and-fast prognosis for a hamstring or an ankle injury that's definitive and easy to predict.
