Let's get to it:
MARTIN ABELSON FROM MECHANICSBURG, PA: In the 1976 AFC Championship Game, Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier were in uniform but couldn't play because of injuries. Does that mean they weren't officially ruled out for the game? Also, was there any consideration of using a tight end in the backfield like they do today? Going from a two-back offense to a one back offense was a big challenge. Was the use of an extra blocking back a bigger challenge?
ANSWER: In 1976, there was no such thing in the NFL as an inactive list for games, so all players who were on the roster were in uniform and there was no need to declare any players as out. Both Franco Harris (ribs) and Rocky Bleier (toe on the same foot that had been blown up by that grenade in Vietnam) were injured in the 40-14 AFC Divisional Round game vs. the Colts in Baltimore that was played on Dec. 19. The AFC Championship Game was played on Dec. 26, and so all of your ideas/suggestions about using a tight end in the backfield is unrealistic given the time frame between games. The whole concept of H-backs or "move tight ends" that could be employed as de facto fullbacks just wasn't done in that era, and so expecting Coach Chuck Noll and his staff to create an offensive scheme and install it within a week's time is delusional. What I can tell you is that the offense the Steelers ended up using was what Coach Joe Gibbs used in winning three 3 Super Bowls in Washington.
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TIM GAYDOSH FROM MOUNT AIRY, MD: I think it's pretty safe to say that the Steelers starting quarterback on Sunday night against the Jets has been THE conversation more than any other among the fan base. I know that the injury report has rules about what is shared and when. Is Coach Mike Tomlin obligated to announce who the starting quarterback is before the offense takes the field for our first series?
ANSWER: The NFL's rules about reporting injuries during the week leading up to each regular season game is designed to prohibit teams from hiding/concealing injuries. Those rules do not impact who among the healthy players practicing all week are in the starting lineup. Both Justin Fields and Russell Wilson were full participants in the Steelers' practices on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and so the NFL does not care which one starts in the game or when that's announced.
JD AKERS FROM ORMOND BEACH, FL: Do you feel the conditional draft pick status attached to the Justin Fields trade could ever have an impact on playing time? Asked another way, how do general managers value a No. 4 pick instead of a No. 6 pick in dollars, wins, starter vs. backup?
ANSWER: You can ask that question any way, in 1,000 different ways, and the answer is the same and it's a simple one: absolutely not. Or maybe I should express it this way: Absolutely. Not.
JACK DAVEY FROM BLACKWOOD, WALES: I saw that we waived Adetokunbo Ogundeji on Oct 14 but signed him again on Oct 16 to the practice squad. Is there some kind of administrative protocol which meant he couldn't have been signed on Oct 14?
ANSWER: When a player is waived, he is exposed to the rest of the league for 24 hours when any other team can sign him. Since no team did sign him, then the Steelers were able to add him to the practice squad.
DARNELL RUBIN FROM LOS ANGELES, CA: Do you see the Steelers playing both quarterbacks in the game?
ANSWER: I believe it is a possibility that there will be scenarios where the Steelers will find a way to utilize both quarterbacks in a game.
MATT HICKMAN FROM DUBOIS, PA: I'm a big fan of Asked and Answered. I have a question that's always bugged me. How do sideline officials figure out what yard line a high punt sails out of bounds? Does someone call down from a Skyview or do they kind of guess?
ANSWER: The referee (the on-field official wearing the white hat) is stationed slightly behind the punter, and he watches for roughing/running into the kicker, while also being the key guy in spotting any punts that go out of bounds on the fly. From his angle, he can see where the ball crosses the sideline, and so you will see an official on that sideline put his arm into the air and start moving up the sideline toward the line of scrimmage. When he gets to the spot where the referee deems the punt crossed the sideline, the referee will make a slashing movement with his arm, and the sideline official then knows to spot the ball there.
LARRY LASH FROM TARENTUM, PA: Can you remind me when Cam Sutton is scheduled to return from his suspension? Also will he be penciled in as the starting nickel cornerback?
ANSWER: Cam Sutton's suspension was for the first 8 games of the season, and so he is eligible to come off suspension the day after the team's eighth game, which will is the Monday night game against the New York Giants on Oct. 28. Because Joey Porter Jr. and Donte Jackson are entrenched as the starting outside cornerbacks, and DeShon Elliott and Minkah Fitzpatrick are the starting safeties, the obvious opening for Sutton is as the nickel cornerback.
KEITH MILLER FROM CANTON, NC: It's a miracle. Davante Adams is cured. Shouldn't the NFL be penalizing a player who obviously didn't have an injury when negotiating a contract and then suddenly pulls a Lazarus for a new team?
ANSWER: As I indicated in an earlier submission in this Asked and Answered, the NFL is mostly concerned with a team hiding a player's injury. If a player wants to fake an injury so as to not play for his team, that would be up to his team to deal with any discipline there.
SCOTT GILLIAM FROM OAK HARBOR, OH: The 1972 season ended with the Immaculate Reception and then a loss to the undefeated Dolphins in the AFC Championship Game. The 1974 season ended with the first Super Bowl win. What happened in the 1973 season? I never hear anything about it.
ANSWER: The best way I can summarize the 1973 season is by repeating the title of a book about that season written by Roy Blount Jr., an author who was embedded with the team from the start of training camp. That book was titled, "About Three Bricks Shy of a Load." And that describes what the 1973 Steelers were: a good team but one that was still trying to learn how to win and deal with success, and therefore not good enough. That team was 8-1 after 9 games, and then lost three straight – vs. Denver, at Cleveland, and at Miami – before winning their final two to finish 10-4 and in second place in the AFC Central Division behind Cincinnati. That 1973 Steelers team then was defeated soundly in Oakland, 33-14, in the AFC Divisional Round.
KEN WAMSLEY FROM BIDWELL, OH: Why is Mike Tomlin playing all the head games with the quarterbacks? My vote would go to Justin Fields with the offensive line being banged up. Opinion?
ANSWER: My opinion doesn't matter, and neither does yours. And the players and coaches all knew the plan for the quarterbacks because Coach Mike Tomlin told them on the Wednesday before the game against the Jets. All the "heads" that mattered were aware of the plan all along. The only people who didn't know were the "heads" who didn't matter.
