Lots of Steelers news on this first day of November. First, the bad news…
-B- Steelers OLB LaMarr Woodley is expected to miss Sunday’s game against Baltimore with a hamstring injury, sources tell the Post-Gazette. Even worse: he is likely to miss the following game against the Bengals. The Steelers will be without both of their elite pass rushers in Woodley and Harrison for the biggest game of the season. Lawrence Timmons and rookie Chris Carter will likely start on the outside with Stevenson Sylvester and Larry Foote on the inside. Ugh.
Update:
Woodley just tweeted this video, saying not to count him out yet against Baltimore. I’d still be shocked if he played.
-B- Speaking of Foote, Ron Cook has an excellent column today on Foote’s leadership role on the team. Foote was the man barking out the defensive signals and playing one of the toughest mental positions in the NFL on Sunday. Lots of people rolled their eyes when the Steelers signed Foote last offseason, but – outside of Farrior – nobody in the league knows the Steelers complex defense better than him. He’s smart enough to line up at all 4 linebacker positions.
I especially loved this tidbit in Cook’s column:
Foote never doubted himself. At least he didn’t until Farrior called him at home Friday night.
“I was just relaxing on the couch when he called out of the blue,” Foote said. “He told me I had better be ready for the Patriots. ‘You know they’re coming after you because they always come after me.’ I was fine all week, but that got me nervous. He kept me in on a Friday night and kept me up all night watching film. I didn’t want to let this team down.”
-B- Here’s the view from Pats land on Sunday’s game from our buddies at Foxboro Blog.
-B- WPIAL playoff pairings are out.
-B- Bill Hillgrove’s call of one of the louder moments in recent Heinz Field history.
