Steelers Believe J. Brown Better than Moore

Good morning,

More stuff:

--- The Steelers use their tight ends the old-fashioned way, they must block and receiver. Here is what Michael Palmer told me about his job when he played in Atlanta with another “tight end,’’ Tony Gonzalez, who retired as the second-leading receiver in NFL history behind Jerry Rice:

“I blocked a lot in Atlanta because of Tony. I basically did all the stuff Tony didn’t want to do. He went out and caught passes and I did all the other crap.”

--- Paid a visit next door yesterday to Pitt, where they have all the jerseys of former Panthers who are active in the NFL hanging in their players’ café. Among them was the Steelers jersey of LaRod Stephens-Howling. Why? Because he may not be done yet. He worked out Tuesday for the Denver Broncos.

--- A popular question on my chats and in Ask Ed (send your questions to ebouchette@post-gazette.com ) is why Justin Brown is ahead of Lance Moore in the pecking order at slot receiver. They believe he is a better receiver, is why. Remember, Moore was not an unrestricted free agent. He was a street free agent after the New Orleans Saints released him.

--- That streak that Heath Miller has of catching a pass in 93 consecutive games includes playoffs. In the regular season, his streak is 86 consecutive games. All he needs to catch Hines Ward’s team record is to catch a pass in the next 100 regular season games. Ward’s record stands at 186 and will stand for a very long time.

--- Not sure why Mike Tomlin ordered his players to stop exchanging game jerseys after games with opponents other than to speculate it might be just one more move by him to erase any thought that he is a “players coach.’’

--- Ryan Clark on the different fan reactions to losing in Washington and in Pittsburgh: "People took off work on Monday in Pittsburgh when we lost.”

--- A couple of Ask Ed questions:

--- YOU: Walter’s Football 2015 Draft . . . Won’t bore you with names but his first three picks for the Steelers (whom he has drafting 15th) are a CB, OT, OLB/DE.

ED: Congratulations, you were first in looking ahead to the draft next spring. This usually does not occur until about, oh, late November.

--- YOU: While listening to the Mojo CBS radio show last night (10/7) around 7:12pm Bart Scott was talking about the Steelers Brown matchup this weekend and Bart Scott stated that his guy- Browns coach (and former Jets D Coordinator) Mike Pettine-has something for Ben Roethlisberger this weekend, because Ben has a "tell" and at least Bart Scott's/Mike Pettine's defenses know when Pittsburgh is going to run or pass. Scott said that he wasn't going to give what Bens "tell" was away because he doesn't want to ruin it for Pettine and the Browns this weekend. Have you ever heard of this and do you know if the Steelers aware of this so called "tell" from Roethlisberger? Or the Steelrs are aware that at least the Jets and or bart Scott was aware of one? If not maybe someone from the Steelers may want to listen to the podcast of the show since Tomlin is widely known – and I believe very wrongly –as a stickler for details. Tomlin probably doesn't care about this type of info but he should.

ED: It’s a good thing Pettine figured that out because when Roethlisberger played against the New York Jets in 2012 when Pettine was their defensive coordinator, he completed 24 of 31 passes for 275 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and a season-high 125.1 passer rating in a 27-10 Steelers victory. He did not fare quite so well last season against Pettine’s Buffalo defense, but he did complete 18 of 30 for 204, one touchdown, one interception in a 23-10 Steelers victory.