Welcome to Brian Batko’s Steelers mailbag. You’re more than welcome to email him at bbatko@post-gazette.com, tweet him @BrianBatko or slide into his DMs to inquire about the Steelers, NFL or anything out of bounds.
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Kevin M.: The players who rested this last weekend (Ben, Watt, etc), did they watch the same broadcast as the rest of us, or is there a set up where they can watch more of the game and less of the sideline/booth?
Brian: Good question, Kevin. Players occasionally miss road games altogether — Ben Roethlisberger didn’t always travel last season, for instance — but the circumstances of 2020 have undoubtedly led to more of this. After all, any player — or coach — on the reserve/COVID-19 list has to stay away from the team, and thus the games.
But as we know, last week, the Steelers kept Roethlisberger, Maurkice Pouncey, Cam Heyward and T.J. Watt home out of an abundance of caution. They didn’t even risk having those guys on the team bus or the sideline for a regular-season finale they’d be rested for. And if you imagined Heyward being laser-focused on the Browns given the possibility of playing them again a week later, well, it wasn’t quite that easy for a guy who’s a defensive captain and a dad at home.
“It was pretty basic for me. I was in the living room with my kids, my wife, and they were hanging onto me,” Heyward said Wednesday. “I’m trying to pay attention, jotting down notes as the game was going down, texting back and forth with T.J.”
So, yeah, the Steelers get the same game presentation as we do. The NFL has a rule prohibiting any sort of communication from the outside world to the sideline, which is why Browns coach Keivn Stefanski can’t be involved in any way Sunday night once the game begins. No texting in plays or calling Baker Mayfield to talk things over. If that were allowed, you could just have a live line open with Tony Romo predicting your opponent’s play calls, right?
But in all seriousness — and it’s a very serious week for Stefanski, as he’ll watch his first postseason game from home with COVID-19 — the first-year Browns coach will be helpless once the ball’s kicked off.
“This is the first time I’m doing it. I’m assuming I’m watching it on TV,” Stefanski said with a slight chuckle Wednesday.
Hopefully for him, he can do it with a bit more peace than Roethlisberger. Eventually, players and coaches can watch the All-22 film of each game — an aerial view where you can literally see all 22 players on the field. And actually, anyone can do that, as long as you subscribe to NFL Game Pass through the league website. They post the “coaches’ film” of each game a day or two later.
But in real time, if they’re sidelined by the virus or a serious injury or for better reasons, like rest, Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks and All-Pro defensive linemen are just like us.
“I sat at home and watched it with my family,” Roethlisberger said. “I felt like my son asked me a question every single play … He is very involved. ‘Why did they call that? Why did they throw it there?’ It’s a lot of, ‘I don’t know, buddy, I’m sorry.’”
@swagtowelhead: Are fans going to be allowed for Sunday night’s playoff game at Heinz Field? If so, how many?
Brian: There’s yet to be an official word from the organization on that, at least not that I’ve seen. And I understand some fans who have tickets are getting anxious to find out for sure if they will be there.
The only update I have is that on a conference call Wednesday afternoon, NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” executive producer Fred Gaudelli said he expects Heinz Field to have 2,500 fans at least, and that the Steelers are “hopeful” for 6,500. He should know, considering it will be up to him to produce the game broadcast and find those crowd shots we all love so much.
Ideally, we will get an update from the team soon. The game is three days away, after all. But we’re in a pandemic, lots of moving parts, things of that nature.
Tom in Dallas: When you look at the six options for the games this weekend (Sat/Sun, early/mid/late), what day/time do you think the Steelers would have liked? Are they happy with Sun evening?
Brian: As far as I know, yes, and I don’t see why they wouldn’t be. Perhaps an earlier game Sunday would’ve been preferable, but to me, players and coaches are creatures of habit. A Saturday game would’ve been a slightly shorter turnaround than normal, and while the Steelers were in better shape than most teams to do that given their mail-in of Week 17, it’s still not the perfect scenario.
Plus, we know the Steelers like playing in prime time. Mike Tomlin says it all the time. He likes getting his guys ready to go for a five-star matchup, and when they put you in the “Sunday Night Football” slot in the postseason, that means you’re getting a lot of eyes on you.
After all the scheduling chaos the Steelers had to deal with in the regular season, through no fault of their own, it’s only right that they get this day and time for their first playoff game. Makes you think they’ll draw another Sunday game next week, too, if they win. But we’ll cross that bridge if we get to it.
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First Published: January 7, 2021, 2:59 p.m.
