The Steelers have commercial rights on the “island of Ireland” that other NFL teams don’t have, and they’re meant to spearhead the league’s efforts to expand the game into that country. Dublin is our tahn.

Love it or hate it, I’m sure most of us are in the latter, but these ugly games are Mike Tomlin football, especially in recent years, and his 106-65-2 career record in one score games is indicative of that. I’ll let yinz decide whether that stat is a good or a bad look for him.

Still, it’ll be the much-maligned Steelers run defense that I think has most of the fanbases’ attention. The Raiders were able to get after the Patriots in week one - giving up just 60 rushing yards on 3.3 yards per carry.

Also, 95 was able to stay on his feet on this play, which is noteworthy for him but more on that later. Good stuff from Yahya. I like what he’s been doing these first two weeks.

Hats off to the Seattle Seahawks, who spoiled the Steelers home opener, beating them 31-17. I’m calling this a visceral reaction, because I’m not deep diving for numbers, or looking at film, or anything like that. These are just some observations I have based on how I’m feeling right here, right now, immediately after the loss.

The Steelers signed S Jabrill Peppers, who seems poised to start in Elliot’s place in the meantime. That’s a big time addition to this defense with or without the injury to Elliot; the injury just speeds up his timeline to see the field in my opinion.

Jalen Ramsey sticks with his man despite Justin Fields’ improvising, and honestly makes light work of Josh Reynolds for a PBU. This was the beginning of the end for the Jets. 

I’m extremely optimistic after seeing how the offense was able to move the ball, but the offensive line was really manhandled in this game, specifically on the outside at the tackle spots.

This weekend, the boys are traveling to East Rutherford, New Jersey for a REGULAR SEASON matchup against the New York Jets. 239 days will have passed since the last meaningful Steelers game when this one kicks off tomorrow at 1 pm EST.

The players and the coaching staff alike all seem to be moving with a confidence about them that I haven’t seen from this team in a long time. They’re in the building seeing what’s unfolding every single day, and a lot of those guys have won Super Bowls, and know what it looks like and what it takes. Their seemingly unwavering confidence is good enough for me. Let’s go capture number 7.

As the dust of the offseason settles, and we sit just eight days removed from the Steelers’ first game of the season, I figure now’s as good a time as any to take a trip around the division and speculate how the Steelers might fare against the competition

The Steelers released their initial 53-man roster on Tuesday, and I’m going to deliver some quick thoughts on that. However, it’s important to remember that this thing is not set in stone, and you can bet top dollar that things are going to look a slightly different week one, but more on that later.

After losing Fautanu for the year last year, I thought we were staring down the barrel of little-to-no reps for our first-round pick for a second consecutive year, but it seems as though we’ve dodged a bullet.

Thankfully, he spoke specifically about being eager to see the starters in the secondary get some reps together in an effort to aid in their “cohesion” and “communication”. Assuming nothing happens to derail that, we should get our first look at JPJ, Jalen Ramsey, Darius Slay, and DeShon Elliot together in a game-like setting.

He’s physically talented enough to kinda freeze offensive linemen and move them out of his way to play the run. He can certainly improve above the shoulders, and I have no doubts he will, but that ability to impose his will is why we spent a first rounder on him. I love it.

On Thursday, the Steelers and Buccaneers got together in Pittsburgh for a joint practice ahead of their preseason week two matchup tomorrow evening. In these final days leading up to the regular season, I think these joint practices against unfamiliar faces are absolutely critical to team development, and I’m happy that the Steelers participate in them.

With training camp now in the rearview mirror, we’ve gained a pretty good understanding of what our 53-man roster will look like. Of course, there will still be some parody over the next few weeks with some of those fringe guys, but the top-end talent on this team is undeniable and it has forced me to revisit my expectations for this team.

• Idk how many of yinz were relegated to the Jaguar’s broadcast team for this game, but holy shit that was painful. 

As excited as I am to be gearing up for an actual Steelers football game, some of the more exciting (potential) storylines have already been removed from the equation due to injury, or coaches' decisions. Players that will not be suiting up include: Aaron Rodgers, T.J. Watt, Cam Heyward, Jalen Ramsey, Alex Highsmith, Nick Herbig, Isaac Seumalo, and more.

I’m not here to call Calvin Austin III a world-beater, and I am of the mindset that the Steelers would be better off adding another weapon at receiver before the regular season begins. With that being said, 19 has earned his spot on the depth chart.