U mad, bro: Despite Steelers win, fans still taking shots at Diontae Johnson, Matt Canada, Najee Harris

The Pittsburgh Steelers won a game. Kenny Pickett and the offense actually looked capable. The defense turned in a few clutch plays. And the other team’s coaches were the ones who mangled the clock at the end of the game.

I bet you think that means my “U mad, bro?” material was going to be a little light this week, huh?

Guess again.

Rick emailed me about the skunk that was left to run free in Cleveland’s stadium.

“Can the STEELERS Sign the Skunk? The SKUNK Had More Yards Than N.HARRIS — Whose Running STILL STINKS!!”

Ah, “stinks.” Skunk. I see what you did there. Clever. Indeed.

Hey, Najee Harris had two 90-plus yard games in a row before getting hurt Monday night. You may wanna back off him this week.

Now, if you wanted to make some sort of joke about Matt Canada stinking by breaking the skunk’s momentum because he felt the need to call a shovel pass to Zach Gentry or a reverse to Gunner Olszewski, you may have been onto something.

Ted wants to take me to task for my word choice in a “recent” column.

“‘The Line of Gain?’ I thought Tim Benz was Mr. Real, straight shooter, no nonsense. But you used this in an article a couple weeks ago. This phrase makes no sense and sounds contrived. Who came up with this and decided it should go into the form book?”

This email intrigued me because — for the life of me — I don’t remember ever writing the phrase “line of gain.”

As in, I assume, the “line of gain” for a first down.

Sure enough, though, Ted was (almost) right.

I did use the phrase “line of gain” a “few weeks ago.” Like, about 62 or 63 weeks ago. Like, back in September 2021. After the Steelers played the Raiders.

And I didn’t use that phrase. Mike Tomlin did. I quoted him from a press conference. I even went back and found the Steelers official transcript to make sure I had it right. Indeed, that was how the phrase was used.

So take it up with the coach, Ted.

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Pete tweeted me during the Colts game right after Steelers receiver Diontae Johnson ran backward … again.

He looked like freakin Jim Marshall

— Pete_D (@pd_2626) November 29, 2022

Let’s be fair to both parties involved, Pete. If Johnson truly ended up running backward into the wrong end zone like Marshall did, he would’ve done so a lot faster than Marshall.

I also bet he would’ve had a better touchdown … uh, safety … celebration.

And if the Steelers had Marshall, maybe their defense would’ve been better in the second half against the Bengals.

During the Colts game, I mentioned that it felt like the Steelers should’ve been up more than 13 points when they led 16-3 at halftime. This guy apparently feels like I was asking for too much.

They're up two TDs, more than they have been since opening day.

"Should be"? pic.twitter.com/jcRZNXIsyF

— Buckingham Fountainhead (@dmc200802) November 29, 2022

C’mon on, man. They got an interception at Indianapolis’ 38-yard line. Eventually, they advanced the ball to the 24 and somehow wound up punting from back at the 38 on a fourth-and-24.

That’s insane.

They had two other drives that died inside the Colts’ 30 (one at the seven-yard line) that ended up being field goals.

I don’t think asking for at least one more touchdown out of those possessions is too much, do you?

Finally, Mark is tired of opposing players announcing that they’ve figured out what plays the Steelers are running coming out of the locker room in the third quarter.

The best halftime adjustment is throwing out anything Canada has planned

— Mark Hagelauer (@markhagelauer) November 29, 2022

Let me leave you with this question: If Canada threw out his own playbook, do you think it would land two yards short of the trash can?

#ShortOfTheSticks (tm)