Pittsburgh Blitz – The Pittsburgh Steelers have had a very busy offseason so far. First cam the news that their GM since the start of the 2000 season, Kevin Colbert was going to retire. Then immediately after that news broke it was announced that coach Mick Tomlin was also stepping down as head coach of the team.

This left the Steelers scrambling to replace both their long time GM and head coach at the same time. The Steelers interviewed several GM candidates before settling on the relatively unknown Jim McMillen who previously worked in the team’s media department but after his interview blew ownership away they decided to not only hire McMillen as their new GM but also give him full control over hiring the next head coach.

Newly coined GM McMillen wasted very little time finding a replacement for Tomlin but also decided not to retain either of their offensive or defensive coordinators in Matt Canada and Keith Butler as he wanted a fresh start and to bring in coaches he trusted.

McMillen’s first hire was 31-year-old Nicholas Grove who spent the previous 5 seasons as the head coach of a small Division III university in Edinboro, PA. Grove’s resume includes 3 undefeated seasons at Edinboro and two DIII National Titles.

With his head coach signed to a contract McMillen worked with him to fill the void at both OC and DC as the team first penned Lamont Booker as their new offensive coordinator and then hired Jackson Pierce as their new defensive coordinator.

Booker worked previously as the OC for the Dallas Renegades of the now defunct XFL. Booker is a relatively unknown but has earned a reputation as being a quarterback whisperer and that is something the Steelers will need if they decide to draft a young QB in the upcoming draft.

On the other side of the ball new DC Pierce comes from LSU and served as the team’s linebackers coach for the last 5 seasons. Pierce is known for being very aggressive and for designing some great blitz packages. He should be a perfect fit for the Steelers and All Pro T.J. Watt.

With the staff filled out, they will now turn their attentions to the draft. It will be interesting to see how they do things as this will be the first time they have worked together. GM McMillen ultimately has the final call on who they will draft but he has said that he will take the input of all of his coaches and scouts into consideration before handing in the draft card each round.

Pittsburgh Blitz - The Pittsburgh Steelers went 13-3 in the regular season earning the 3rd seed in the Playoffs which pitted them in a Wildcard matchup with their division rivlas the Cincinatti Bengals who they beat 34-13 after battling back from a 10 point deficit early in the game.

The Steelers would then face the LA Chargers in the Divisional round and get the chance to avenge an early season loss to the Chargers which they did as they won 25-19 after battling back from a 16-6 deficit at the start of the 4th quarter.

Up next though will be the Steelers biggest test of the seasons as they prepare to face the 13-3 Miami Dolphins for a shot at going to the Super Bowl on the line. The Dolphins hold the #1 seed in the AFC thus meaning the Steelers must travel to Miami for the game.

"It is been a rollercoaster season in my first year as the coach of the Steelers" said head coach Scott Frost. "We started the process off right with a great draft and offseason inwhich we found future stars in QB Trey Lance and HB Chubba Hubbard in the draft and were able to sign other great players such as Leonard Fournette, CB's JC Jackson and Chidobe Awuzie via free agency. But what really has made this team so special is our defense which is #1 in scoring, yards allowed, against the pass and against the run. Without that defense or young offense may not have been given so many oppertunities to shine."

The defense lead by Stephon Tuitt (11) and Cam Heyward (10) racked up 41 sacks on the season even with All Pro TJ Watt only getting two on the season after an injury riddled campaign The defense also had 21 interceptions (Minkah Fitzpatrick who lead the league with 7), and 9 forced fumbles on the season.

"We take pride in creating turnovers and getting sacks" said defensive coordinator Rex Ryan. "Our goal is to beat the other team into submission and to get off the field as fast as possible to give our offense as many oppertunities to score as we can."

Miami is no slouch in the defensive department either though as they are #2 across the board in almost every catagory and have a more polished offense then the Steelers as well. Which will make this game a slobberknocker to watch.

So be sure to tune in Friday night at 8pm eastern for what could be an all time classic here in the Rebuild, with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line for either the Steelers or Dolphins.

Pittsburgh Blitz - The Pittsburgh Steelers had a very busy offseason that started with both head coach Mike Tomlin and General Manager kevin Colbert retiring. This left the team scrambling to replace both men, which they did pretty quickly as they hired a realatively unknown commodity as their new GM in Jim McMillen and he in turn hired form Wisconsin head coach Scott Frost to lead the team.

Frost first action as head coach was to bring in Rex Ryan to run the defense and he retained Matt Canada as the offesnive coordinater, who added the recently retired Ben Roethlisberger as his QB coach.

Once the coaching staff was in place, new GM and coach turned their attention to the offseason and free agency. With the retirement of QB Roethlisberger the team came into some nice cap space which allowed them to add some notable names to the team which included Center Corey Linsley, HB Leonard Fournette, MLB  Jayon Brown, TE Dan Arnold, DL Hassan Ridgeway and Dawuane Smoot, CBs JC Jackson and Chidobe Awuzie and S Malik Hooker to name a few.

Once free agency ended the Steelers brass jumped right into the draft and with the two biggest needs being QB and OL the team selected QB Trey Lance with the 24th pick in the draft and then HB Chuba Hubbard in the 2nd round. The team then selected speedy WR Anthony Schwartz in the 3rd round. They grabbed TE Noah Gray, SS Hamsah Nasirildeen and CB Brandin Echols during the remainder of the draft.

Once the draft was complete the team turned their attention to the Preseason as a QB battle would be waged between free agent aquisition Dwayne Haskins, Mason Rudolph and the rookie Lance. Other notable battlers were at the slot CB position where Cameron Sutton and Justin Layne battled for playing time.

The Steelers would go 4-0 in the preseason as both the defense and the run game was very dominate proving that the signing of HB Fournette and drafting of Hubbard to be great aquisitions as they will combine to create a nice 1-2 punch for the team this year.

With the offseason in the books the Steelers now turn their attention to a week 1 match up with their heated rivals, the Baltimore Ravens. Though the final depth chart has not been released the team anticipates Trey Lance being their starting QB moving forward. Only time will tell if he will turn out to be worth the 1st round pick the team spent on him.

The Rebuild Steelers have made it official as they announce the hiring of Life Long Fan and Armchair GM, Jim McMillen as their new General Manager.

McMillen is a 47 year old Armchair GM turned NFL executive as he was officially named to lead the Steelers into the future today. Before the fans start to call for heads to roll, let us remind you that the Rooney family does not make these decisions as who to hire lightly.

The new Steelers GM is not just any every day fan you see. He is well known around Pittsburgh and by the teams front office as he has been sending them his draft scouting notes for almost 25 years. It is said that a few of his suggestions have even made it on the team and the scouting department, though they would never openly admit it, attribute those draftees dirrectly to McMillen's reports.

Not only has the new GM sent in scouting reports but he has been sending free agent reports and suggestions to the team as to who to sign or let walk away, almost as long as he has his been sending them his rookie scouting reports.

Only time will tell if this move pans out for the Steelers but this reporter got ahold of one of McMillen's past scouting reports and let me tell you it was as in depth as any Pro Scout's report I have ever seen. He may have no NFL experience, but McMillen knows when he sees a quality player and who would make good teamates for this team.

The skeptisizm may be running rampent throughout #SteelersNation but for now, the Steelers have given the keys to the castle to an Armchair GM and he has full control over the kingdom as well with final say on everything from coaches to personel. So sit back and enjoy folks as this ride could get bumpy!

One way or another the Steelers will look different next season, in what seems to be Ben Roethlisberger’s last ride along with their last chance at making a run to the Super Bowl. With 18 free agents on the team many tough decisions await the Steelers front office.

Offensive line was a problem last year and that should be a main concern for the Steelers as they approach free agency and the draft. Alejandro Villeneuve will not be back with the team as they've already announced they are moving on. Zach Banner could be back with the team after tearing his ACL very early in the year so he could be on a prove it type contract. Matt Feiler is also a free agent and is valuable with his ability to play both tackle and guard. Banner seems more likely to get an offer as Feilers versatility could make him more expensive to sign.

Will the Steelers accommodate Ben Roethlisberger and resign JuJu Smith-Schuster? Ben has said he wants Juju back and Juju has said he would like to be back, but has also said he wants to play in a big market. With a talented stable of receivers, the Steelers could save a lot by not bringing JuJu back and use that money towards bolstering the offensive line to protect Ben Roethlisberger and to open holes in the run game which is something the line struggled with this year.

Speaking of the running game James Conner is also a free agent who could be let go this year. Conner has an injury history but has shown he can be effective when he plays. Conner seems to be one of those players who is a 50/50 signing depending on how much he asks for in his contract.

Defense has its own set of problems when dealing with free agency. Bud Dupree, Cameron Sutton, Mike Hilton, Robert Spillane, Avery Williamson and Tyson Alualu are all up for new deals. Bud Dupree seems like he is done in Pittsburgh as he will command big money after coming on the past few seasons as a pass rusher, I don't think his ACL injury will scare teams off. Robert Spillane definitely deserves a contract after taking over for Devin Bush, also add in the fact the Steelers are extremely thin at the middle linebacker position. Tyson Alualu could be back and showed how important he was in the run game this year he should get a look and may not be that hard to sign being a veteran.

The real interesting debate seems to come down to Mike Hilton and Cameron Sutton, both played great this year and both will not be on the team next year. Pittsburgh could be smart to sign Sutton as he was a jack of all trades playing both the slot and outside corner this year. The Steelers could also decide to release Joe Haden who carries a $15.575 million cap hit or Steve Nelson who carries a $14.42 million cap hit, they carry two of the five highest contracts on the team. Haden and Nelson will also be entering their final years of their contracts so signing Sutton or Hilton is important as the depth at the cornerback position is not the strongest.

As you can see the Steelers have a ton of difficult decisions to make this year. They must find a way to field the best team possible to put around Ben Roethlisberger but at the same time set themselves up to get out from under the current cap hell they find themselves in.

News coming out of Pittsburgh is that injured HB James Conner, who lost his starting job to Jaylen Samuels before he too got injured, would like to test free agency and has told his agent to cut off contract negotiations with the Steelers front office for now.

While Conner and Samuels have both been injured, undrafted rookie sensation Sylvester Tapp has shown that he can be the future for the Steelers as he has been averaging just under 100 yards a game during his three-game stretch as the starter.

“We think we found a gem in Tapp who was a stud at Utah. We knew when we signed him right after the draft that he had the potential to be a starter but we have a very crowded backfield so he has spent most of the season on the practice squad” said Steelers head coach Gary Gaines. “We hope to be able to resign James and keep our backfield together but we are confident that Sylvester, Samuels and Benny Snell can carry the load if Conner is to leave us via free agency.”

The real test for Tapp will be coming up very soon as the Steelers ready themselves to face division rivals the Baltimore Ravens this week. The Ravens have a very stout defense but are ranked just 26^th against the run which should play into Tapp’s favor.

Look for the 8-3 Steelers to try and get Tapp & Snell involved early and often verse the 6-5 Ravens when they face off this week but don’t let the run game fool you as the Steelers will also try to utilize the passing game and play action when the situation dictates them doing so.

After starting 5-1 on the season the Steelers have dropped two games in a row where QB Mason Rudolph has looked horrible throwing 8 ints in those games and he was replaced in both by Josh Dobbs who gave the team some spark but was unable to help them get a win in either.

Rudolph started the season strong and leads the league in passing yardage but his decision making the last two games has been horrible. So, the question is it time for the Steelers to make a change at QB and go with Josh Dobbs? We asked head coach Gary Gains and this was his response.

“Hell no, Mason is our guy. He got us to 5-1 and leads the league in passing yardage. We will stand by him for the foreseeable future. I know he has made some mistakes the last few games but he is young and still learning how to play QB in this league and we have to allow him those growing pains and let him learn from them”

The Steelers will have a week to regroup now as they enter their bye week before returning to play the 1-5 New York Jets, 5-1 Titans and 6-1 Eagles then a division showdown with the Ravens who are currently 4-3 at the time of this article being written.

Playoffs:

Wildcard Round - Complete

Divisional Round - Complete

Championship Round - Complete

Super Bowl - Complete

Offseason:

Offseason Stage 1 -- Re-signing period (24 hr) -- Tuesday After the SB to Wednesday 10PM EST - IN PROCESS

Offseason Stage 2 -- Free Agency (24 hr) -- Wednesday 10PM EST - Thursday 10PM EST

Offseason Stage 3 -- Free Agency (24 hr) -- Thursday 10PM EST - Friday 10PM EST

Offseason Stage 4 - Final Free Agency (24 hr) - Friday 10PM EST - Saturday 10PM EST

Offseason Stage 5 - Trades/Scouting (24 hr) - Saturday 10PM EST - Sunday 7PM EST

Offseason Stage 6 -- Draft -- Sunday 8PM EST

** Commissioner Reserves the Right to Sim Picks **

The Following Steps will happen After the Draft:

Offseason Stage 7 -- Rookie Signings (Which is Automatically done)

Offseason Stage 8 -- Preseason -- Opens Sunday Night After the Draft

* We will only play week 4

We will sim preseason weeks 1-3 (injuries off) with 10 minutes in between simming each week, for members to update team, practice and sign a FA.  You must follow FA rules during these advances! Once this is complete, we will give 24 hours to play Preseason Week 4 Only and make final cuts

Preseason Week 1 - 10 Minutes

Preseason Week 2 - 10 Minutes

Preseason Week 3 - 10 Minutes

Offseason Stage 9 -- Season 3 -- Soon as Preseason Weeks 1-3 Simmed

League Will advance to Preseason Wk 4 as soon as Pre-Season Weeks 1-3 are Simmed

1. Members can schedule and play preseason week 4 game. If you can't play, put yourself on auto and let your opponent know.

2. Use this time to update roster, make final cuts to 53 and training

League Will advance to Regular Season 3 - Week 1 TBA

1. League will advance to Regular Season 3 - Week 1 and Continue 72 Hour Advance Schedule.

*Check this article often for updates.

After the first 10 weeks of play in the Destiny Madden League, the Pittsburgh Steelers sit at 5-4 and currently 3^rd in the AFC North behind the Browns (5-3) and Bengals (5-3) but with three of their next four games against the two conference rivals, the Steelers control their own fate within the division.

It has been an up and down season for the Steelers how had not found their rhythm on offense until incumbent offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner was replaced by running backs coach Booby Miles just one week ago. Fichtner could not seem to decide on a starting QB as he had Big ben Roethlisberger and Mason Rudolph splitting the reps each game which never allowed either to get into a rhythm. Coach Miles though had Big Ben take all the reps in his first outing as OC in which Ben threw for over 300 yards and a pair of TDs in a big 26-14 win over the Rams.

“We love mason and he is our future but Ben is the now man and I decided to go with him” said coach Miles, “Ben gives us the best chance to win and we will roll with him until he proves to us he needs to be replaced by Rudolph for good or he retires.”

Up next for the Steelers are the 5-3 Cleveland Browns who may be forced to go with a backup QB as Baker Mayfield is out with a torn pectoral muscle and has yet to be cleared to return to practice. After the Browns it is another Battle with their hated rivals the Cincinnati Bengals before facing the Browns once again. It is a tough divisional stretch but it is one that can put the Steelers in the drivers seat in the division or send them to the coach as observers for the playoffs.

Pittsburgh Blitz – The start of the season for the Pittsburgh Steelers has been a less than memorable one as the Steelers have generated a total of 6 points in their first two games, both losses, week 1 they lost to the Patriots 23-6 and in week two they fell to the Seahawks by a score of 26-0.

In both games the team decided to bench future Hall of Fame quarterback and team leader ben Roethlisberger due to his ineffective play and replaced him with 2^nd year signal called Mason Rudolph who seemed to give the team more spark while he was in but he arrival into both games came too late for him to rally the team to victories.

With the Steelers horrible play on offense one has to ask themselves has Big Ben come to the end of an illustrious career or is it the play calling of offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner who was a holdover from the Mike Tomlin staff after he retired and rookie head coach Gary Gains took over the team at the beginning of the year.

Coach gains was asked his thoughts about the offensive struggles and this is what he had to say. “I am new hear and I know how much success both Randy and Ben have had with this team but if we can’t seem to turn things around sooner rather than later, we may have to hand over the team to mason Rudolph and/or find a new OC. I expect these men to preform at a much higher standard and owner and GM Jim McMillen expects the same of me, so I would say everyone, including myself is on the hot seat.”

The Steelers defense has played pretty well but the secondary has been prone to some weakness’ which promoted the Steelers to go out and trade for veteran CB Logan Ryan and 2^nd year sensation FS Minkah Fitzpatrick. Ryan is slated to play LCB and split time with Steven Nelson while Fitzpatrick will take over the starting FS role from the embattled Sean Davis.

“Our goal is to play winning football and if the offense can’t get the job done then my defense needs to be good enough to pick them up until they find their way” said defensive coordinator Keith Butler. “So, we have gone out and added some talent to our roster to help bolster this side of the ball and we expect both these new additions to contribute at a very high-level right away.”

Up next for the Steelers is a trip to the west coast to face the 49ers who are currently 1-0 after a week 1 win over the Buccaneers. The 49ers have yet to play their week 2 game against the Bengals at the writing of this article but we are confident they will be 2-0 when the Steelers face them week 3.

The Who Dat Dish - The New Orleans Saints are now two-time World Champions as they defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 30-13 in Destiny Bowl III behind a big effort by the defense who came up with multiple sacks and interceptions during the game.

Now that the smoke has cleared and the season has come to and end, the Saints head coach Dabo Swinney, a three time National Champion winning coach at Clemson and now two time Destiny Bowl winner, has decided to call it a career as he will put down his clip board and step away from coaching.

Swinney won’t be leaving the Saints though, as owner Jim McMillen has asked him to stay on as the team’s General Manager, which Swinney of course accepted the role and as his first action in charge of the team, the new GM hired his replacement, which is non-other than the legendary Permian High School football coach, Gary Gaines.

Gaines may not seem like the obvious choice but both Swinney and McMillen agree he is the right man for the job. As for the team’s other coach’s offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr. has been retained in his role leading the prolific offense and has also been promoted to assistant head coach.

Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen though has decided to step down citing he would like to pursue other opportunities and coach Gaines has replaced him with a well-known commodity around the league, Mike Nolan.

All the other New Orleans Saints coaches have been retained as well, with one other addition as coach Gaines brought a long-time friend with him in Boobie Miles, who will act as an assistant to the offensive staff, and work with the running backs.

“I know the league is wondering what the hell the Saints are doing hiring a football coach straight out of the high school ranks, but I promise you they didn’t make a mistake when they hired me. I will work my ass off night and day to continue the excellence here in the bayou.” Said coach Gaines. “This team has been the class of the league for the last few years now and I sure in the hell don’t intend to allow that to change on my watch. Our goal still is and always will be too win a Destiny Bowl and to make sure these men are perfect.”

“I once told my boys that being perfect is not about that scoreboard out there. It's not about winning. It's about you and your relationship with yourself, your family and your friends. Being perfect is about being able to look your friends in the eye and know that you didn’t let them down because you told them the truth. And that truth is you did everything you could. There wasn’t one more thing you could've done. Can you live in that moment as best you can, with clear eyes, and love in your heart, with joy in your heart? If you can do that gentleman - you're perfect! ….. And I damn sure expect the same thing from these men here in New Orleans that I am about to embark on this journey with. Perfection is the only standard I will accept.”

The Who Dat Dish - The New Orleans Saints fell just short of a repeat trip to the Super Bowl after losing to the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship game. A suspect run defense and the inexperience of rookie QB Will Grier bare the blame but Grier's promise outweights his one bad game.

As for the run defense the Saints were exposed by Zek Elliot and had to do something during the offseason to shore up their glaring weakness, which they did by signing FA OLB Reggie Ragland and drafting OLB Earnest Shropshire with their first round pick.

The Saints also traded the disgruntled HB Alvin Kamara to the Jets and went out and replaced him with HB Nyheim Hines via a trade with the Colts. Other notable offseason acquisitions were the signings of WR/KR Cordarrelle Patterson and TE Eric Ebron as well as vetren DBs Aqib Talib and Su'a Cravens.