Unsere Regeln! » It was a great weekend

Jon Bostic Jersey , as I set a personal record running the Pittsburgh Marathon 5k on Sunday. But it sure did give me a whole new appreciation for what professional athletes—including the Pittsburgh Steelers—put their bodies through on a daily basis."I ran in the Pittsburgh Marathon 5k on Saturday, and I know what you’re going to say, “Oh, great, another one of those ‘Forty-something white guys joking about how out of shape he is’ articles. What doesthis have to do with the Steelers? Must be a slow news day.” Touche. But I don’t care.Anyway, back to my story. I not only ran in the Pittsburgh Marathon 5k, I set a personal record of 29:48—or a 9:37 minute per mile pace, if you will. Now, I’m not sure if you know how fast that is, but it’s the kind of pace a forty-something white guy who likes to write funny articles about running would have. I’m not exactly bragging about my pace, either, because had it been one second faster, I would have hurled. I know this because it took everything in me to not hurl for the 20 or 30 seconds that followed me crossing the finish line. Worse than almost hurling was seeing all the little kids who not only finished with faster times than me, they looked bored after they were done—as if they were just running so they could have something to do in between games of Fortnite or whatever. So what does this have to do with the Steelers? Nothing, other than it gives me a whole new appreciation of what they must put their bodies through in order to just get out there and compete every Sunday. It finally makes me realize, on the cusp of my 47th birthday Cameron Sutton Jersey , that they may actually be in better shape than me. I mean, who am I to judge the athleticism of D.K. Metcalf, he of the the single-digit body fat and He-Man physique? “Sure, he’s ripped and fast, but did you see his three-cone drill at the Combine? Dude is totally uncoordinated,” I say right before turning on my steps counter and taking a brisk walk around the block in order to meet my daily goal of 500. How can I question the dedication of any Pittsburgh Steeler? Can you imagine the work ethic even the most average player must have? Can you imagine the dedication to nutrition? Like even the big linemen probably have to avoid eating too many donuts in order to prevent their internal organs from turning on them. I’ve got some nerve, me with my 49 percent body fat and half a liver from drinking beer after every six-mile run, still being angry at Mike Wallace for skipping OTAs back in 2012. Thinking back to Casey Hampton’s heyday, forget the one or two times he failed the conditioning test that opens every training camp. How did he—a 325 pound man nicknamed “Big Snack”—not fail that thing every single time? I can’t even make it through a Kenny Loggins song at spin class without thinking I’m going to die (“Highway to the danger zone!”). Even big Hamp was a great athlete (in his own unique way, of course). How can I ever post those videos of Lawrence Timmons vomiting on the field? His hurling was likely the result of getting punched in the gut by a 300-pound behemoth, while my almost hurling was the result of not taking it easy on the pizza. I’m so far from being an actual athlete at this point, I’m not having fantasies of scoring the game winning touchdown in the Super Bowl. My fantasies involve pickup games and a Nerf football—even in my dreams, I worry about breaking my fingers on a real ball and having to miss work. How can I mock non-Super Bowl achievements like conference championships and division titles and reduce them to mere participation trophies (“This generation is weak!!!!!”) when my bedroom doorknob is filled with participation medals from all those 5 and 10ks I ran in over the years? OK, I think this lesson about the fitness of average civilians as compared to even the most average professional athletes will resonate with most fans, and they’ll go easy on the Twitter devices this training camp.Haha, yeah right. That fatty Ben Roethlisberger better come to camp in shape! Lifelong Steelers fans have grown accustomed to a great deal of stability at the receiver positions from year to year. Whether you’re talking about the storied Swann-Stallworth tandem that played a central role in four league championships or the Hines Ward-Heath Miller combo (with celebrated sidekicks such as Emmanuel Sanders Carnell Lake Jersey , Santonio Holmes and Mike Wallace), we’ve always pretty much known who would be in the starting lineup.But as things stand today, the situation at receiver positions is a lot more unsettled than it’s been in the past. Probably the most obvious example is that three players — Vance McDonald, Jesse James and Xavier Grimble currently are sharing snaps at Tight End. But the musical chairs don’t stop there. While Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster are firmly entrenched as the starting tandem, the presence of Justin Hunter and Ryan Switzer, plus the availability of the raw-but-talented James Washington, makes that situation somewhat of a mixed bag as well.It’s difficult to understand exactly what the Steelers’ coaching staff is trying to accomplish by continuing to platoon receivers at mid-season, rather than sticking with their best players at each position and thereby enabling Big Ben to develop greater chemistry with them — perhaps even the same kind of sixth sense he’s developed with No. 84. In watching the Steelers’ offense during the first half of the 2018 regular season, there still appears to be considerable unfamiliarity between No. 7 and those receivers who play mainly supporting roles in the offense. And in a game where precision timing and consistency are crucial factors, it’s reasonable to suspect that having too many receivers in the mix might not be the best recipe for a team whose ultimate goal is another Super Bowl berth. We might suspect, given the injury issues he’s had in the past, that the Steelers don’t want to press their luck by giving McDonald more snaps at tight end. On the other hand, it’s pretty obvious McDonald is the most potent weapon in Pittsburgh’s current triumvirate. He certainly looks like the guy who ought to be filling the same role that Heath Miller did for so many seasons. With rookie James Washington becoming less visible in the Steelers’ offense recently, it’s possible he’ll be added into the mix more often as the second half of the season plays out. When that happens, it will add yet another less-familiar element to the offense. At any rate, it seems the Steelers are still searching for the same kind of spark-plug player at the No. 3 receiver position that James Conner has become this season at running back. To the extent that the Steelers’ offense has sputtered at various times this season Ryan Switzer Jersey , it appears to do so when opposing defenses have done a good job covering Brown and Smith-Schuster. Because the No. 3 receiver position still isn’t solidified on the Black-and-gold, this enables teams with strong secondaries to force Ben and Company to play out of character, and the results usually aren’t very good. Eli Rogers had been filling that role in the past but, so far, the Steelers haven’t found a replacement capable of making a comparable or better impact. Of course, if McDonald blossoms into the kind of durable performer that Heath Miller was for so many years in Pittsburgh, he could become that third ace the team needs in its receiver corps. Likewise, if James Conner continues on the pace he’s set so far in 2018, that also might compensate for the team failing to settle on any particular No. 3 wide receiver.As strong as the Steelers’ offense might be, it’s difficult to escape the conclusion that they still need to add one more reliable piece to their receiver corps — a player who can provide the same kind of punch that young players like Conner and Smith-Schuster have brought to the team. On Sunday in Baltimore, we’ll have another opportunity to see the Steelers matching up against a team with a solid secondary. For Pittsburgh to prevail and do so convincingly will require the emergence of one more offensive weapon. Otherwise, we’re probably looking at yet another typical Steelers-Ravens slugfest with the outcome still unclear in the final quarter.