Ed Bouchette's Steelers chat transcript: 10.8.12

Monday, 08 October 2012 14:18

Written by Ed Bouchette

Ed Bouchette: Good afternoon, let's begin

mikeflores16: Has Ike been playing above the line this year?

Ed Bouchette: I would say so, yes. He followed the dangerous DeSean Jackson all over the field Sunday and Jasckson had 58 yards on four catches. The one thing the Steelers need to improve in the secondary are interceptions. They have only one in four games after getting just 11 in 16 last season.

Tprod: Ed, when DeCastro returns, is Colon's job in jeopardy?

Ed Bouchette: Only if he continues to get four holding calls a game, which I don't expect will continue. DeCastro is a right guard.

steelers fever: Any new updates on troy and woodley ?

Ed Bouchette: Yes, Woodley has a "mild" hamstring injury. It's not as serious as Polamalu's but both will miss Thursday's game.

NJ Stiller Fan: Ed, the number of penalties per game called on the secondary and o-line is becoming ridiculous. At some point coaching is to blame for letting this to continue. Any steps being taken? Fines? Benching?

Ed Bouchette: No, they're going to try to get them to stop it.

Andy: Is it time to cut Polamalu loose? He is injured more than he plays and he has a high salary cap value?

Ed Bouchette: When would you like to cut him loose? Today? Tomorrow? He still is guaranteed his salary for all of 2012. First let me check about all that time he' missed. Oh, he started every game last season.

Jessie: Has Troy P. been in more commercials than any other Steeler ever? I must know!

Ed Bouchette: I haven't counted them but I think he's giving Peyton Manning a run for his money.

Tprod: Ed, Steelers will have a lot of significant players entering free agency, Wallace, Mendenhall, and Harrison. Who do you think the Steelers will attempt to realistically resign and who do you think, they will?

Ed Bouchette: Check back with me in February on that.

YUP: The Titans are TERRIBLE and the Steelers will defeat them on Thursday. - Is that statement true?

Ed Bouchette: It will be if the Steelers win. Oakland was terrible too

CDO: Is there any chance we see Will Allen in for Ryan Mundy? He can't be much worse.

Ed Bouchette: Mike Tomlin said today that it will be Ryan Mundy, then said they may look at Will Allen.

steelers fever: Do you think that pass to mendy for the td was the correct call for a run or should it have been a td pass?

Ed Bouchette: It was pretty far behind him. If they had ruled it a TD pass, Elias likely would have overturned it into a TD run anyway.

Jim: In my opinion, Ben's having a mvp type season. Do you agree?

Ed Bouchette: I do. The rest of the team, though, needs to catch up to him.

mikeflores16: Worilds appears to be coming around, slowly albeit. He appears to be in better physical condition than he was a month ago, do you agree?

Ed Bouchette: He had that wrist injury and was limited in what he could do throughout the preseason. He's tied for the team lead with 2 sacks.

Jim: What happened to the defense in the AFC North? The Steelers give up 30 some points to Manning. The Ravens give up 200 yds rushing to KC and the Bengals seem to give up 30 pts a game. What gives is this becoming an offense division?

Ed Bouchette: The Steelers gave up 14 points yesterday and the Ravens gave up 6.

Roger: Why does Ryan Clark insist on turning himself into a human missile and launching himself at opponents when he knows it will get flagged? I mean, at some point you just have to not do illegal things. Can you please tell him that this irritates me the next time you see him?

Ed Bouchette: Gotcha.

Bill: Can Timmons sustain his increased level of play that he showed v. the Eagles??

Ed Bouchette: Mike Tomlin said Timmons' play has been consistent all along. What, you don't believe him?

???: Did I hear some boo birds yesterday at the game as the defense was struggling?

Ed Bouchette: Must have been Eagles fans. Was Santa there?

Jack Splat: Harrison good for Thursday?

Ed Bouchette: Sounds like it, although he has a "little" swelling on his knee.

Lou Dawg: When you need a stat for an article, do you have a stats department at the PG and how does that work? Does the PG subscribe to a stats service or database?

Ed Bouchette: No, not stats service that I know of. Stats are out there in a lot of places, though. Even some reliable places.

George: Is Hampton splitting time with Mcclendon? Mcclendon seemed to play a good game on sunday.

Ed Bouchette: They've been trying to rotate those two, yes.

Biff: I used to really dislike Mendenhall, but now I love him. Is there a name for this phenomenon?

Ed Bouchette: I think you would call it "Steelers fan"

Bill: Why do you think that Tomlin is so poor at pressers? Does he need a teleprompter??

Ed Bouchette: He is not poor. He comes across exactly as he wants to come across.

fan: This is your best Columbus Day chat ever!!! I keep track of these kinds of things.

Ed Bouchette: I count Columbus Day as Oct. 12. I'm a traditionalist that way.

Tprod: Ed, is it possible that the Steelers resign Starks?

Ed Bouchette: They've re-signed him so often, I would have to say yes.

wooooo: lotta flags yesterday, especially early. Thoughts?

Ed Bouchette: Seems to be a lot of flags throughout the NFL this season. The more rules you pass, the more chances to break them and thus draw a flag. Neither hits by Ryan Clark nor Ryan Mundy would have been flagged in the past.

Tprod: Ed, one of your media compadres stated that some of the Steelers have been abusive toward the press, are you aware of that?

Ed Bouchette: Nope. I'm unabused so maybe I'm not the one to ask.

Young Money: Fast Money, Easy Money, Cash Money...could you be Write Money?

Ed Bouchette: No Money

111: Are you a James Bond fan?

Ed Bouchette: Which team?

coachjpat: Does Tomlin keep his 6-2 streak in tack? Have to win 4 straight.

Ed Bouchette: Don't know if he'll ride that horse, but he does have a chance to go 6-2 again.

mikeny: Hey Ed, I never hear Ben's arm strength mentioned with the elite. where do you rank him?

Ed Bouchette: Good enough.

rockman1_1: I love how the NFL / Steelers touted that plays under review would be shown in 'HD' for the fans to see. However, they are only shown in about 1/4 of the screen while other stuff occupies 3/4 of the screen. Do you know if this is mandated by the league or the Steelers choice? It's useless to the fans.

Ed Bouchette: Those who run that scoreboard are under orders not to show replays under review unless they benefit the Steelers. Then, you will see it over and over and over. Bill Cowher made sure of that early on.

hello: Happy about Bobby Valentine exiting Boston?

Ed Bouchette: not as happy as I will be when this chat ends today.

question: Is Demarcus Van Dyke any relation to Dick or Jerry Van Dyke?

Ed Bouchette: See what I mean. I have many more on the board like this one. Must be because we moved it up a day and didn't give people enough time to think of their questions. We will resume these chats at 1:30, and if I have to, I'll go down the entire Bengals roster with comments in order to use up some time. Thanks, all. Well, some of you anyway.

Ed Bouchette: That's 1:30 a week from Tuesday, back where they belong.