Much like Christmas shopping, Pittsburgh sports fans got the big stuff out of the way early when it came to panic about their local clubs.<\/p>\n
Look at the reaction after the loss by the Steelers to the Buffalo Bills coming off <\/a>Thanksgiving<\/a>.<\/p>\n But there are still stocking-stuffer moments to gripe about with the Steelers. And the Penguins keep flying their sleigh into the side of PPG Paints Arena every time they are on the ice.<\/p>\n So let\u2019s give you a chance to complain about all those topics and more in this week\u2019s \u201cU mad, bro?\u201d<\/p>\n Gunther seems to think I should have a higher opinion of the Steelers.<\/p>\n Rogers is getting these guys to believe. Without that, we see games like Buffalo.. With it, they can beat anyone.<\/p>\n \u2014 Gunther Cooper (@Superman19780) December 16, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Well, anyone except maybe \u2026 Buffalo. Who they might see again in the first round of the playoffs.<\/p>\n \u201cSteve J.\u201d sent a long email expressing frustration about the Penguins. I seized on this passage.<\/p>\n \u201cSid will no doubt break Mario\u2019s scoring record on the road (typical), depriving local fans \u2014 along with all those Stanley Cup wins \u2014 of just one more nice thing they can\u2019t witness in person, so after that the crickets will hopefully have a good seat to the glorified skating drill that the rest of the season will become.\u201d<\/p>\n Listen, I always push back against people who point at Steelers fans and claim they are spoiled for complaining about eight straight seasons without a playoff win.<\/p>\n But this? Now, this is spoiled like milk left out on the back porch for a week in August.<\/p>\n You were \u201cdeprived\u201d by the team for having the unmitigated gall to win all five \u2026 FIVE \u2026 of those Stanley Cups on the road.<\/p>\n Yes. Indeed. You (like, you, personally) were wronged and totally given the shaft by the organization for selfishly winning all five\u2026FIVE\u2026of those Cups on a schedule other than your own?<\/p>\n I suggest that when the Hoffman Family takes over, you write them a sternly worded letter and see if you can get some money back through reparations to fans who were so severely mistreated.<\/p>\n John wasn\u2019t all that impressed with the Steelers\u2019 excellent third-quarter effort versus Miami.<\/p>\n Consider the competition and it is easy to see the reason why<\/p>\n \u2014 John Marion (@logano22fortheW) December 16, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Yeah, but usually it\u2019s the Steelers that are the measuring stick for how mediocre the rest of the league is when they get punked by a better team.<\/p>\n It\u2019s just nice to see them do the punking instead.<\/p>\n I got an email from \u201crd1835.\u2019 He sent me this post from some guy who appears to be the last remaining Kenny Pickett truther on the internet.<\/p>\n The woke media doesn\u2019t want you to know the Steelers averaged more yards per game with Kenny Pickett than they currently do with Aaron Rodgers pic.twitter.com\/QhjAO73ELy<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Reginald Beanstalk (@ReggieHoggedUp) December 17, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Well, as a member of the woke media, let me see if I can do my job a little bit better. Here\u2019s what I do want people to know:<\/p>\n \u2022 I do want them to know that the new kickoff rules have skewed a lot of yardage totals compared to when Pickett was here in 2022 and 2023.<\/p>\n \u2022 I do want them to know that Aaron Rodgers averages more passing yards per game (199.5) as a Steeler than Pickett did during his two years here (179), and that Rodgers has 22 touchdowns in 13 starts. Pickett has 16 in his entire career.<\/p>\n \u2022 I do want them to know that the Steelers are averaging more points per game, 24.0, than in either of Pickett\u2019s years (18.1 in \u201822 and 17.9 in \u201823).<\/p>\n \u2022 And I do want you to understand that by attempting to endorse Pickett in that way, you are also tacitly endorsing Matt Canada, who \u2014 if I remember my Kenny-Pickett-truther flow chart of blame \u2014 is the \u201creal\u201d reason Pickett failed here.<\/p>\n So, now, I ask you. Are we in the media \u201cwoke?\u201d Or are you just asleep?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Finally, let\u2019s end on a positive note with Rich. He enjoyed my recap of \u201cStar Wars Night\u201d<\/a> when the Penguins disintegrated like the Death Star against Montreal last week.<\/p>\n @TimBenzPGH<\/a> For as much as people criticize your writing on this app, I love it! Your use of Star Wars lines and points in your Pens article was great. Keep up the good work Master Benz!<\/p>\n \u2014 Rich (@rxn128) December 12, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Thanks, Rich. Few things in this world give me greater pleasure than messages like yours that essentially say, \u201cYou don\u2019t stink as bad as everyone says you do.\u201d<\/p>\n They truly warm the cockles of my heart. I will say, however, I don\u2019t get ripped for my writing nearly as often as I do for my opinions.<\/p>\n And I get ripped for my opinions because I tell people what they don\u2019t want to hear.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com<\/a> or via X<\/a>. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.<\/p>\n Categories:
\nPenguins\/NHL | Sports | Steelers\/NFL | Breakfast With Benz | Tim Benz Columns<\/p>\n