Who is the Pittsburgh Steelers “Z-Factor” for the AFC Divisional Round?
Eight teams remain in the clash of the titans that is the NFL playoff picture. The Pittsburgh Steelers, led by head coach Mike Tomlin, have found themselves with a dog in the race for the 3rd straight season. To put that in quick perspective, the Baltimore Ravens (Pittsburgh’s biggest rival) have missed the playoffs for three straight seasons, so life is good for Steelers fans. We, the fans, have been blessed this year to witness the best regular season record in Pittsburgh Steelers history, 13-3.
However, it hasn’t been all big plays and bumblebees for Pittsburgh. Those three losses could not have been any uglier, honestly. The Chicago Bears (5-11) caught the Steelers on a sloppy day, the New England Patriots won in a last minute heartbreaker that I will not get into, and the Jacksonville Jaguars slapped them around at home leaving with a final score of 30-9.
Pittsburgh will have its chance to redeem one of those losses come this Sunday, and it’s the ugliest loss of the bunch. “Sacksonville” as they call themselves (even though Pittsburgh had more sacks in 2017), is coming to town for a rematch of epic proportions. The former joke of a team Jaguars have seemingly taken on an entirely new attitude this year, and the Steelers won’t have it easy. If you would have told me this time last year that Jacksonville would be one of the final eight teams left, I very well could have died of laughter. It’s amazing what good coaching, a few stellar draft picks, and free agent additions can do for you.
But the Steelers acquired some new additions of their own during 2017, and it is one of those new faces whom I feel can help win this game for the black and gold. Pittsburgh traded a 4th round pick to San Francisco for tight end Vance McDonald (and an additional 5th round pick). The move was viewed as necessary from Mike Tomlin after he was quoted as saying the tight end group in Pittsburgh pre-McDonald was, “not consistently varsity enough.”
Personally, I was a fan of the trade from the jump. I agreed with Tomlin in regards to the fact that the tight ends in Pittsburgh needed an enhancement, and when McDonald has been on the field he has been exactly that, an enhancement. In ten games played, Vance McDonald didn’t exactly light up the stat sheet (14 catches and a touchdown), but he made his presence known. The Rice product is a lot faster than his counterpart, Jesse James, and displays so much more potential for big plays with the ball in his hands.
McDonald, although gathered from a small sample size, averaged 13.4 yards per catch(which is impressive for a tight end). Jessie James averaged 8.7 yards per catch. The difference in the two players’ athleticism is obvious.
Vance had a case of the drops when he first got here, and the critics let him hear about it. Dropping the football has been a knock on McDonald throughout his professional career, but he hasn’t dropped a pass for Pittsburgh since early in the season. Not only has McDonald fixed his issue catching the football, but he has become the best blocking tight end that Pittsburgh has had in years. Le’Veon Bell is someone that certainly appreciates that, trust me.
This week, all the focus has been on Pittsburgh’s Killer B’s (Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell, and Martavis Bryant), much like a majority of the season. And that has to lead me to believe that the Jaguars and their coaching staff are focusing most of their time on the Killer B’s too. Why would Jacksonville worry about a tight end with 14 catches on the season? Why would Jacksonville worry about a player who doesn’t even entirely own the starting spot? Exactly. I think the Jaguars are sleeping on Vance McDonald, and it will ultimately help lead to their downfall.
