Bold Predictions for the Steelers second half of 2018
I’m totally immersed in the Steelers 2018 season. Intriguingly enough, they’re sitting at 3-2-1, which is third place in their division. While it doesn’t feel like the best situation right now, Pittsburgh enters their bye week after winning their last two, both against high-powered NFL offenses.
With a week before their next game, I wanted to think about what could happen for the remainder of the season. Here are some of my predictions as we head into the second half of the Steelers season.
Big Ben finishes top three in passing
Ben Roethlisberger currently leads the NFL in passing yards headed into the bye week. His 2,033 yards edge second-place Aaron Rodgers’ 1,997 with three others topping 1,900 yards thus far (Matt Ryan, Jared Goff, and Kirk Cousins).
I could definitely see Big Ben finishing in the top five, but that’s not bold enough. Let’s get him in the best of the best for this season. He’s on pace to crush career numbers and I have no reason to believe he’ll slow down.
Le’Veon Bell returns; adds 1,000 all-purpose yards
If Bell wants to get out of his current franchise tag situation and become a free agent in 2019 he’s going to have to report to the team by Week 10. That gives the maligned running back eight games to top 1,000 yards.
I have no reason to believe that the Steelers will sit him out, and will use the All-Pro weapon all over the field. He may not top 1,000 rushing yards, as hinted below with a timeshare with James Conner, but Bell will see enough snaps, and earn enough touches, to top the century mark again this season.
James Conner tops 1,000 all-purpose yards too
There’s no way James Conner can be left on the bench. With Le’Veon Bell wanting to preserve his body I can’t fathom any scenario where Conner is left to collect dust like DeAngelo Williams was when Bell returned to the team in previous years.
With Conner is already sitting on 710 total yards heading into the bye and with at least two more full games as the featured back, he could easily top 1,000 before Bell even reports to the team!
Two 1,000-yard receivers
Speaking of offensive firepower, I’m sticking with my original preseason prediction that the Steelers will have two 1,000-yard receivers. JuJu Smith-Schuster currently leads the team with 561 yards and Antonio Brown is second with 478.
That’s through six games with ten more to go.
This should be an easy task for this duo regardless of where the targets go…
James Washington’s half dozen
At some point this season I expect a breakout game by James Washington. The rookie has the ability to get up and high-point balls unlike anyone else on the roster.
For that reason, I could see the coaching staff finding more ways to integrate Washington into their plans, including the red zone. Six touchdowns, including a connection or two on long passes (where Roethlisberger and Washington have attempted to, but have yet to connect) doesn’t seem too far out of reach.
Vance McDonald finishes with 50 receptions
Targeted 25 times already and catching 20 of those passes thrown his way, Vance McDonald is on pace to be the first Steelers tight end since Heath Miller in 2014 to top 50 receptions.
T.J Watt leads the team in sacks
I’m not sure that T.J. Watt will have double-digit sacks this season (even with six so far) but I don’t think anyone else on the team will catch up to his lead. I believe he can hit at least ten, with ten more games, seeing as he only needs four. However, he’s had the bulk of his sacks in two of the six games and the Steelers send a lot of different bodies after the quarterback. (Unlike the old Blitzburgh days where it was all on the outside linebackers to do that dirty work.)
Watt will lead the team, but there will be other contributors.
Bud Dupree‘s half dozen
I really, really want to have Dupree listed as second in sacks this season. He has three thus far and should easily double that total, but I also believe that entire “other bodies” thing mentioned above will cut into his playing time, i.e. his opportunities to sack the quarterback.
Olasunkanmi Adeniyi returns from IR; gets 4 sacks
A preseason phenom, “Ola” is the most likely candidate to return from IR right now. A pass rushing specialist, but still an undrafted rookie, I’m not sure Adeniyi will see that much playing time (see: Matthew Thomas). However, with the amount that Anthony Chickillo has been used six games into 2018, I could see Adeniyi getting a larger role than his linebacker counterpart Thomas, and almost all of those should be blitzes.
His raw ability and some porous offensive lines on the upcoming schedule should net the first-year player at least four sacks.
Artie Burns loses his role entirely
One more time getting lost in coverage is all it will take for Burns to be benched. He might not stay there for long, but with Coty Sensabaugh playing better at this time, I could see the coaching staff sitting Artie for a game or two to help rebuild his confidence and get him back on track, rather than have him splitting time with Sensabaugh as a liability in the secondary.
Chris Boswell never misses again
Not. Going. To. Happen.
The pressure of a new contract is well behind Boswell. Unless he’s kicking in a blizzard, he’s money from here on out.
