Six players quietly helping the Steelers be more balanced
The Pittsburgh Steelers started the 2018 NFL regular season dissonant and inharmonious. In other words, because they seemed to have a lack of cohesion on both sides of the ball, they had a slow start and the outcomes of their games were uncertain. Things couldn’t be more different for the Steelers as they entered the second half of the season. They look sharper. They appear to be a more balanced team in all aspects, and there are six players that have quietly helped this 2018 squad to even out.
Defense
With T.J. Watt leading the Steelers defense in sack totals, you might think he’d be the first guy on the list. He has put together 8.0 sacks on the season, 43 combined tackles and forced two fumbles. Watt has a spotlight on him with a No. 8 ranking among all defensive players in the league in sack totals. Fortunately, his play has allowed teammates to discreetly work their own magic without nearly as much fanfare.
Defensive captain Cameron Heyward has helped anchor a front seven that has proven to be more evenly matched with opponents, improved in run-stopping and a large leap forward in pressure. Heyward has just 4.5 sacks and 24 combined tackles, but his veteran leadership has rubbed off in getting the defensive line to another level in the past few weeks. Tied for the No. 39 in sack totals with Buffalo Bills linebacker Lorenzo Alexander, Heyward hasn’t been as flashy as many defenders in the league, but his value has been in consistency.
With improvement along the defensive line, Bud Dupree – often criticized for getting washed out of plays by offensive linemen – has quietly earned 4.5 sacks (33 yards sack loss), defended three passes, grabbed an interception (ten yards), scored a defensive touchdown, recorded 26 combined tackles, and created one forced-fumble. Dupree ranks higher than several high-profile players such as Fletcher Cox, Blake Martinez, Carl Nassib, and Ndamukong Suh and fellow Steelers defender Stephon Tuitt (3.0 sacks).
Linebacker Jonathan Bostic is leading Pittsburgh’s defense by a nice margin with 56 combined (21 assisted) tackles. Bostic has been asked to not only contain at the inside linebacker position but has created pressure in blitz packages and dropped back into pass coverage. His efforts have helped to alleviate pressure on the Steelers’ defensive backfield and he’s defended three passes – tied with his career-best – through 10 weeks of play.
Special Teams
When it was announced that Ryan Switzer was joining the Steelers, fans of the Dallas Cowboys were quick to mock Pittsburgh for making the move. Switzer hadn’t done anything remarkable in his short stint with the Oakland Raiders. So, Twitter general managers thought the move by the Steelers was a small gift, unloading a guy they saw as of little value.
Switzer hasn’t had a return to the house, yet, but he has improved the return game for Pittsburgh in leaps and bounds. With a 4.51 40-yard dash time at the 2017 NFL Combine, the former UNC Tar Heel has logged 360 yards on 18 kick returns (20.0 yards per return average; 35-yard longest) and 10.4 yards per return on 17 punt returns. But Switzer has eliminated the need for the team to ask anyone else to handle the return duties outside of a single opportunity by Roosevelt Nix this season. Switzer has helped give the Steelers offense decent field position and has also grabbed 100-plus receiving yards when he’s been inserted into that aspect of the game on 18 receptions, logging one touchdown.
Offense
Steelers fans have watched JuJu Smith-Schuster and Antonio Brown combine to become the top receivers in the Pittsburgh offense. With Ben Roethlisberger running the offense, he has been able to spread the ball around more due to a better level of comfort that he has developed with a couple of guys that hadn’t been much of a factor in the past.
Tight end Vance McDonald has become a trusted set of hands that has displayed a level of toughness on the field that has given Roethlisberger a valuable target in 2018. Healthy, McDonald runs like a Mack Truck after the catch and has made several defenders pay for getting in his way. McDonald ranks fourth on the Steelers roster in receptions with 387 yards on 39 catches for a 13.3 yards per catch-and-carry average and two touchdowns. His longest catch-and-run went for a fantastic 75 yards.
With McDonald stepping up, it has also created opportunities for fellow tight end, Jesse James, to surprisingly move into the fifth spot at the top of the receiving charts for Pittsburgh. Able to have a two tight-end set has often allowed the Steelers offense to be more creative with their playbook and break opposing defenses who have shut down another area. James has 344 yards on 22 receptions for a 15.6 yards per catch-and-carry average and two touchdowns. His longest catch-and-run went for 51 yards.
The only player on offense that has been more effective in the passing game has been running back James Conner, displaying that the tight ends have indeed helped balance out an offense so that defenses are less able to keep Pittsburgh from putting points on the scoreboard and converting necessary possession downs.
