Week 2’s Pittsburgh Steelers Z-Factor
Hopefully, this edition of Z-Factor will work out better than last week’s.
Last Sunday’s pick, Martavis Bryant, didn’t have the big performance I was wishing for. The Cleveland Browns played a safety deep (like 30 yards deep) off of the line of scrimmage on nearly every play. This was a clear and effective way to neutralize Martavis Bryant’s ability to “take the top off” of the defense.
Long story short, I was wrong last week with my prediction, but that’s what makes this whole writing gig fun. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.
Needless to say, I’ve got a much better feeling about this week’s Z-Factor.
This Sunday the Minnesota Vikings come to town for the home opener at Heinz Field. In the Vikings most recent performance, they all but stamped their ticket to the Super Bowl after having their way with the ferocious New Orleans Saints defense.
Okay, I’m being sarcastic, but Minnesota did look good. Their quarterback, former first overall pick Sam Bradford, was near perfect. Bradford threw for 346 yards with an 84.4 completion percentage, and three touchdowns. Much of the signal caller’s throws were made in the middle of the field, carving the Saints defense like a turkey.
New Orleans doesn’t really have a “tone setter” in their defense, let alone their secondary. They don’t have an enforcer roaming the no mans’ land of the middle of the field.
They don’t have this week’s Z-Factor on their team, free safety Mike Mitchell.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Mitchell is extremely underappreciated in Pittsburgh. I understand some of the issues that fans have from his first season as a Steeler, but he was playing the entire season with two groin pulls. People shouldn’t let Mike’s first year be an indictment on the rest of his career in the black and gold. He has only gotten better with each passing season.
In fact, I would go as far to say that Mike Mitchell was the Steelers best defensive back last year, and is my personal front-runner for the title this season. We all know #23 for his vicious playing style and hard hits, but he is a lot smarter than most give him credit for. Mitchell is more or less the “quarterback” of the secondary. He’s responsible for making the calls and getting his guys lined up right.
Young talents Artie Burns and Sean Davis have both shown steady improvement throughout their starts, and Joe Haden is a pleasant addition. But when Mike Mitchell isn’t on the field, as seen in preseason, the Steelers pass defense appears almost nonexistent.
I know Haden wasn’t here yet in the preseason, but the thought of Pittsburgh’s secondary without Mitchell is still terrifying. But I’m getting off topic now, the point is we do have Mike Mitchell on our team this Sunday, and I expect to see quite the impact from him.
I’m a firm believer that fear is a very real part of playing live football. You cannot play scared, but throughout the course of a game, your fears are constantly tested in a physical contest of bruit strength and dominance. Very few players will ever admit to facing fear on the field, but it’s real. NFL teams spend a very large amount of their time breaking down opponent’s film. Opposing teams’ receivers and tight ends are well aware by this point, that the Steelers have an enforcer who roams the middle of the field for their defense.
The Vikings have receivers Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs, and tight end Kevin Rudolph (among others) who all pose a serious threat in the intermediate passing game. A large part of all three of those players’ game is running routes through the middle of the field.
In other words, the Minnesota receivers are going to be entering the danger zone. Don’t be surprised to see more than a couple big hits from Mitchell when these three attempt to run routes across the middle, hopefully resulting in turnovers. It only takes one demoralizing smack to the chest to stay in a receiver’s mind all game, and thus impact the result of future plays. Just ask Terrell Pryor, T.Y. Hilton, or Marvin Jones how they fared after taking a lick from Mitchell in their contests against him.
Spoiler alert: not well!
The Vikings are riding high after their beat down of the Saints excuse for a defense, but they are in for a severe come down on Sunday. Minnesota faithful should all prepare for their bubbles to be popped at the hands of Mike Mitchell and the Steelers defense.
