5. Pittsburgh West Or Tomlin Special?
Mike Tomlin said Tuesday in his weekly press conference that he doesn't know what the atmosphere will be like in Arizona, but knows Steeler Nation shows up on the west coast. Arizona Republic columnist Kent Somers told The Fan Morning Show that he fully expects there to a bit of a Steelers takeover as many fans and season ticket holders have been selling off their seats at this point in the season.
This, along with many of the coaching staff and players featuring former Steelers, has created the "Pittsburgh West" moniker for the Cardinals. It looked like LA or Carson or wherever that soccer field is in California where the Chargers play was Pittsburgh West as well earlier this year.
Will the Steelers feed off it for a win or will it be another moniker that has emerged over the years...the Tomlin Special? Mike Tomlin has had a penchant for losing games just like this one. Coming off a big win against a divisional foe, going out west against an inferior team and losing a game the Steelers shouldn't. Tomlin is just 3-8 on the west coast since 2011.
Steelers-Cardinals serves as the origin story for the phenomenon, as in 2007 the rookie Tomlin and his 3-0 Steelers lost to the 1-2 (eventual 8-8) Cardinals in Arizona 21-14.
4. Kyler A Killer?
If Lamar Jackson didn't exist or didn't break out the way he has this season, at least some of the league followers and analysts would be talking about how dynamic Kyler Murray has been as a rookie out in Arizona.
He's kind of flown under the radar to this point being on a rather lousy team, but Murray has shown big flashes of brilliance. He's got similar abilities to run and stand in the pocket and deliver passes down the field with a big arm like Jackson.
As former NFL offensive lineman now league analyst Geoff Schwartz said when he joined The Fan Morning Show Friday, Murray doesn't quite play as fast as Lamar, but he's a better passer and has a bigger arm. The issue has been some rookie mistakes despite protecting the ball well and a drop off in play against better teams/defenses.
The Steelers defensive unit can certainly be described as one of the league's best, so we'll see how he stands up to them. TJ Watt and Bud Dupree can surely change some things.
I think Murray will come up with some "wow" plays and bounce back from a dreadful performance against the Rams. He'll keep them in it, this offense isn't completely inept. But I wonder if that ugly loss last week will have lasting effects. Murray admitted in a media gathering this week that he "isn't proud" of the way he's handled the loss and the struggles and dubbed his performance as "disgusting".
Maybe it's wishful thinking, but maybe if things don't go well to start, maybe the rookie's confidence and swagger starts to crack and the mistakes pile up.
3. Duck Hunt Connection
Last week, a photo surfaced on social media or Devlin "Duck" Hodges holding up the day's work with Steelers receiver James Washington. It's not always the case that off the field chemistry and relationships translates to better play on the field.
Through a couple weeks of Duck and Washington being on the field at the same time, it looks like it may be the case. Washington came up with 4 big catches for 111 yards and an impressive-looking touchdown as he was being dragged to the ground. He had close to 100 yards against Cincinnati the week before as well.
If once is chance or a fluke and twice is a coincidence, three times is a trend. Right? It looks as if they'll have every opportunity to do similar things this week. Despite the return of Patrick Peterson from PED suspension, the Cardinals passing defense has still been the worst in the league. With JuJu Smith-Schuster out once again for this one, Washington has just as much a chance to benefit from the lion's share of Duck targets as anyone. In fact, he's probably their no. 1 receiver heading in.
Look for some more deeper shots to #13 Sunday.
2. Different Game, Same Plan?
But just how many of those deeper shots is Hodges going to take?
One of the more disturbing developments this season has been the Steelers start to games. In short, they've been disastrous almost weekly. They haven't scored a single point in the 1st quarter each of the past three weeks. They rarely have the lead after the first 15 minutes and often time has come out of the gates looking very slow and conservative. Who does that fall on?
I don't think there's one answer to that question. I think sometimes it's been offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner's gameplan and hesitancy to open his offense up to making mistakes and I think sometimes it's just been an overall lack of execution and the offense actually making those mistakes (aka two 1st quarter interceptions for Mason Rudolph and even one from Jaylen Samuels out of the Wildcat).
With the Cardinals defense being as bad as it is, could the Steelers benefit from being aggressive to buck this trend? Personally, I think they would. Even if they're pushing the ball and Hodges throwing an interception and the Steelers get down, what's the difference between that and what has happened over the last few weeks? Being down early is being down early.
They could change their offensive philosophy or they could go with more of the same. The "don't kill us" offense that Mike Tomlin has entrusted to Duck Hodges. The offense that gives a steady dosage to the stable of running backs led by somewhat surprisingly solid rookie Benny Snell. The offense that only allows for Hodges to throw deeper when their backs are against the wall. The offense that takes care of the football, that doesn't allow short fields going the other way and lets the defense do its work.
The second version is more than likely what we see.
1. 5th Seed In Sight?
Although this game is against a lesser NFC opponent, it's a big swing matchup for the Steelers. I say that because of what's going on with the other teams in the AFC Wildcard chase.
If the Steelers take care of their business, they'll be 8-5. The wildcard team ahead of them is the Buffalo Bills at 9-3. Buffalo hosts the 10-2 and red hot Baltimore Ravens this Sunday. Although the Bills have 9 wins and are shutting down the detractors more and more (like me) with each one, their highlight wins feature Tennessee and uhh...Tennessee. "Highlight wins" meaning a team that still has a winning record. That's it.
If Buffalo loses to Baltimore, they drop to 9-4 with a date in Pittsburgh against the Steelers in prime time next week. All of the sudden, that game is for the 5th seed in the AFC playoff picture as a Steelers win would tie the teams record-wise but would give the head to head advantage to the Steelers. A 5th seed would mean a trip to Houston to play the Texans instead of a visit to vaunted Arrowhead Stadium and Patrick Mahomes.
As for the other Wild Card teams, Tennessee sits at 7-5 and plays another Wild Card hopeful in 6-6 Oakland this week. This shapes up as a win-win situation of sorts for the Steelers because if Oakland loses, they're a game below .500 with no much star power to come back. If Tennessee loses, they sit a game back of Pittsburgh at 7-6 (again, assuming the Steelers take care of business) with New Orleans and Houston twice on their remaining schedule.
The only other threat are the Colts at 6-6, they've got Tampa Bay. Their kind of a secondary threat at this point because they're a game back and the Steelers have already been there, done that.
A potential 5th seed is on the line here, folks. With Duck Hodges at QB. Incredible.
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