On Sunday, the Steelers will most likely line up against an uncommon sight: a left-handed quarterback.
Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, cleared from concussion protocol, is set to start against the Steelers on Sunday Night Football.
It will mark the first time in eight years that Pittsburgh will face a lefty starting quarterback.
The last time the Steelers prepared for a left-handed quarterback was 2014, when Michael Vick started for the Jets.
New York won that game, 20-13. Vick passed for 132 yards and two touchdowns, and rushed for another 39 yards.
Now, they hope history doesn’t repeat itself, and they can generate pressure on Tagovailoa. Even if it comes in a slightly different fashion than what they're used to.
“On the right side, we're more in the eyes of the quarterback, so we got to get used to that,” defensive end Cam Heyward said. “But we have to make sure we're more away, and then we have to strip the ball from the left side.
“So that's really what applies. I don't really know in the back end how it's looked, but up front, that's how we're taking it.”
While Heyward plans on coming directly into the quarterback’s face when he’s aligned on the right side, outside linebacker Malik Reed will get a rare look at a quarterback from his blind side.
“Being on the left-side and rushing him… he can’t see you as well as a right-handed quarterback when you beat a tackle and get back there and get pressure,” Reed said.
The Steelers, in the last two decades, have squared off against a southpaw on eight occasions.
Half of those came against Vick (who ended up playing for the Steelers) between 2002-2014. They also took on Mark Brunell in 2002, Matt Leinart in 2007 and Tyler Palko in 2011. Vick went 2-1-1 agains the Steelers, which beat the other three quarterbacks in their meetings.
But, of course, Pittsburgh also shockingly lost in overtime to lefty Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos in the 2011 AFC Wild Card Round.
And, even though it didn’t come as a start, Pittsburgh has seen a lefty quarterback in Miami before.
In 2010, former West Virginia quarterback Pat White got snaps in a late-season game against the Steelers, and was promptly knocked unconscious by Ike Taylor on a vicious hit to White’s helmet.
To say lefty quarterbacks are rare may be an understatement. Tagovailoa is the only one in the NFL currently, and just the 15th to appear in the NFL since the turn of the century. So this week of preparation for the Steelers' defense certainly has an added wrinkle to it.
“You don’t see many left-handed quarterbacks,” Reed said. “I guess it makes it a little more fun.”