PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – For the last few weeks the Steelers have had to piece together a secondary. Now they might have more helpful bodies than they have spots on the field.
Patrick Peterson and Eric Rowe have had interceptions, Rowe had 29 tackles in his three games including a team-high dozen against the Ravens. Peterson may have found the position that extends his career. Myles Jack was retired and Mykal Walker not on an active roster. So what now?
“Their contributions have been significant, coupled with the fact that they didn't start this journey with us or with anybody in some instances,” Tomlin said Tuesday. “You know, their performances have been even more remarkable. We're thankful for that, but we're also thankful for the return of guys like Minkah (Fitzpatrick) and like (Damontae) Kazee.”
“And so, if it creates a long logjam in terms of talent, or people available to us then that is a good problem to have. It's a better problem to have than some of the issues that we've had in terms of trying to figure out who and how to play.”
Tomlin said he will ‘thoughtfully’ figure out how to work his lineup for Sunday in Buffalo.
Urgency
Urgency is a word often overused, but it does describe the Steelers situation sitting at 7-7 with no margin for error. Tomlin is pleased with how they’ve smiled in the face of adversity.
“There's been some hot moments over the last three weeks,” Tomlin said. “We've essentially kind of been in the playoffs. We've known that. That's been something that, that's been the elephant in the room that we've talked about and hopefully
that experience shows. That urgency, that consistency of urgency shows in our play.”
Browns helping Bills
Keenan McCardell had the third most receiving yards of his career against the Pittsburgh Steelers. It’s the team he played most against in his career (20) and the team he had the most receptions against (136). Part of the reason Buffalo receiver Stefon Diggs is such a good player, is McCardell.
“I remember when he came into the league, I was just really shocked by the maturity of his route running,” Tomlin said of Diggs. “When I saw that Keenan McCardell coached him at the University of Maryland, it made sense because I worked with Keenan years ago. Keenan was an elite route runner and the spirit in which he (Stefon Diggs) approaches his craft is very similar. It's like I imagined that that's a, there's depth to that relationship. Got a lot of respect for him.”
“He is an elite route runner. He's an elite route runner. He is one of the best if not the best.”
Expect Joey Porter, Junior to shadow the Bills star. Diggs finished seventh in the NFL with 107 catches with 1,183 yards and seven touchdowns.
Najee emergence
Having not had a 100-yard game all season, Najee Harris finished the season with a pair of century games. He rushed for 122 and two scores against the Seahawks, 112 yards and a TD against Baltimore. This after starting the Steelers winning streak with a touchdown and 78 yards against Cincinnati.
Why the big numbers now?
“You know, he's a big back,” Tomlin said. “We value big backs here in Pittsburgh. The attrition component that is the season, the weather component, it's just teed up for guys what skill sets like his.”
Godwin trick
Earlier in the season Godwin Igwebuike beat out Anthony McFarland to become the Steelers kick returner and then helped his cause with a heads up play on Sunday against Baltimore.
Kickoffs that go out of bounds are illegal, so late in the first half a Ravens kickoff landed at the Steelers five yard-line and was lying a couple of feet from the sideline. Instead of picking it up and trying to return it, he purposefully went out of bounds and came back in and fielded it. He was officially ruled out-of-bounds and since he touched it, the kickoff was technically out of bounds. Steelers get the ball at the 40.
Tomlin was asked about the awareness of Igwebuike to do that on Tuesday.
“Probably you get more attention when you don't do it,” Tomlin said. “Gunner (Olszewski) was in one of them circumstances earlier in the season and we were probably hacked off that he didn't. It's just, you know, procedural things that you go through in terms of preparedness that's professional, and I credited him for being professional.”
“But you guys act like he did a stupid human trick. He was just a professional.”