Tim Benz: Story of Steelers-Seahawks game will be written by wide receivers
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Much of the attention heading into Sunday night’s Pittsburgh Steelers-Seattle Seahawks game has focused on who is throwing the football for both teams.
For Seattle (2-3), it’ll be Geno Smith instead of Russell Wilson at quarterback. For the Steelers (2-3), it’ll be Ben Roethlisberger, coming off of his most efficient game of the season, a 27-19 win over the Denver Broncos.
But the more important storylines to track might be about the players catching their passes.
How will the Steelers replace injured wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster? And how will they cover Seattle’s dangerous receiving tandem of Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf?
When the Steelers have the ball, Smith-Schuster’s ability to get open in short-yardage situations, block, navigate the slot position and act as a security blanket for Ben Roethlisberger will be missed.
One option is to simply have James Washington assume Smith-Schuster’s snap count. Stuck behind Smith-Schuster, Chase Claypool and Diontae Johnson, Washington — who reportedly asked for a trade during the preseason — was cast as a fourth wide receiver coming into the 2021 campaign. That’s despite being a second-round draft choice in 2018 and leading the Steelers with 735 receiving yards and a 16.7 yards per catch average in 2019.
“We’ve got a lot of confidence in James,” Tomlin said Tuesday. “However unfortunate the injury is for JuJu, it does provide an opportunity for James to expand his role and to do some things that we all know he’s capable of doing.”
That said, simply installing Washington as the third receiver doesn’t mean he’ll necessarily take on all of Smith-Schuster’s work from the slot. Claypool, Johnson and even Ray-Ray McCloud or Cody White could see some more snaps inside with Washington outside depending on what kind of matchups offensive coordinator Matt Canada wants in a given down-and-distance situation.
“We’re not going to replace (Smith-Schuster) at all. What he brings to our team and the intangibles he has,” Canada said. “As far as his catches and those things, we’ll spread those throughout personnel sets, throughout game plans over the course of the season. We’ll just see how that goes.”
As Roethlisberger intimated, it may not be as simple of an equation as multiple receivers replicating Smith-Schuster’s tasks.
“Playing the slot position in the NFL is different than playing outside. It’s just a different animal,” Roethlisberger said this week. “I think we have a lot of guys that can do it, but it’s a feel thing. You don’t want to take a big body outside (Claypool) that’s got special skills (to move him inside). I think you’ll see probably some more utilization of the tight ends and running backs in there.”
Building off of Roethlisberger’s point, necessity may be the mother of invention in that regard. Many have called for increased targets to rookie tight end Pat Freiermuth. Others have asked for rookie running back Najee Harris to run more intricate routes — akin to Le’Veon Bell’s old menu of plays — instead of merely being a dump-down target in the passing game.
On the defensive side, the Steelers have the hefty task of containing Seattle’s two threatening receivers. Entering play Thursday night, Baltimore’s tandem of Marquise Brown (451 yards, 8th) and Mark Andrews (400 yards, 10th) were the only other pair of teammates both in the top 15 of the NFL receiving yardage leaders aside from Lockett (390 yards, 14th) and Metcalf (383 yards, 15th).
On Thursday, Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler said Lockett and Metcalf were No. 1 caliber receivers.
“They are both ones,” Butler said. “Both of those guys are good players. It presents problems with any defense they are going to play. We are going to try to do the best we can, accentuating the things we do good and take away the things they do good.”
The Steelers have been very good at limiting the damage inflicted by another team’s top target this year. Stefon Diggs (Bills), Darren Waller (Raiders) and Davante Adams (Packers) all failed to score or reach 70 yards receiving. Last week, Butler said in advance of the game that Denver Broncos’ tight end Noah Fant was the team’s chief concern. He only caught three passes for 20 yards and ended up staying in to block much of the game.
The problem for Butler’s defense is that secondary options such as Denver’s Courtland Sutton, Green Bay’s Randall Cobb and Las Vegas’ Henry Ruggs and Hunter Renfrow did the damage as a result.
In one game where the Steelers had to prepare for multiple No. 1 receivers like the ones in Seattle, the Cincinnati Bengals tandem of Tyler Boyd and Jamar Chase combined for eight catches, 101 yards and three touchdowns.
Chase, Ruggs and Sutton have all burned the Steelers for deep touchdown passes this year. The Steelers are facing the potential for multiple deep strikes with Lockett and Metcalf on the field. Both average over 15 yards per reception.
“It doesn’t matter where the ball goes,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “We are OK with that. If they take somebody away, we go the other way. That’s fine. That’s what we tend to see.”
With a pair of receivers like Metcalf — if he is healthy enough to play — and Lockett, the hope of containing their impact may be better served by getting a good rush on Smith rather than hoping to draw up some kind of masterful coverage scheme. Speeding up Smith’s internal clock and forcing him to throw off-platform or out of the pocket will be key.
The Steelers’ most effective way of sacking the passer the past few weeks has been blitzing inside linebacker Devin Bush. Various injuries to T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, Tyson Alualu and Stephon Tuitt have slowed the Steelers four-man rush. So have opposing blocking schemes designed to limit Cameron Heyward and Watt.
“We’ve just got to win our (pass rush) one-on-ones,” Heyward said. “If we do get doubles, that means somebody else is open. If we’re not winning, then they are just going to keep doing it. The quickest way to get out of a double team is if your other guys win.”
Wilson will be missing his first game after 149 consecutive starts. Roethlisberger may be midway through his final NFL season. No doubt those topics will be out front of NBC’s coverage during the game.
But figuring out which team will get the most out of their receivers — however they are deployed and targeted — may be at the center of who actually wins it.
Dave “Softy” Mahler of KJR Radio has some strong opinions on the Steelers-Seahawks game, old Super Bowl XL wounds and the berth of NHL hockey in Seattle.
Listen: Tim Benz and Dave Mahler break down the coming Steelers-Seahawks game