If you know anything in my time here at Buffalo Wins, it’s the “special” relationship I have with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now residing in Pittsburgh, with in laws that are Steelers fans and a son that’s inching closer and closer to a football fandom decision. While I consistently have to find means to watch a Bills game on Sundays, I always know I can pop on KDKA and see the Black and Gold – and watch one of my top 5 coaches in the NFL, Mike Tomlin.
(The other four? Pete Carroll, Andy Reid, John Harbaugh and Bill Belichick)
But enough of my stress, the Steelers are coming to town! I am delighted that Ian from The Steelers n’at took the time to chat with me and answer a few questions about the Steelers this year and how he sees the game going. If you get a chance, check em out on Twitter as well – @TheSteelersnat. Without further ado, here’s our discussion!
As a Bills fan that lives in Pittsburgh, I’m astounded by two things – some of my in laws not remembering I’m a Bills fan and the yearly “is Mike Tomlin good” chatter I hear from some fans. Where do you stand on Coach?
Ian: I said in my Season Preview this year that Tomlin was the best Tuesday-Saturday coach in the league. During the week, he says all the right things in preparation for games. However, his in-game performances certainly leave something to be desired. Whether it is his horrendous clock management (he has said he manages the clock and uses his timeouts based on his “gut feeling” rather than the game situation). It seems like the players on the field are constantly put in bad situations because of his game management and that they win in spite of his decisions rather than because they were put in the best situations to be successful. An example of this is his insistence on attempting two-point conversions.
The fanbase is generally split on this. Some are in favor of it because “with an offense as good as ours, we should go for two” while others don’t like chasing points in the first half. This season, the Steelers are just 3/8 on two point tries, including 4 failures in a game against the Cowboys. He is certainly not the worst coach in the league, but I also wouldn’t put him in the Top 5. One of the frustrating things is how he is constantly out-coached by John Harbaugh which has been a big factor in us losing 4 in a row and 6 of the last 7 to our rivals.
This season has been up and down in terms of key player availability and the Steelers are still in the hunt for the AFC North crown. Who has been the most unsung in that effort?
Ian: Stephon Tuitt has really started to come into his own this season. In a bizarre trend for the Steelers, our best pass rushers over the last few seasons have been our interior linemen and not our edge rushers. Cam Heyward was not only our defensive leader but also the best defensive player on the field. When he went down with a season-ending injury there was a big question mark as to who would fill the role.
Tuitt has been an every-down player on the defensive line and has been the only player able to get consistent pressure on the quarterback. I would also be remiss if I didn’t talk about the astounding effort of James Harrison. At 38 years old he’s still somehow our best and most consistent pass rusher, leading the way with 5 sacks on the season.
What has been the biggest surprise so far of the 2016 season Steeler wise?
Ian: Bad tackling on defense. The Steelers play a lot of zone defense, particularly underneath in the middle of the field. When they are at their best is when opponents run short hook routes and the linebackers can tackle the catch. When they are at their worst is when opponents run shallow crosses and force linebackers to run with slot wide receivers across the field. Tom Brady and Julian Edelman exploited this matchup all game.
The Steelers are also the worst team in the league at defending against passes to running backs. They have given up big plays on screen passes against Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Miami, Dallas, New England, and the Giants. Given how much the Bills throw to Shady McCoy out of the backfield, I am legitimately concerned about him breaking at least one if not multiple long gains against our defense.
How has Ross Cockrell been this year? I watch a bit of his game between Bills games and have been quite annoyed they cut him.
Ian: I loved Ross Cockrell coming out of Duke in the 2014 Draft. I felt like he was one of the top mid-round corners in that draft class. I was a bit dismayed when the Bills took him in the 4th round but thrilled when the Steelers added him. He was a bit raw when he came in but entered this season as our #1 CB and early in the season was matching up 1-on-1 with the top receivers from the other team. As rookie first rounder Artie Burns has come along this season, they are now comfortable with Cockrell and Burns staying to the right and left sides of the field and not following receivers.
He has good length for an outside corner and does a good job of getting his hands in and knocking away passes (he leads the team in Passes Defended) but can be a bit grabby at times and will get called for Pass Interference (4 times this year, 3 times last year). All in all, Cockrell is a solid all-around corner and a steady tackler. He’s not to the point of being a pure shutdown corner yet, but I generally like to think of having him as a mulligan for us taking Dri Archer 12 picks earlier. Archer was a total disaster and Cockrell has been very solid, so it’s almost like the Archer pick never happened and we took Cockrell instead.
With how well Steelers fans travel, I assume this will be at best a 60 / 40 fandom affair, favoring the Steelers. Where do you think it’ll fall and what are your predictions?
Ian: Steelers fans should have a pretty good showing as Buffalo is close enough to drive home after the game. That being said the Bills Mafia usually puts forth a strong effort and I don’t think you’ll be out-numbered in your own stadium. The weather is calling for snow on Sunday, which means we get some good old fashioned December football, the way it should be played. Both teams have explosive running backs and the Bills certainly have the edge on the defensive side of the ball. The last time the Steelers played in Buffalo, we squeaked by on 4 field goals from recently-signed Shaun Suisham in overtime (that was also the infamous Stevie Johnson “Why You Do Me Like That, God?” game). This time, we come back with another recently-signed kicker in Randy Bullock (though Chris Boswell is also on the roster and may play depending on his abdominal injury).
To be honest, this game will come down to which Ben Roethlisberger shows up. At home this season, Ben is 4-1 with a 119 passer rating, 17 TDs, just 3 INTs, and is averaging 8.48 yards per attempt and 327 yards per game. On the road, Ben is 3-3 with a 81.9 passer rating, 8 TDs, 5 INTs and averages 2 fewer yards per attempt (6.47) and over 100 fewer yards per game (233). To put this in comparison, Tom Brady currently leads the league with a 113 Passer Rating. Ben has been better than that at home, but somewhere in the range of Cam Newton and Carson Wentz (below Tyrod Taylor and Joe Flacco) on the road. If “Good Ben” shows up, then the Steelers could blow this one open (somewhere around 34-24) but if “Bad Ben” shows up, that likely means the Steelers will settle for FGs over TDs and in that case I like the Bills in a close one, 23-16.
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