Can Steelers contain Chiefs’ Hill
MEMORABLE SERIES MOMENT
Chiefs 31, Steelers 14
Nov. 15, 1970 at Three Rivers Stadium
In their second year under Chuck Noll, and first year at their new stadium, the Steelers hosted the defending champion Chiefs a week after beating the 1968 champion New York Jets to even their record at 4-4. It was their first-ever game against the Chiefs, and Terry Hanratty got the start against Len Dawson, the Steelers’ first-round draft pick in 1957 and winner of the previous Super Bowl’s Outstanding Player award. Dawson helped the Chiefs build a 10-0 halftime lead, before first overall draft pick Terry Bradshaw entered for the second series of the third quarter. Bradshaw drove the Steelers 80 yards for a Frenchy Fuqua touchdown to pull the Steelers to within 10-7, but Dawson answered with his second touchdown pass of the game to tight end Billy Cannon.
Bradshaw answered with an interception and Dawson hit Otis Taylor for a 42-yard touchdown pass to put the game away for the Chiefs. The Steelers went on to finish the season 5-9.
TALE OF THE TAPE
“I’m not sure I would’ve traded Alex Smith. I think Pat Mahomes is not your typical West Coast offense quarterback. West Coast guys, the footwork is premium. They hitch into throws. They hitch back. They hitch right or left. He doesn’t do that. He’s very casual and flat-footed. Now, he’s got a GREAT arm and it looks like he just tosses it and it goes 60 yards, but one of the things I notice about him is he’s not comfortable in the pocket. He’ll scramble out, mostly to the right. I think part of that is he’s comfortable looking at one-third of the field and he’s more comfortable kind of moving, and I think that takes away from the way they play their offense. It’s really kind of interesting. Half of his throws are made while scrambling to the right.” — Steelers Radio analyst Tunch Ilkin.
TOP QUESTION
Can the Steelers contain Chiefs receiver/return specialist Tyreek Hill?
On Aug. 4, with a group of reporters asking Steelers special teams coordinator about his own candidates to return punts and kickoffs, Danny Smith mentioned three names in the midst of a couple of rambling answers: Tyreek Hill, Tyreek Hill and Tyreek Hill. “Obsessed with Tyreek Hill today?” asked one reporter. “Tyreek Hill’s the best! I mean, who’s the best in the game right now? It’s Tyreek Hill. We play him all the time. You better be able to track the best if you’re going to be worth a damn.” Well, here comes Hill off a game in which he returned a punt 91 yards for a touchdown on his first touch of the season, among other big plays in the Chiefs’ 38-28 win over the Chargers. Perhaps Smith’s obsession is the reason the Steelers have contained Hill. He’s had long plays of 32 (punt), 21 (kickoff) and 10 (receiving) yards in three games the last two years. And he’s someone with 13 50-yard touchdown plays in 32 career games.
THREE QUESTIONS:
With WR DARRIUS HEYWARD-BEY
Q: Cameron Sutton and Matthew Thomas played on the other side of you as punt gunners last week. How did they do?
DHB: “First game, it’s tough to say. A game with a lot of rain; I think guys played well but we’ll see how it goes this week against Tyreek Hill. We’ve got to make plays. But I like the fact the guys are buying into it. A lot of people don’t understand it’s a tough job. When they’re doubling you out there, it’s borderline illegal. But I liked their approach, especially Matt. He’s young, he’s a rookie, and I think he’s just happy to be out on the field.”
Q: Isn’t that a rare place for a linebacker?
DHB: “It’s rare, but we’re not the first team to do it. You go back to Baltimore, Adalius Thomas played there back in the early 2000s. Lawrence Timmons has done it before. Baltimore has a guy right now that’s a linebacker they throw out there. It’s rare, but it happens around the league because you’ve got a linebacker that runs 4.4, 4.5. That’s an advantage.”
Q: Thomas looked like a handful for the Browns, didn’t he?
DHB: “Yeah, yeah, for sure. That’s what we need him to do. We need him to go down there full speed and hopefully knock some balls out when he makes the tackle.”
GAME BREAKDOWN
What to look for from the Steelers today at Heinz Field:
ON OFFENSE:
Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown have been joined by James Conner for another strong group of triplets, and don’t be surprised to see the next wave: Josh Dobbs, James Washington and Jaylen Samuels out there as well. Roethlisberger’s listed as questionable with a sore elbow, so Dobbs practiced most of the week and the Steelers like the mobility he provides in their RPOs as a third option. Don’t be surprised if he runs a series, or at least a few plays. The workloads of both Washington and Samuels increased this week as well and both expect to be worked into the action. TE Vance McDonald also returns, and B.J. Finney should play right guard in place of David DeCastro (doubtful/hand).
ON DEFENSE:
Hill isn’t just a gadget guy anymore. He runs good routes and is an explosive threat and they feed him the ball. Travis Kelce used to be Smith’s security blanket as a tight end, and the Steelers have contained him a bit, too, over the years. In five games against the Steelers, Kelce’s scored only one touchdown (23 catches, 241 yards) but last week, with the big-armed Mahomes at QB, Kelce caught only 1 pass for 6 yards. Kareem Hunt led the NFL in rushing as a rookie last year but averaged only 3.1 per carry last week behind Eric Fisher, Cam Erving and company. Erving is vulnerable at left guard against Cameron Heyward. Expect CB Artie Burns (questionable/toe) to play, opposite Sutton in place of Joe Haden (doubtful/hamstring).
PREDICTION
The UPMC Rooney Complex wasn’t a comfortable place for anyone this past week following the late-game collapse and tie in Cleveland. The Browns are no doubt improved, as are the Chiefs, who are excited with their strong-armed rookie. But Mahomes can be mistake-prone, since he relies too much on his immense skill set. The Chiefs are vulnerable in their secondary, and I look for a few mistakes from Mahomes as Roethlisberger and the Steelers bounce back … Steelers, 34-24.
BY THE NUMBERS
4: Touchdown passes thrown last week by Mahomes, the third time a Chiefs QB has done so (Dawson, Smith).
17.1: Yards per completion for Mahomes last week, third in the NFL.
18.1: Percent of plays run by the Chiefs last season that were RPOs (run/pass options), first in the NFL.
23.24: Miles per hour by Hill at the peak of a 105-yard kickoff return in 2016 to record the fastest NFL time for NextGen, which had a micro-chip in Hill’s shoulder pads. Usain Bolt hit a peak of 27.44 during the peak of his 2009 world-record 100-meter run of 9.572. Bolt, of course, wasn’t wearing shoulder pads. Both athletes were 22 years old when they recorded those times.
152.5: Passer rating for Roethlisberger the last time he faced the Chiefs at Heinz Field, a 43-14 Steelers win. He’s 5-0 at home, and (counting postseason) 7-1 overall against the Chiefs.
DOWNLOADS
n Conner’s 36 touches for 192 yards last week was his biggest workload since Nov. 1, 2014, when at Pitt he carried 38 times for 263 against Duke. He followed that up with a 30-for-220 game against North Carolina, so a heavy workload isn’t foreign to him. “I watched that guy tote the ball a lot next door,” said Mike Tomlin. “I think he’s used to that. I think he gets better with use. I think that was one of the things that was attractive about him. I mean, he likes to carry the football. He warms up to it.”
n T.J. Watt got the scouting report from his other brother, Derek Watt, who plays fullback for the Los Angeles Chargers. “He played offense so it’s different,” T.J. said. “But he is on special teams, though, and he said 10’s fast. I said I already knew that.” Number 10, of course, is Hill.
n James Harrison was the personal nemesis of Fisher, the Chiefs’ left tackle, but Harrison is gone. Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler, though, has an idea. “What we are going to do is take Ola (Adeniyi, number 92) and we are going to take him off injured reserve and we’re going to sneak him out there. But, yeah, we don’t have him this year. I saw James the other day. James kind of put the fear of God in him a little bit, and for good reason.”
n It doesn’t look like the Chiefs’ All-Pro free safety Eric Berry will return this week. He’s listed as doubtful with a sore heel, more than a year after rupturing an Achilles’ tendon in last year’s opener. The Chiefs are also without their other safety, Daniel Sorensen, who’s on IR. The replacements are Ron Parker, who’s been cut twice this season, and Eric Murray, a reserve last year. Cornerback Marcus Peters is also gone. He (along with his 19 interceptions the last three seasons) was traded to the Rams.
n The next Steelers win at Heinz Field will be their 100th regular-season win at the stadium.
PARTING SHOT
“He’s fast as a lightning, isn’t he? Yeah, he’s fast. We kind of crowded him last year a little bit. He’s hard. He got away from us on, I think, a wheel route. He gets behind you and can outrun everybody.” — Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler.