Drama-free Steelers seek better finish
Associated Press
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster (19) lead the offense to the field as they are greeted by fans as they walk to the fields for the first day of drills of their NFL football training camp practice in Latrobe. With Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell gone, Roethlisberger and wide receiver Smith-Schuster will have to lead the offense on the field.
Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Vance McDonald (89) bites on a sports drink packet with a towel over his head during practice in Latrobe. With Antonio Brown no longer with the Steelers, McDonald could get a more important role in the passing game. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Keith Srakocic
Linebacker Devin Bush (55) stretches during training camp. The Steelers are expecting the first-round draft pick out of Michigan to make an immediate impact on their defense. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Associated Press
Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin will have less time and fewer preseason games in which to evaluate new players to the team’s roster.
LATROBE – Antonio Brown, the highly productive but divisive wide receiver, has been traded to the Oakland Raiders.
Running back Le’Veon Bell, whose holdout last year created a season-long debate, is off to the New York Jets.
Will no Brown and no Bell be no problem for the Pittsburgh Steelers?
If anything, it should mean less drama.
The Steelers, held up for decades as the standard of stability in the NFL, became something else the past few years. They developed into Team Turmoil.
Brown decided to bail on his teammates before a must-win Week 17 home game against Cincinnati last season, when Pittsburgh finished with a 9-6-1 record. The four-time All-Pro spent most of the offseason lashing out at the organization after a late-season collapse kept Pittsburgh out the playoffs for the first time since 2013. Brown also criticized quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, once saying that he felt the two-time Super Bowl winner had an “owner mentality.”
Roethlisberger said he isn’t using offseason criticism from ex-players as motivation this season.
“I’m only focused on the guys that are here,” he said. “That’s all that really matters to me, the guys who are in this locker room, and on this team, and that’s all I should focus on.”
Roethlisberger did acknowledge he had a unique on-field connection with Brown.
Roethlisberger also admitted it will be different without Brown on the line of scrimmage. But he’s excited to move on after the Steelers and Brown had a messy public offseason divorce.
“I think the things we did together were some things that no one’s really ever done,” Roethlisberger said. “It was pretty special, so it’s going to be hard to make up for that. But I’m going to do my best to still bring my ‘A’ game, and I know we have other guys on this team who are ready to step up.”
If anything, the Steelers should have better chemistry this season. Chemistry, however, can’t necessarily replace talent, but it’s important. And it’s not like the Steelers don’t have talent. They just need for that talent to produce more wins.
Pittsburgh let a 2 1/2-game lead in AFC North vanish over the final month of last season to miss the playoffs. There were, however, some bright spots. Roethlisberger led NFL in passing. JuJu Smith-Schuster developed into a bona fide star by hauling in 111 receptions. The young running back duo of James Conner and Jaylen Samuels kept the chains moving even with Bell opting to sit out the entire year.
The charismatic Smith-Schuster is now the unquestioned No. 1 receiver on the team after the 22-year-old finished with 1,426 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. Roethlisberger has noticed a difference in the third-year wide receiver, who was named team MVP last season.
“I think JuJu is still himself and that’s what makes him special,” Roethlisberger said. “He’s still fun-loving and silly at times, but you see some growth and maturity, and you see him kind of accepting that leadership role.”
The Steelers have several options to fill the void opposite Smith-Schuster, including veterans Donte Moncrief, Ryan Switzer, and Eli Rogers. They also have James Washington, last year’s second-round pick, and Diontae Johnson, the team’s third-round selection this year.
Tight end Vance McDonald could be primed for a breakout year.
“I know they can catch, I know they can play,” Roethlisberger said. “I want to see who makes the least amount of mistakes, who can get a subtle hand signal, who can interpret visual signals, the little subtle nuances.”
Roethlisberger, in his 16th season, broke his own franchise record with 34 touchdown passes. The 37-year-old quarterback says he’s not as fast believes his arm is just as strong as it was 10 years ago.
“I really spent a lot of time with my trainer, working on my shoulders and back and things for throwing,” Roethlisberger said. “I feel as good as I ever have physically, and I still feel sharp mentally, too, so that’s important.”
Roethlisberger also wants to win another Super Bowl.
“That’s much more motivation for me than what people say,” Roethlisberger said. “I’ll be selfish when it comes to that. I want to win Super Bowls. Truthfully, that should be all of our motivation because that’s what’s driving me right now.”
Just how far the Steelers go this season might be determined by their defense. Despite leading the NFL in sacks for second straight season, the defense produced only 15 takeaways, which ranked 29th in league.
Pittsburgh traded up in the first round of the draft for first time since 2003 to acquire speedy inside linebacker Devin Bush from Michigan, a necessary step with Ryan Shazier’s career in jeopardy as he recovers from spinal surgery suffered in December, 2017. Bush received raves during organized team activities and minicamp, but as coach Mike Tomlin likes to point out, that’s just “football in shorts.”
If Bush can live up to expectations, then the Steelers’ defense will have a chance to be very good. Bush joins a linebacking corps that includes budding star T.J. Watt and Bud Dupree, who is on a contract year.
Watt has been what the team had hoped after selecting him 30th overall in the 2017 draft. Last year, Watt had 68 tackles, 13 sacks, six forced fumbles and 21 quarterback hits. With 20 sacks over his first two seasons, Watt set a franchise record.
Pittsburgh signed linebacker Mark Barron to play a significant role as a nickel-base linebacker who can complement Bush. Adding in Vince Williams, who started 24 games over the last two years, and linebacker is the strength of the defense.
The Steelers bring back all their significant contributors on the defensive line, but the secondary, however, has long been the trouble spot as it has given up too many completions and generated too few interceptions.
One reason the secondary takes so much criticism is it lacks a star player. Cornerback Joe Haden is there, but the nine-year veteran hasn’t made the Pro Bowl since 2014.
The Steelers selected safety Terrell Edmunds with the 28th pick in the 2018 draft and cornerback Artie Burns with the 25th pick in 2016. Burns looks like a bust already. Edmunds is better, but he wasn’t even projected to be a first-round pick.
Defensive coordinator Keith Butler says if the Steelers’ defensive backs simply caught the balls that were thrown to them last season, then their takeaway statistics would have been much more respectable.
Five of Pittsburgh’s six losses last season were by seven points or less, most of them aided by self-inflicted mistakes such as late turnovers or penalties. It didn’t help that kicker Chris Bowell took a step backward, missing seven field goals and five extra points, hindering the Steelers badly in several close games that resulted in losses.
Tomlin has a 125-66-1 record with two Super Bowl appearances and one championship in 12 seasons. Yet the Steelers have won only three playoff games since their most recent AFC title in 2010. The offense will have a different look after Brown pouted his way into the trade to Oakland. Bigger question marks are on defense, which faltered at key times last season. Roethlisberger signed a contract extension that will carry him until his 40th birthday, but whether a Super Bowl window remains open during remainder of his tenure will rely heavily on the defense recapturing some menace.
“Not a lot of people are saying that we’re going to be good,” center Maurkice Pouncey said. “I always like being the underdog. Ever since I’ve been playing football, I’ve always been the underdog so maybe that’s the best way to be.”