Category Archives: Steelers PATs

Steelers PATs: Burned secondary, burned cash 220

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The Browns' Jordan Cameron catches a touchdown in front of Cortez Allen on Sunday. -- GETTY IMAGES

The Browns’ Jordan Cameron catches a touchdown in front of Cortez Allen on Sunday. — GETTY IMAGES

DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

CLEVELAND — These words, minus the one in brackets, came from the mouth of Mike Mitchell: “When we did what we were supposed to do, we kicked their [behinds]. They got us on a couple trick plays that really hurt us and got their momentum going.”

Which begs the obvious question. And no, not the one that asks who Mitchell is.

I’m talking about this one: Is there anyone on these Steelers that doesn’t subscribe to the theory that flying the plane successfully comes with the same value as landing it successfully?

My goodness.

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Steelers PATs: A jumped route? Is that legal? 20

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — What made Brice McCain’s decisive pick-six stand out in the Steelers’ 17-9 victory Sunday over the Jaguars wasn’t just that it was that rarest of rare sightings for the local franchise — defensive points! — it’s the unbridled aggressiveness with which they came.

I mean, McCain jumped a route.

When is the last time anyone in the Pittsburgh secondary just brazenly jumped a route, even a precarious sideline route such as the one Allen Hurns tried and failed with a slip?

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Steelers PATs: A performance Worilds apart 100

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

A last look at the Steelers’ last game …

Worilds

Worilds

• Jason Worilds had a tackle Sunday. Also, two quarterback hits. And no, I don’t remember any of those things happening, either. In fact, just about the only things I can remember happening for him are things that happened last season.

Remember that, when he suddenly emerged into this superlative sack machine?

You don’t need numbers to be convinced that the 2013 version of Worilds is no more, but here are some, anyway: He has nine tackles through four games, six solos and one for a sack. That means that, of his 270 snaps to date, only 3 percent have resulted in him bringing a ball-carrier to Mother Earth. He also has no forced fumbles, no passes defensed, no nothing else. Pro Football Focus ranks him eighth among the 14 NFL outside linebackers operating in 3-4 defenses who have participated in three-quarters of all defensive snaps. That’s just below average with a minus-1.2 grade.

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Steelers PATs: Success with a price 30

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A last look at the Steelers’ last game …

A bunch of players were hurt in a game in which the team as a whole went full-throttle, which probably isn’t a coincidence. And which probably, in its own weird way, is a positive.

Late Sunday night, Jarvis Jones was walking out of the locker room with his wrist in a cast and his face as long as the hallway ahead.

“That’s the price you gotta pay,” he told me.

And he’s right. That’s not to suggest the Steelers would do well to lose more than a quarter of their starting defense each week, but it seems a fair point to underscore. There have been far too many games over the past two seasons-plus where there wasn’t nearly enough pain.

• Updating all those injuries: Jones’ wrist likely will require surgery, though a prognosis is unknown. Ryan Shazier has a sprained MCL in his knee. That will need more evaluation, as well. And Ike Taylor’s broken forearm, surgically repaired today, shouldn’t have anyone assuming he’ll be back, even with the modified injured reserve that allows a player to resume practicing after Week 6, playing after Week 8. It’s asking an awful lot.

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Steelers PATs: At least there was Le’Veon 33

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

BALTIMORE — Having buried the local football club about 6 1/2 feet deep in the column filed late last night from M&T Bank Stadium, thought I’d dig even deeper for anything remotely resembling a positive.

Yeah, I know, right?

Well, I was able to come up with Le’Veon Bell. Not just for the 59 yards he picked up over 11 carries. Not for the five catches for 48 yards, a wonderful average of 9.6 per play. Not even for the breathtaking patience he continues to exhibit, highlighted by this beauty of a 21-yard sprint into the Baltimore backfield. When you watch this video, do so the first time isolating on Bell, and the second time isolating on Heath Miller, who slashes across to his left to set the pivotal block.

Good stuff. But still not what I want to discuss.

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Steelers PATs: More Gay, less D-line rotation 91

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DEJAN KOVACEVIC, DK ON PITTSBURGH SPORTS

One last look at the Steelers’ last game …

• Funny, but it at least sounded like Mike Tomlin watched the Cleveland film and came away with the right conclusions … only to completely ignore those and stay stubborn.

In Sunday’s column here, I called for more Willie Gay, which is to say more than just nickel back. And Tomlin, after already having answered my question right after the game by praising Gay’s work, reiterated that even more strongly at his press conference Monday on the South Side, describing his play as “significant.”

Great! So Gay will start ahead of Ike Taylor, then?

Uh, no.

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