Flavell's Five Thoughts: Steelers Second Half
The Pittsburgh Steelers had one of the earlier bye week slots this season, but it couldn't have come at a much better time. The week off allowed some time for Ben Roethlisberger to nurse a few injuries, Anthony McFarland is coming back, and Zach Banner will likely be back because of it as well.
Pittsburgh got into the bye week at .500 after winning consecutive games to save their season before it got too far away from them. A quick look at the AFC North shows why getting into the postseason might be more about what the other three teams have been doing rather than what the Steelers are doing.
The Bengals are flying high, heading into a road matchup against the lifeless Jets. Baltimore is coming off of a rout at the hands of the Bengals. They're on their bye week, but they'll be stewing on that loss for two weeks. Don't expect them to take that lightly going forward. The Browns are accumulating injuries at a rapid pace. They were without Baker Mayfield, Nick Chubb, and Kareem Hunt on Thursday night. Case Keenum and D'Ernest Johnson were more than adequate to beat the Broncos. Can they continue the trend against the Steelers, or will the Browns get healthy?
Enough about the other teams, though. The Steelers have some of their own issues to take care of. I've got some post-bye week thoughts to share. So without further ado, let's get started, shall we?
Does Anthony McFarland help boost the running game even further?
The first few games of the season were very ugly in the rushing department. It looked like the selection of Najee Harris in the first round wasn't going to make much of a difference with the offensive line playing as poorly as it did. While they still aren't playing at an elite level, they are certainly improving.
Harris' numbers have seen a significant bump in the past few games, and ironically, the Steelers have won those contests. Harris is a talented running back, so eventually, they'd figure it out. He played in the SEC, so most of those defenses were as close to NFL talent as he'd face without actually being in the NFL. He also played behind a legitimate NFL offensive line at Alabama. The current Steelers' offensive line might not start for Nick Saban.
McFarland, a small slasher of a running back out of Maryland, hasn't been given a ton of opportunity yet as a back in the NFL. Even with James Conner injured and underperforming last year, the Steelers used McFarland very sparingly. The most carries he has ever had in a game is six in his NFL debut last season.
To make room for McFarland on the roster, the Steelers released Jaylen Samuels. This means McFarland will likely have to pass both Benny Snell and Kalen Ballage on the depth chart. With Derek Watt being active for special teams purposes, one would think that one of the other three would sit on Sundays. Ballage feels like the odd man out because he is the least tenured, but it seems he has gotten more opportunity than Snell as of late when Harris needs to be spelled.
It'll be interesting to see how much, if any, McFarland features into the game plan over the course of the season. McFarland does have some receiving prowess and Pittsburgh is banged up at the position.
"Not a booster with a big enough blank check!"
The Mike Tomlin saga was obviously going to come up in Flavell's Five this week. After all, he is a hot commodity in the college football community all of a sudden because Carson Palmer decided to speak his name into the coaching carousel.
Upon hearing the rumor, it felt like a complete joke. Tomlin treated the questions from the media as such. Instead of giving a tip-toe answer around the question, Tomlin flat out stated that he won't be pursuing an opportunity in the college football world anytime soon, saying that he's got "one of the best jobs in all of professional sport."
It wouldn't make sense for Tomlin to pack up shop and leave Pittsburgh, a job he'll have until he doesn't want it anymore, for USC and the pressure of that media and program. He has never had a losing season in Pittsburgh and wants to win a Super Bowl with the Steelers after not doing so since beating the Cardinals in 2009.
There's no doubt Tomlin would be an excellent recruiter. If I were a young college player and Mike Tomlin came knocking at my door asking me to play for his team, it certainly wouldn't be a hard sell. But without any connection to the west coast, it would be hard to justify moving across the country and attempting to rebuild USC. Pete Carroll loved it so much he left to coach the Seattle Seahawks.
Tomlin's no-nonsense approach will look right past the media-generated rumors and focus on winning a season-defining road game against a beat-up Browns team. This feels like the classic Mike Tomlin prove-it game.
Tre Norwood will be vital in the second half
Don't get me wrong. When you consider the Steelers' defense, Tre Norwood is very far down the pecking order as far as who the Steelers need to stay healthy in the second half. If T.J. Watt and/or Cameron Heyward go down to injury, you can kiss the season goodbye. They've been incredible this season.
Norwood, the Steelers' sixth-round draft selection out of Oklahoma, came into this season fairly unknown. Not many fans had pegged him as a guy that would step up into such a big role in the defense to this point. Here we are in week eight and Norwood has been a massive get for Pittsburgh's secondary.
With Mike Hilton gone, the "division of labor" as Mike Tomlin likes to call it has been split up between a lot of guys. Norwood seems to be chief among them.
Norwood shined making a few open-field tackles in the Sunday night game against Seattle. He tackled DK Metcalf in the open field early in the first quarter. He made a few other solid plays that have made him look wise beyond his years. The 22-year old has 15 tackles and a pass defense through seven games. He was an absolute force against the Bills in the opening night win. He's been nothing short of solid since.
If he continues to be a steady presence in the Steelers' secondary, that will certainly help the overall outlook. Pittsburgh has only forced five turnovers all season, good for T-27th in the entire league. This comes after a plethora of turnovers in the past two seasons.
Tre Norwood might be the most impactful sixth-rounder in the NFL so far this season. That is a huge hat tip to the Steelers' scouting department for identifying such a solid player that late.
Do the Steelers make any deadline moves?
If a quality offensive lineman came available at the right price, the Steelers would be foolish not to consider it. They have enough average offensive linemen. They don't need to add to that number.
Will that opportunity presents itself and will the Steelers pay the price? I'm not so sure.
With that being said, the Steelers have a piece or two of their own that they could certainly sell-off.
Melvin Ingram was a well-documented signee before the season. It felt like a low-risk, high-reward kind of move. The low-risk part was certainly true. High reward? Not so much.
Ingram has been vastly outplayed by Alex Highsmith to this point of the season. Having that depth in case of an injury is absolutely a positive. However, Watt missed some time with that groin injury and Ingram went largely unnoticed in those games. Signing him to replace Bud Dupree was a good move. He would never supply what Dupree and Watt were capable of but it seemed he'd be better than what he's shown so far.
If the Steelers keep him, it won't be the end of the world. But if a team comes to you with an offer, it is worth listening to. The Steelers are without a fourth, fifth, or sixth-round draft pick in 2022. They'd surely like to restock that cupboard.
Another guy that comes to mind is Eric Ebron.
It's quite clear that Pat Friermuth has passed Ebron on the depth chart and rightfully so. Friermuth is a second-round pick and Ebron is on an expiring contract. Phasing Ebron out isn't a bad idea. Ebron has never been much in the way of a great teammate in any of his landing spots and hasn't even been effective when he is on the field. Zach Gentry and Kevin Radar remain on the roster and would be adequate enough if needed.
His media availability earlier in the week showed his displeasure with his role in the offense. To avoid any further displeasure and eventual locker room issues, ship Ebron to a team in need of a tight end that couldn't catch the ball with superglue on his hands.
To a lesser extent, James Washington is also a name to keep an eye on for obvious reasons.
Steelers must strike while the iron is hot
The Steelers have one of the tougher schedules in 2021. Counting back to week five, the Steelers are in the easiest stretch of their schedule by far.
If the Browns aren't healthy on Sunday, that provides a very winnable road game where an abundance of fans will surely travel. Couple that with games against the Bears on Sunday Night Football and then a matchup with the Lions the following week and the Steelers must capitalize.
Losing on the road isn't shameful so if Pittsburgh loses and falls to 3-4 Sunday, it isn't the end of the world. However, a loss to either Detroit or Chicago at home would effectively end the season. They wouldn't deserve to go much further.
The Steelers have to take care of business now. Check their schedule the rest of the way and you'll know why. It's going to get very hairy after the Lions game. They've got the Chargers, both Ravens games, Bengals, Vikings, Titans, Chiefs, and one more with the Browns.
The lone message heading into the next few weeks from me to the team: win the winnable games. The AFC is wide open. Many of the teams are clustered between three and five wins. A playoff spot is entirely attainable.
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