A week ago, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ downfield passing attack was nonexistent. The Steelers couldn’t consistently complete anything further than five yards down the field, and DK Metcalf was in the middle of a brutal stretch of games. During that streak, former NFL cornerback Asante Samuel Sr. openly criticized Metcalf, claiming he “makes everything look terrible” for Aaron Rodgers.
With him being the father of current Steelers’ cornerback Asante Samuel Jr., those are certainly notable comments. But Metcalf gave the Steelers a much better performance against the Baltimore Ravens this week, catching seven passes for 148 yards. Now, Samuel is impressed by Metcalf’s ability to respond.
“I like how the receivers stepped up for Aaron Rodgers, after hearing all that negative talk about his offense. Especially coming from me,” Samuel said Sunday on his Say What Needs To Be Said podcast. “DK Metcalf must have heard me screaming, man. Today was a different story for DK Metcalf, as far as getting open and making plays. He did his thing… I see a different player out there today. I see a different player with different ambition, with different motivation.”
There was a ton of talk around the Steelers in general last week. And a lot of that pressure revolved around Rodgers and DK Metcalf. The two were expected to be something the rest of the offense could build around. Yet, they couldn’t develop any consistent rapport for much of the year.
But the win over Baltimore was a massive step in the right direction. The two connected in a couple of different ways. There were two deep shots down the sideline, which Rodgers and Metcalf were able to complete. This one, early in the second quarter, is a really impressive rep from Metcalf.
He accelerates off the line much quicker than the corner, who starts the play in press coverage, but quickly loses a step. Rodgers does a good job keeping the ball away from the safety, but watch the late hands from Metcalf here. He doesn’t put them up until the last second, keeping the defender from making a play on the ball. These little things aren’t anything major, but the Steelers’ offense hasn’t done the little things much at all over the last month.
It’s encouraging to see. But we’ve seen a lot of Rodgers hitting DK Metcalf on quick throws down the sideline. What we haven’t seen as much of is the two of them being able to extend plays. This rep is just a good understanding of the game from Metcalf. He tries to cut right, sees nothing there, and finds an open spot to the deep left part of the field. That’s the same direction Rodgers rolls. Metcalf is right where his quarterback expects him to be, and the Steelers gain 41 yards on the play.
These aren’t huge details, but they are things every WR1 should do well. DK Metcalf has done them well throughout his career, but we just hadn’t seen it much through the month of November. If he and Rodgers can build on this performance, it will be a massive help to the Steelers’ chances of closing out their potential AFC North title.
