With the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2023 season at an end in a bitter loss to the Buffalo Bills in the Wildcard Round, it’s time to look to the future already. There will be plenty to wrap up over the next several months as players come and go, including re-signings, releases, draft picks, perhaps trades, and who knows what else.
We will also inevitably take stock of who had good seasons, who had bad seasons, who improved their position, who hurt theirs. In case you haven’t noticed, the NFL has long turned itself into a 365-day business (366 during leap years), so we’ll always have something to discuss.
Player: ILB Myles Jack
Stock Value: Down
Reasoning: The veteran inside linebacker had an unfortunate night amid his four tackles, drawing multiple penalties, perhaps being lucky to get away with another, giving up a touchdown, and missing tackles.
It’s hard to be too critical when you’re talking about a guy who came off the couch to play not too long ago. But Myles Jack is a longtime NFL veteran, and he’s been on the team for the better part of the last two years. He’s been in the lineup for a few games.
He did not have his best game when the Steelers needed it yesterday against the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card Round of the postseason. Although Elandon Roberts and Mykal Walker started the game at inside linebacker, Jack also got considerable playing time.
He was responsible for allowing one of the Bills’ early touchdowns, getting beaten down the seam in coverage by rookie TE Dalton Kincaid. Roberts made a better play in coverage later in the game, despite being seen as a run stuffer.
Earlier in the game, he went at a player on the ground after having already been tackled, which many thought could have drawn a late hit personal foul penalty. He later got one when he did that to QB Josh Allen, claiming that he was attempting to avoid another “fake slide” incident. Allen had previously run right through the defense for a 50-plus-yard touchdown, at one point maneuvering in such a way that a defender might have thought he would slide. It wasn’t the greatest excuse in the world.
His other penalty was questionable, called for defensive holding, but I’m not sure there was any holding prior to the pass being thrown. He clearly committed defensive pass interference when the ball was in the air, but the pass was nowhere near catchable, thus rendering such a penalty impossible. After a long conference, the officials decided to call the holding penalty.
All in all, it made up for a bad night, and one that certainly hurt the Steelers’ chances of winning. A member of the practice squad, Jack’s contract will expire shortly, but still 28 years old, does he want to keep playing? And if he does, do the Steelers still want him, or was this just an emergency situation? They already cut him, but if they could re-sign him for the veteran minimum, will they?
