The weather is usually the most mundane topic imaginable, the butt of jokes when you have nothing to say to somebody. It seems we talk about the weather more and more, however, and this weekend is no different. Much of the country is expected to be hit hard by extreme winds and snowstorms, including Orchard Park, N.Y., the home of the Buffalo Bills’ Highmark Stadium.
The Pittsburgh Steelers will be there, “rain or shine”, so to speak, for an AFC Wild Card Round game against the home team. It’s expected to be very windy, at the least, with the potential for some significant snowfall. Much of the talk is about how that will affect the passing game, but according to one former Steelers punter, it’s “an absolute nightmare” for special teams.
“Strategically you like to place the ball”, Josh Miller said on 93.7 The Fan with Ron Cook and Joe Starkey. “If you’re on the left hash, you kick to the sideline, and if you have a 50 [MPH] crosswind, you can’t drive a car 40 yards out of bounds to the left, let alone hit a ball”.
Miller punted for the Steelers for eight years, starting in the old Three Rivers Stadium in 1996. He played three seasons with the New England Patriots before ending his career following one season in Tennessee with the Titans. He’s not so sure the Steelers’ current punter, Pressley Harvin III, is cut out for the kind of weather forecast for the Buffalo area this weekend.
“No disrespect to the punter there, he drops the ball”, Miller pointed out, referring to a specific punting technique rather than literally dropping the ball on the ground. “I saw this a couple years ago with his first drop in the preseason game. I saw the punt, I saw his strength, and I’m watching him thinking, ‘Holy smokes, does this guy have a cannon’”.
“But I’m like, ‘You know what, when the weather gets bad, that’s not gonna bode well because of the simple fact that he drops the ball’”, he added. “It was just too high of a drop, and by the time he hits it, it drops in and dips down. I’m like, ‘That’s gonna be problem when the calendar turns to October’, let alone this crap”.
Not just because of Harvin, Miller recommended trying to convert on fourth down on offense as often as possible due to the weather conditions. He said that it’s hard enough just to snap the ball to your punter in a strong crosswind, let alone getting it down the field with any kind of accuracy, to the point where you’re just praying it’s not a disaster.
We don’t know yet if it will be all quite that bad, but frankly, Steelers fans are already familiar with poor punting from Harvin. And the team did add Brad Wing to the practice squad this week, which adds a little bit of intrigue if nothing else. They could technically elevate him from the practice squad without having to dress him for the game if they make a last-minute decision about who to go with. Even if Wing himself said Harvin is still the guy.
