Welcome back to your Pittsburgh Steelers mailbag. As always, we’re here for the next hour to answer whatever is on your mind.
To your questions!
Brian Tollini: The Steelers special team has been pretty special. Boswell is on fire, Waitman has been solid, impact plays, great punt coverage, etc. One area that has been pretty awful is kick returns, as we are dead last in the league by a fairly wide margin. I’m sure you could attribute this to the small sample size and kicking away from Patterson, but are you seeing anything on tape that sticks out?
Alex: Yeah one is a simple lack of returns. They’ve had more recently but not a lot. Beyond that, it’s hard to really pinpoint why. A lack of reps probably doesn’t help. Patterson missed the summer with injury so you didn’t get that summer work that would’ve been ideal. Tomlin ended up holding Patterson off the return team; I would’ve liked to see him get some time there. But I don’t want to make that the sole reason.
I’d just say they have 17 returns and that’s a small sample size where it’s harder to make adjustments without more tape and chances to fix things. They’ll probably get more as the weather keeps getting worse and as teams test their unit until they show they can get past the 30.
HinesWardFan: Alex, my big question of the week is about our 0-10 streak in Philly. Does Philly have our number, or are we due for a win? I suppose both are true, but which one do you think will have a greater impact on the results Sunday? Thanks!
Alex: As much as I love weird stats, and appreciate nuggets like that, I know it has no bearing on Sunday afternoon. The Eagles having the Steelers number of Pittsburgh being “due.” Neither really matter once that ball is kicked off. It’s just one of those quirky things but aren’t predictive of the future. So neither has an impact on the results.
George Hareras:
Hey Alex,
What’s on Tomlin’s letter to Santa this year?
Alex: Ha, fun question. I hope a playoff win. That would be a heck of a start. And a faster start in the postseason. Get ready for me to be annoyed to discuss “66-0”, the first quarter margin Pittsburgh’s been outscored by in their last five playoff games. All losses. That’s sure gotta change to break that drought.
Danatural08:
Alex,
What’s your personal set up like on gameday? Do you normally watch at home, with ppl or alone? Are you taking notes on paper or on a computer? Are you freezing plays & rewatching them a couple times to watch different players?
Alex: It’s nothing fancy. At home, at my office desk, by myself. Can’t be around people and distractions and try to watch and work. Not taking many in-game notes but when I go back through the game, everything is still on paper. For me, that’s how I’ve always done it and it’s the best way I can remember. My recall isn’t as good when I type versus when I actually put pen on paper.
Yeah, I generally will stop and playback a clip several times as opposed to making one quick pass through over and over. That’s usually my method. And then go back throughout the week for anything specific I want to drill down.
