In his first game with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Mike Williams made an immediate impact, scoring the game-winning touchdown. Since then, he’s largely been invisible on the field. The reason for that has been unclear, but with George Pickens out last Sunday, he did have a bigger role in the Steelers’ offense. According to Arthur Smith, it seems like that’s going to continue.
“I thought the rest of the guys stepped up and made big plays,” Smith said Thursday via Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on Twitter. “Scotty Miller is somebody who certainly took advantage of it. Obviously, we plan to get Mike [Williams] going more. The role was a little bit bigger. With George [Pickens] out, he certainly came through as well.”
That echoes what Mike Tomlin has said about Williams since Pickens suffered his injury. It makes sense too. There’s no one else on the Steelers’ roster with Pickens’ skill set, except for Williams. He isn’t as explosive as he once was, but he’s still shown an elite ability to make contested catches.
Take one look at what he did last week against the Cleveland Browns. With Pickens out, Williams recorded three catches for 36 yards. Those aren’t exactly staggering numbers, but it’s a step in the right direction. Williams also displayed his incredible jump-ball abilities. He got flagged for offensive pass interference on his first attempt, but he came back with a nice effort later in the game.
Replacing Pickens is going to take a team effort so it shouldn’t all fall on Williams’ shoulders. Expecting him to give exactly what Pickens did is unrealistic. Like Smith says, players like Miller also stepped up and showed they can be reliable. Pat Freiermuth and others will probably get more involved as well.
With the Philadelphia Eagles up next for the Steelers, they’re certainly going to want Williams to hop on a moving train. The Eagles’ defense is full of star power, and that includes their secondary. The Steelers’ receivers have a big challenge ahead of them. Smith and Tomlin seem confident they can rise to the occasion, though. We’ll see if they can do enough to minimize Pickens’ absence.
