It’s not just QB Justin Fields who could see an expanded role come the Steelers’ do-or-die playoff game Saturday night against the Baltimore Ravens. WR Mike Williams might see more action, too. After logging just one target in the team’s regular-season finale despite that impressive catch netting 25 yards, Mike Tomlin says Williams could see additional snaps for the playoffs.
“Certainly. And for us, it’s not just about Mike, it’s the playmaking,’ Tomlin said Monday of Williams during his weekly presser aired on the Steelers’ YouTube channel. “As I mentioned after the game, man, we didn’t make enough routine plays in play and for us to be the type of unit that we desire to be and the team that we desire to be, you gotta make routine plays. Oftentimes routine plays produce additional plays that could be spectacular.”
Williams logged just 14 offensive snaps in the loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. While Pittsburgh hardly possessed the ball, his 23-percent snap share was still his fewest since his Steelers debut in Week 9.
Tomlin chalked that up to a lack of offensive fluidity that made it difficult to sustain drives.
“And so converting routine third downs, being on schedule, things of that nature, allow us to possess the ball to produce more opportunities for guys like Mike, who obviously has big-play capabilities,” he said.
The Steelers managed only 2.8 yards per play and were 33.3 percent on third down, a dubious recipe to string out long and flowing drives. Still, that doesn’t entirely account for why Williams didn’t get involved.
Ostensibly, the offense’s run-first game plan was the reason why he was limited, the Steelers attempting to pound the rock and control the clock instead of winning through the air as they did in their first matchup against the Bengals. Largely, Williams has played in passing groupings, 11 personnel with three receivers on the field. Per our Tom Mead, Williams entered Week 18 seeing 74.3-percent of his snaps in 11 personnel.
On the final play of the first quarter, Williams made an excellent toe-tap catch along the right sideline to convert on 3rd and 11.
Despite that clutch play, Williams wasn’t targeted the rest of the game. A limited snap count didn’t help matters.
While Williams isn’t the offense’s savior some expected after Pittsburgh acquired him, there’s a solid case for him to get more involved. The Steelers have received virtually zero production from wide receivers besides George Pickens. And when Pickens tanks like he did Saturday night with three drops, Pittsburgh’s passing game goes in the gutter right along with him.
