The Pittsburgh Steelers have plenty of speed at wide receiver. But the only time the group has shown those wheels has come from receiving a short throw and running downfield. The deep pass has been missing in the offense. Wide receiver Calvin Austin III knows why it’s been MIA.
“Just continue to be honed in on our details and assignments,” Austin said in a 1v1 interview with NFL Network’s Judy Battista shortly after touching down in Dublin. “When we look back at film on some of the missed opportunities. I would say was just come down to just like one little either misstep, alignment, or just something very small. So just continuing in the midst of the game to be locked in.”
Entering Week Four, Pittsburgh has nine completions of 20-plus yards. That sits roughly average league-wide but the Steelers have manufactured those plays through the quick passing game moreso than QB Aaron Rodgers taking downfield attempts. Rodgers has the NFL’s worst air yards in football and unless it’s come off play-action, the Steelers have struggled to find big plays.
Like issues with the running game, small details are often the difference between a big play and an incompletion. Defenses have a say in taking it away and Rodgers has consistently cited facing two-high shells as an obstacle in throwing vertically. But Pittsburgh needs big plays. It’s why DK Metcalf was acquired for a second-round pick. It’s why the team drafted Roman Wilson and Austin. Wilson has just one total reception this season while Austin hasn’t gotten loose for big gains since Week One, though he caught last Sunday’s game-winning 17-yard score.
A work-in-progress, Austin is confident the passing game will turn the corner.
“I think those big plays will come,” he said.
Minnesota will provide a tough test. A stingy unit allowing few total yards in the air, much less big ones, the Vikings have allowed just five completions of 20-plus yards this season. That’s tied for the second-fewest in football. The big play is an antidote to going on 11-play slogs and Pittsburgh finding some of that magic overseas increases the odds of winning and make for a happy plane ride home.
