Steelers Spin: Dublin Down In Ireland
By Michael K. Reynolds
Early in the wee hours of Sunday, Irish eyes will be smiling as the National Football League shines an American spotlight on Dublin, Ireland as the Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Minnesota Vikings in what should be a telling showdown.
As to whether the eyes of Steelers Nation will be smiling will require their team to tap into some more early-season good fortune, as well as take a quantum leap up in performance as they step up in class against the Vikings.
Pittsburgh is coming off a game in which the struggling New England Patriots out-yarded them 369 to 203 and bested the Steelers in every way except for ball security. It took five Patriots turnovers for Pittsburgh to win the game 21-14.
Minnesota’s last game resulted in its fast-rising defense pummeling the Joe Burrow-less Cincinnati Bengals into complete submission. Just like the Steelers, the Vikings benefited from five turnovers as well, but were able to convert those much more prolifically into a 48-10 smackdown.
The Steelers are 2-1 and tied with the Bengals at the top of their division. This, despite their supposed vaunted defense, surrendered 1,158 yards in three games while only managing to grind out 741 offensive yards of their own.
For the Rooney family, this weekend takes on special meaning as the great Dan Rooney once served as the US Ambassador to Ireland, and with their family proudly drawing their roots from the Emerald Isle.
In some ways, this Ireland expedition provides a timely distraction for the Rooneys as the rumblings get louder back home.
Winning record and divisional lead aside, it’s hard to put enough lipstick on this year’s Steelers team to cover up their obvious shortcomings as they head into the more grown-up stage of their schedule.
If you squinted your eyes really hard, you could detect some positive defensive improvements in last week’s game against New England.
But in Dublin, it will be eyes wide open against the Vikings as the Steelers come in ranked 28th in defense and 30th in offense. There might not be enough luck of the Irish to escape being fully exposed in this one.
Will the Steelers be able to continue to defy the odds and stack another win? Let’s give it a Spin.
Jack And Payton
My favorite Steelers linebacker of all time was Jack Lambert. Calling him my favorite is saying a lot because when you’re trying to choose a bestie from Pittsburgh’s lineup of greats at the position, the competition is overwhelming.
Jack Ham. Andy Russell. Mike Merriweather. David Little. Bryan Hinkle. Robin Cole. Greg Lloyd. Kevin Greene. Chad Brown. Levon Kirkland. Clark Haggans. Jason Worilds. Lawrence Timmons. Joey Porter. James Harrison. T.J. Watt. Somebody stop me.
So…yes…choosing Jack Lambert as my fave is significant.
However, I can also say there would be no Jack Lambert in the Hall of Fame without Joe Greene, L.C. Greenwood, Ernie Holmes, and Dwight White.
Lambert was 6’4” and weighed 220 pounds. Without that Hall of Fame road grading crew in front of him, he wouldn’t have had a chance against the Earl Campbells of the time.
The same is going to be the case with Payton Wilson, who is listed at 6’4” and is rather generously credited as weighing 242 pounds by the Steelers PR department.
Wilson is jackrabbit quick, but he won’t play like Jack Lambert or like Jack at all…if the defensive line in front of him is busy being de-cleated and tossed aside. His counterpart, Patrick Queen, hasn’t shown to be that stout at the point of attack either.
Which means Wilson should be toasting enthusiastically to Derrick Harmon’s good health. Having the Steelers’ number one pick back in the lineup made a mountain of difference. Wilson went from being a running defense liability to at least being serviceable on the field.
Having Cole Holcomb spell him on obvious running downs provided a noticeable upgrade at linebacker play against the Patriots.
Wilson understandably has drawn the ire of many, and much of this has been rightfully earned early this year.
But he still flashes as a rare talent in speed and agility at the position, and the Steelers would be wise to solve their troubles in the trenches to unleash his potential better.
Harmon’s impressive debut showing was a proper start in the right direction.
Where Have You Been?
When your defense gives up nearly 400 yards to a lower-tier team, it’s hard to pull pins of optimism out of the haystack of despair, but there was another good sign. That was the play of Cam Heyward, who seemed to quash the rising concerns because of his underwhelming performances in the first couple of games this season.
It was vintage Cam again, as he pushed the line, batted balls out of the air, and freed footballs from running backs in critical moments of the game. Getting a couple of sacks out of T.J. Watt was also like a cool drink of water in the desert.
The Steelers are too heavily invested in those two players for them to start drifting out to pasture.
They are the unquestioned leaders of the defense, and you can’t lead a defense if your teammates are beginning to have serious questions about the pace of your aging process.
Watt didn’t have a particularly strong game overall, but for edge rushers in the NFL, sacks are the currency of confidence.
Getting those two a checkmark in their personal win columns was one of the few positive outcomes from last week’s on-field performance.
Still Missing In Action
On the offensive side, wide receiver DK Metcalf has been widely underperforming his paycheck. So far, he has only 10 receptions in three games, with his longest catch being for 31 yards.
Metcalf is a player who is not only compensated at the level of a superstar, but he also cost the Steelers a premium second-round pick in this year’s NFL draft.
Since it’s been evident that quarterback Aaron Rodgers is not getting the pass protection he would have expected from an NFL-level offensive line, he’s going to need those who are running routes to elevate their game.
He needs to be bailed out on plays by his big-time players, getting open and making the tough catches in traffic, and Metcalf will need to start carrying a much larger bucket.
Don’t Sleep On Peppers
The Steelers loaded up in the offseason on an impressive list of Who’s Who players in the NFL. Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf, Jalen Ramsey, Darrius Slay, and Jonnu Smith all come in with bona fide star credentials.
Of course, at their age, some might fear they are trending towards being on the Who Was list. Regardless, it doesn’t diminish the impact of adding that quality of resumes to the rosters.
However, the addition of Jabrill Peppers to the team may be one of those under-the-radar decisional gems this season.
Peppers was chosen in the first round of the 2017 NFL draft with some fanfare. It’s accurate to say that he may not have lived up to the lofty expectations set for him early in his career.
He also struggled with significant injuries throughout his career, including an ACL tear in 2021, and he also experienced some serious off-field issues.
Yet, if you track his career, despite his challenges, you could see he was maturing and improving as a player on the field over the past few years. It’s possible that the Steelers acquired an arrow-up player at a position where they could use some impact infusion.
Keep your eyes on him. Even with DeShon Elliot’s return from injury, Peppers may end up playing a significant role in helping the Steelers heal some of their defensive woes.
Irish Pipe Dreams
I digress for a moment. This game in Ireland provides me with a humorous reminder of the frailty of my personal delusion. Ireland is why I started writing for Steelers Depot over a decade ago.
I was in the process of writing and publishing my trilogy called the Heirs of Ireland at the time, and I was heavily involved in promotion for the books, which included numerous blog, podcast, radio, and even television interviews.
At the time, I had recently discovered Steelers Depot and became an instant fan of the website and its founder, Dave Bryan. I reached out to Dave to see if he was interested in adding a columnist, as I had been an avid Steelers fan since 1974 and had plenty of digital ink to burn on the topic.
Dave didn’t know that, besides genuinely being excited about writing about the Steelers, I also had a Hail Mary play in mind. I thought that somehow, through my writing, my shared passions with Dan Rooney…that my love of both the Steelers and Ireland…would be discovered, and that somehow, I would be able to get introduced to the great man.
Little would I know in my deluded mind then that, despite writing more than three novels’ worth of words about the Steelers on this site since, I’m as invisible to the Rooneys as I was the day I was born.
As a sidenote to that first phone conversation with Dave many years ago, he gushed about his hard-working content creator, Matthew Marczi. He also mentioned this new young guy named Alex, who had just started writing for him and whom he believed had great potential.
What can you say? Dave has a real eye for talent.
BONUS: Guinness Tip
For those of you blessed to be in Dublin for the game, here is a travel tip courtesy of my Grand Uncle John. In the early 90s, as a fresh college graduate, I made a backpack trip through Europe and visited the farmlands of long-lost family in County Roscommon, Ireland.
I was an instant celebrity through no merit of my own. They missed my grandmother, who had emigrated to America at the turn of the century and never returned. When it was my Grand Uncle John’s turn to spend some time with the “Young Yank,” he decided to take me out downtown for a pint of Guinness.
Now, when I say “downtown,” I mean that we walked past sheep on dusty dirt paths on the way there. I could barely keep up with my Grand Uncle John for the two-mile walk, despite him being well into his eighties.
He brought me into one of the most classically decorated Irish bars you would ever imagine. With beautifully crafted wooden walls, floors, and tables throughout, it was a scene from an Irish movie. I couldn’t wait to partake in a pint, but he grabbed my arm before I walked in.
“Not here,” he said.
I didn’t understand why not until we entered the next pub nearby, which, although much less aesthetically pleasing, was packed with jovial, singing, Guinness-wielding Irish.
He explained to me that in Ireland, the Guinness Brewery doesn’t use chemical preservatives in its beer, as it does for exports. That means you must drink from the keg fresh, which only happens if there are many Irish drinking from the tap.
So…there you have it. Never drink your Guinness in Ireland in a lonely pub.
Back To Football, Please
Let’s be honest. Being a Steelers fan this season has been rough, so sometimes it’s good to change the subject a bit. If you love this team, it means you love defense, and giving up so many yards is deeply offensive to Steelers Nation.
Perhaps all that is needed to get things back in proper Steelers alignment is the gentle breezes of Ireland.
The Steelers are Dublin down this week on turning things around and that’s no blarney.
Because if they don’t, the schedule gets frightful in the weeks and months ahead. Which means…Danny Boy…the pipes, the pipes are calling.
