It wasn't that long ago JuJu Smith-Schuster was one of biggest of the big-play receivers in the National Football League. His chalkboard of long-range touchdowns was unmatched by nearly every other player in the league.
Now, four games into a season where the Steelers are searching for big plays, Smith-Schuster has been turned into Ryan Switzer — a possession receiver who is fighting to reach the first-down markers instead of the end zone.
What has happened to Smith-Schuster was on painful display in Sunday's 27-17 loss in Green Bay when he was targeted eight times by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger but had just two catches for 11 yards. However, the bigger issue was his failure to come up with two deep throws that could have changed the complexion of the game, catches Smith-Schuster admittedly used to make in his sleep.
"Those are plays that should have been made," Smith-Schuster said after the game. "Those are game-changing plays. Those are plays I usually make down the field."
One of Smith-Schuster's former teammates chastised him on Twitter for failing to make those catches.
"No way 1 over throw," tweeted linebacker Vince Williams. "If the first one was caught the second one wouldn't matter. True #1 wideouts make that catch."
This is the same receiver who just last season had as many long-range touchdowns as Kansas City's Tyreek Hill — the league's ultimate home run hitter — since coming into the league as a second-round draft choice in 2017.
Halfway through the 2020 season, Smith-Schuster had five touchdowns of 75 yards or longer in his career, same as Hill. No other player had more than four since 2017, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
Not A.J. Green. Not Julio Jones. Not even Antonio Brown. Three of Smith-Schuster's touchdowns were at least 96 yards.
Now, he has been reduced to an underneath receiver who is averaging 8.6 yards on 15 receptions this season — and just 7 yards on 11 catches in the past three games. That is nearly 5 yards fewer than his career average of 11.9. A guy with 25 career touchdowns has yet to reach the end zone this season — only the second time in his career he has gone four games without a touchdown.
"Honestly, it's a little bit of both of us: the receivers and the quarterback," Roethlisberger said. "In order for a deep ball to be successful, both parties have to be on the same page. They have to understand the coverage and what's going on.
"At the end of the day, I'm the one throwing it. I'm the one who has to make it happen. I'm the one who has to hit the guys. Regardless of where they are on the field, regardless of what the coverage is, it comes down to me to get them the ball."
Smith-Schuster's frustration over the missed catches at Lambeau Field boiled on to the sidelines where he slammed his helmet to the ground after one of the misfires.
"I'm human, I have feelings," he said. "I got upset with myself because I make those plays. I'm not mad at the team, I'm not mad at the play calling, I'm not made at Ben. It's all on me."
Smith-Schuster signed a one-year, $9 million contract to return to the Steelers in the offseason after not receiving the type of long-term contract he sought in free agency. He reportedly turned down offers from the Chiefs and Ravens to rejoin the Steelers, no doubt believing his best chance to put up big numbers and get a monster deal this time would be to reunite with Roethlisberger.
So far, that decision has fared as well as the Steelers offense.
