PITTSBURGH — The Steelers spent the majority of their offseason overhauling the way they run the ball, everything from the coaching to the scheme and technique to the personnel.
The objective was not just to run the ball better — when you're last in the NFL in rushing, you can't be any worse — but to be able to run the ball when the other team is expecting you to run the ball. Those situations typically occur in the later stages of a game when trying to protect a lead.
Bill Cowher always called that approach "taking the air out of the ball." In other words, don't throw it.
Offensive linemen like to refer to those situations as "imposing your will." Hall of Fame guard Russ Grimm, a former Steelers offensive line coach, once said, "There's no greater feeling than moving a man from Point A to Point B against his will."
So, after all their offseason preparation and attention devoted to fixing their running game, the Steelers were faced with that exact situation late in the fourth quarter in Buffalo — a chance to run the ball with the Bills and just about everyone else expecting them to run. And what did they do?
Throw the ball on seven of the nine plays in the drive.
"We were gonna stay aggressive," said offensive coordinator Matt Canada. "[The Bills] are certainly a great offense and our defense did, as well-documented, a great job. They kept us in the game. We certainly needed to make sure that we didn't just fold up and make them go out and stop them again."
The Steelers were leading, 20-13, at the time, 5:23 remaining. It was the perfect opportunity to see if all their hard work to fix the running game was well-spent. Instead, the very first time they encountered the situation, they did what they always do — rely on their quarterback to cement away the victory.
The plan worked. Ben Roethlisberger completed three of the passes for 39 yards, drew a defensive holding penalty on a deep throw to Diontae Johnson and even scrambled for 7 yards after a false start penalty against JuJu Smith-Schuster. He lined in the shotgun every play, handed off twice to Najee Harris and led them on their fourth consecutive scoring drive that ended with Chris Boswell's 45-yard field goal with 2:42 remaining.
"We felt like that was the best way to do it and the only way it works is because Ben did a great job making decisions, our line did a great job blocking, and our wideouts and backs and tight ends did a great job making plays," Canada said.
"It's just a matter of finding a way to win. Based on where we were at the game and what they were doing, they certainly were going to challenge the run. They were in the box; they were up in there. And obviously, we made some decisions and went to that part of our plan to win the game and we did."
Maybe next time.
Minkah's movement
When defensive coordinator Keith Butler approached Minkah Fitzpatrick about being used at different positions in the secondary, he said he didn't have to convince his All-Pro safety about the idea. Butler said he was all for it.
That, though, is in direct contrast to how Fitzpatrick reacted to being moved around in the secondary in Miami — which, of course, is how he ended up with the Steelers.
Fitzpatrick complained about the decision of Dolphins coach Adam Gase to move him around like a chess piece in their defense and asked to be traded at the beginning of his second season. But that was also at the time when the Dolphins were trading away their best players and being accused on "tanking for Tua" — a deliberate attempt to lose games so they could draft Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. They had been outscored in the first two games, 102-10.
The Dolphins obliged Fitzpatrick when they traded him to the Steelers on Sept. 17, 2019 for a future No. 1 draft choice. And the situation now is entirely different.
Fitzpatrick is in his third season with the Steelers and has a complete understanding of the defense, Butler said. What's more, he is playing on a division-winning team with the league's third-ranked defense in 2020 and alongside veteran players such as Joe Haden, Cam Heyward and T.J. Watt.
Butler talked about using Fitzpatrick the way the Steelers used to employ Hall of Fame safety Troy Polamalu, which is to line him all over the field. The difference, though, is Polamalu often lined where he wanted and did what he wanted. His free-styling ways created some highlight-film plays, for sure, but at times it also left the defense vulnerable in certain areas.
"Not as much, not as much," Butler said when asked if Fitzpatrick would have those same liberties.
That would be a good move, too.
Rolling in the dough
If he plays out all five years of his new contract, T.J. Watt will earn $122.1 million from the Steelers — the largest amount the franchise has bestowed on a player.
How much money is that?
Well, look at it this way:
If Watt spent $1,000 a day, his money would last for 334 years and 90 days.
If he spent $10,000 a day, Watt would run out of money in 33 years and 155 days, or when he was 60.
He could spend $100,000 a day for three years and 105 days before he would go broke.
He could pay actors Mark Walhberg and Ben Affleck what they earned in 2020 and still have $9 million to pay Smith-Schuster's latest one-year deal with the Steelers.
That's a lot of money.
