Tyler Matakevich just shakes his head and laughs when he’s asked if you need to have a screw loose, a specific mentality to want to excel as a special teams player in the NFL.
“Oh, without a doubt,” the fourth-year Steelers linebacker said. “It’s funny, man, you see a lot of guys, they don't like to do certain roles. They're not accustomed to it. Because when you get up here (to the NFL), you go from playing your position your whole life, to now it’s like, ‘Whoa.’ There might be a few guys at your position. How am I going to make an impact?
“I think we’ve just got a core group of guys who are willing. We’ve all got a chip on our shoulder. We’ve all got something to prove.”
The Steelers’ offense lately might be something like the island of misfit toys, so we won't use that phrase to describe the team’s top four special teams aces. But how about a merry band of pirates, sent to raid opposing return games while protecting the offensive and defensive players who get most of the glory? And they’re led by their red-bearded rascal who’s well on his way to a career year.
That would be Matakevich, who leads the Steelers and ranks second in the NFL with 13 special teams tackles. It’s the third time in his four seasons he has reached 13, after a career-low 10 last year. But Matakevich and the team’s coverage units have had plenty of help, too. Safety Jordan Dangerfield is next with 11, tied for fifth-most in the NFL, and linebacker Robert Spillane has nine, with a league-high seven in the past four games.
“We’ve got a lot of speed out there,” said Spillane, the newest member of the crew. “Guys aren't afraid to throw their body around.”
Spillane has only been contributing to the effort since Week 10, when he was promoted from the practice squad. In that time, he’s averaging almost two special teams tackles per game, so who knows what his total might be had he been active all year? Overall, the most useful statistics with which to evaluate the coverage teams aren’t elite. The Steelers rank 15th in kick return average allowed (22.1 yards) and 24th in punt return average allowed (9.2). But the best stat of them all might be zero, as in how many return touchdowns they’ve allowed this season.
Last year, it was a 73-yard punt return touchdown by the Chargers — the first one against the Steelers since a kick return score in 2014 — that may have been the difference between holding on for a win and blowing a big lead in a 33-30 loss at Heinz Field. There have been 10 kick or punt returns for touchdowns in 2019 against 10 different teams, but not the Steelers. They’ve also had Chris Boswell intentionally hang kickoffs short of the end zone rather than booming them for touchbacks, which means more chances for tackles but also for back-breaking returns.
“That’s our one time to be out there. It’s not like when you're out there on defense or offense where you’ve got at least three plays for a series before you got to get off the field,” Matakevich said. “When we’re out there, we’ve got one play, so you really just got to make the best out of it every time and just try your best to do your job. Shoot, when I’m out there, I know I’ve got the mentality that I’m going to go try to make every tackle.”
That’s been getting harder and harder now with Spillane, whom Matakevich described as “emerging this year.”
“He’s a character,” Matakevich said. “But he fits in perfect with us.”
In more ways than one. Out of Matakevich, Dangerfield and Spillane, only Matakevich was drafted, and he was the eighth-to-last pick in 2016. Dangerfield and Spillane have been in and out of multiples training camps and locker rooms. In Pittsburgh, they've all found a home, doing one of the more thankless jobs in the game, but not one that gets overlooked by special teams coordinator Danny Smith or coach Mike Tomlin.
“Coach T is amazing,” Spillane said. “And he watches every player practice. He sees all 22 on the field, so he's always formulating a plan. Just being around him for this short period this year, I've realized what a genius he is, in terms of football and understanding the game.”
As the Buffalo Bills come to town this week, the Steelers’ coverage guys are most concerned with minimizing the impact of return man Andre Roberts, an All-Pro last year with the Jets and the third-leading kick returner in the league this season. But they wouldn't mind adding to their tackle totals. After all, they’re all trying to catch Chargers fullback Derek Watt, older brother of Steelers linebacker T.J., who occasionally reminds his teammates that a familiar name is leading the way with 15 special teams stops.
“Definitely, he has,” Dangerfield said with a smile. “Especially with me and Tyler.”
“I have not a doubt in my mind that Tyler will catch him and and finish the season on top,” Spillane predicted. “The guy understands what's going on — and it is a skill.”
“We’ve still got a few more games,” Matakevich said. “Man, shoot, if it happens, it happens, but as long as we keep winning, I’ll give that up.”
Injury report
As Tomlin previewed Tuesday, James Conner and JuJu Smith-Schuster both practiced Wednesday, and both in full, according to the Steelers’ injury report. That’s a good sign early in the week for their availability Sunday while working their way back from shoulder and knee injuries, respectively. On the downside, tight end Vance McDonald (concussion) and running back Jaylen Samuels (groin) were non-participants.
First Published: December 11, 2019, 10:27 p.m.
