By: Jonathan Clark
SteelerNation.com
Doesn’t it feel great to have another week where we can call ourselves undefeated. That, thanks to a 36-10 victory over division opponent Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday evening, putting the Steelers three games in front of the rest of the AFC North. While much credit is deserved to both the offense and defense throughout this year for putting this team in a great position, the special teams unit has been lights out since the start of the year as well. While special teams play is not always the sexiest topic to grasp, it is arguably the most important unit that touches that field.
As the loyal Steeler fans that we are, we can’t stress enough how important special teams can be. We have been blessed with kicker, Chris Boswell since 2015, but we sadly have seen the worst of the other special teams units during that time. We have not had a solid kick-off return guy since I can remember. We can all remember the days of Dri Archer and when we acquired Jacoby Jones just for this role, and our search for a punter always seemed to fail us. Now while I won’t say that this is the reason for the team's lack of success the past few years, I think this season is a perfect example of how good special teams can make you that much better.
It seems like each week we see a new guy step up on the special teams unit. This past week, led by the captain of this unit Jordan Dangerfield, it was 2nd year CB Justin Layne who stepped up and made a few great open field tackles that gave our offense key field position on Sunday. We have also seen FB Derek Watt making plays on the kickoff/punt unit, forcing a fumble just this past week as well. Each one of those stops we make is a yard not given to the other team. That's what special teams is all about.
Our punt game did not have such a strong start to the 2020 campaign. We released veteran punter Jordan Berry and signed another veteran punter in Dustin Colquitt the following day. Many expected Colquitt to be as consistent as he was for his many years in the NFL, but he never really seemed to get his footing right in the 'Burgh. He was not flipping field position in a positive way and was forcing our defense to step up earlier than expected. This forced the Steelers to yet again make a move at the position, this time staying in the family be re-signing Berry again, and it seems like he has not looked back since. Since his return, the field position game has been in the Steelers favor in more times than not, and if he keeps this up, it could be his job to lose, yet again.
On the other side of the special teams unit, we finally have a returner! I’m not sure about all of you, but watching Ray-Ray McCloud run with the football is exciting. Not only on the offensive side of the ball, but even on the return unit. He has such a burst of acceleration once the ball is in his hands and has proven he can make people miss in the open field. A guy like that is someone that you want returning the ball. He has the ability to score on each play and we have not had a solid returner like that since I can remember. McCloud's ability has made an impact on this team. He was singed as a returner and has made his way to making plays each Sunday. He has earned it.
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