The Pittsburgh Steelers finally put together a solid overall performance in Week 10 against the New Orleans Saints. The Steelers defeated the Saints 20-10 to capture their third win of a rough 2022 season. The black and gold still have quite a bit to work on, obviously, but we would all love to see a repeat performance with the offensive play-calling on Sunday afternoon against AFC North rival, Cincinnati Bengals. A lot of things have to go right and the Steelers will have to start executing more consistently on both sides of the ball, but could this team start stacking some more wins? It's certainly possible, especially after the rejuvenating win last Sunday!
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We'd love to see some more splash plays early and often on Sunday afternoon against the Bengals, but what we don't want to see is a repeat performance by replacement kicker, Matthew Wright. Points have been hard to come by in 2022 and in most games this season the Steelers can't miss on opportunities to get them when they can! Wright is filling in for fan-favorite and extremely accurate K Chris Boswell. So, no pressure, right? Wright went 2-for-4 on his field goal attempts last Sunday, but the team's special teams' coordinator, Danny Smith hasn't lost faith in the replacement.
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach, Mike Tomlin, defensive tackle, Cameron Heyward (#97) and special teams Coordinator, Danny Smith participate in the Organized Team Activities (OTA's), Tuesday, May 24, 2022 at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. (Abigail Dean/Pittsburgh Steelers)
"There are certain people in my life I trust and I trust him," Smith stated via Steelers.com. "He's very good."
"His game was not good enough. He's a very good player."
That's an endorsement from the team's long time coordinator.
"It's a new procedure and we don't have time, but it takes time, it just does," Smith emphasized. "It's just different, it's just new and it ain't natural. I can kick and he can hold and he can (snap), but we gotta put this together, and that's hard."
"I'm not making excuses for him. He should make all those kicks. But it doesn't surprise me, either."
Smith is referencing Wright eventually coming back to the team after his most previous stint with the Kansas City Chiefs. The team signed him off of the Chiefs' practice squad on November 9th. Can the Steelers rely on Wright, well they're going to have to! Wright has to remain on the team's roster for at least the next few weeks.
Steelers’ Matthew Wright attempts 1 of his 4 field goals against the New Orleans Saints. | Photo Credit: Karl Roser / Pittsburgh Steelers
So what is Wright's range? Smith stated there are many variables before setting an exact number:
"It's situational," Smith stated. "You talking about a game-winner? You talking about a regular field goal? All these guys that come out and say, 'Well, he can do this, he can do that, we're gonna kick every kick,' it's all kick-to-kick to me. Kicking off, when do you want touchbacks? What's the situation? Who we playing? How good is their return? How good are we covering? There's a lot of things that enter into that."
Wright hit a career long 59-yarder just last month against Las Vegas Raiders when he was a member of the Chiefs. Does Smith feel confident in putting Wright in that situation for the Steelers? You bet he does!
"I wouldn't expect us to come out with a 59-yarder on the opening drive. Now, put us in that situation with two seconds left in a game, we're gonna take a shot."
What are yinz thoughts on replacement place kicker, Matthew Wright? What about Smith's comments about Wright's play? Sound off in the comment section below, or on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram!
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