A trendy preseason pick to go far in the postseason, the Detroit Lions won't be playing beyond Sunday at Soldier Field. One of their fans, however, continues to have a big impact on the NFL's playoff picture heading into the final weekend of the regular season.
The league suspended wide receiver DK Metcalf for the AFC North-leading Pittsburgh Steelers' final two games and levied a hefty fine against the team's best pass catcher for taking a swipe at Lions fan Ryan Kennedy in the second quarter of Pittsburgh’s 29-24 victory two weeks ago.
Metcalf was sorely missed in the Steelers' 13-6 loss at Cleveland on Sunday that set up a winner-take-all showdown between Pittsburgh (9-7) and the Baltimore Ravens (8-8) this weekend. The winner wins the AFC North and gets to host a first-round playoff game. The losers clear out their lockers and pack for vacation.
The same scenario is playing out in the NFC between the Carolina Panthers (8-8) and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-9) with the winner claiming the NFC South title and a home playoff game against an NFC West team with a much better record.
Aaron Rodgers didn't find the end zone Sunday. On fourth-and-goal from the 7 with 21 seconds left, he targeted Pro Bowl cornerback Denzel Ward and threw incomplete to Marquez Valdes-Scantling.
What Rodgers never saw on Pittsburgh's last-gasp play was running back Kenneth Gainwell uncovered and wide open underneath for a touchdown that would have given the Steelers the chance to tie the game or win it with a 2-point conversion and clinch the division.
The Steelers mustered just two field goals against Cleveland after averaging 28 points over their previous three games, all wins.
“Well, the biggest issue is they don't have DK Metcalf,” studio analyst Jason Garrett said on the pregame show for NBC's Sunday Night Football telecast. "Pittsburgh's been playing small-ball on offense all year long. They run it and the ball comes out of Aaron's hand quickly in all the short stuff. And then when they get a chance, 1-on-1, they throw it to DK Metcalf and make an explosive play.
“Take him out of it, they're not very explosive," Garrett added. "They don't make big plays down the field and they don't score a lot of points.”
“Yeah, today they played like they still had him, trying to go to those 1-on-1 matchups,” concurred fellow studio analyst Devin McCourty, who suggested the Steelers are better off getting the ball into the hands of running backs Gainwell and Jaylen Warren than the patchwork receiving corps missing Metcalf.
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"Getting the backs more involved will be the key for next week,” McCourty predicted.
Garrett also had some friendly advice for the Steelers as they prepare to keep up with Ravens running back Derrick Henry, who's coming off a 216-yard, four-TD performance at Green Bay.
“You know, Baltimore watched the tape, so they're going to play man-to-man coverage,” Garrett said. “I think the biggest thing for Arthur Smith, the offensive coordinator in Pittsburgh, he has to get the receivers in stacks and bunches and motions to loosen up the tight man-to-man coverage to wriggle those guys free.”
The Steelers find themselves in this precarious position because Metcalf lost his cool with the fan in Detroit, rendering him unavailable until next Monday — either in preparation for the playoffs or to clean out his locker.
Former NFL wide receiver Chad Johnson said on a podcast last week that Metcalf told him Kennedy used a racial slur and verbally disparaged Metcalf’s mother, an allegation that Kennedy denied through his attorneys.
Coach Mike Tomlin said he didn't condone Metcalf's actions that led to his two-game ban but made clean Metcalf had his full support.
Having his back is one thing.
What Steelers Nation would certainly prefer is having Metcalf back on the field to extend their season.
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