5 causes for concern following Steelers Week 10 tie

Pressley Harvin III is young and flashes but he needs help and development

Let me start this off by saying Harvin had his nicest punt of the year in this game. Sadly the 60+ yd bomb he let off his leg with good hangtime resulted in him having to make a touchdown-saving tackle because of the worst punt coverage I have seen in any game this season. You can’t punt that ball any better and the returner didn’t have to make a guy miss the first 15 yards because the entire left side of the field was left uncovered.

It wasn’t just in the punting game. Derek Watt had a nice tackle on a kickoff return that ended the play at the opponent’s 17. But the rest of the game saw horrible coverage in the kicking game. Lions’ kick returner Igwebuike averaged over 24 yards a return on 5 returns in Week 10. Take out that great play by Derek Watt and the average jumps closer to 30 yards a piece on the other 4 kick returns.

The Steelers have used special teams to help them win tough games this year. Yet, you can’t come in against one of the 2 worst teams in football and get beat in the field possession battle because of poor kick coverage. That is inexcusable. I hadn’t realized this until the second time I watched the game. This may have been the #1 reason as to why the Steelers did not beat the Lions in Week 10. Danny Smith is going to be in the hot seat after another game or two like that.