Pittsburgh – The more intense and complex his team’s preparation for the relatively mysterious Broncos becomes, the more Ben Roethlisberger appears to channel the incongruent urge to keep things simple.
“For my part,” he said this past week just as the pocket began to collapse from the ever-swelling postseason media horde, “it’s just throw it to the guys in the white jerseys.”
As it happened, the guy who wears the biggest white jersey among Ben’s eligible receivers was standing not 10 yards away, and as usual, Heath Miller was wide open.
“I’m just excited,” the quiet rookie tight end said. “I’m just feeding off the excitement of the game. This is one of the big reasons I was so excited to be picked by Pittsburgh, because Pittsburgh is in this situation a lot.”
Few need to be reminded of this organization’s thriving tradition of muted success. But, in a city where losing the AFC championship game has become more a hallmark than, oh – I don’t know – steel-making, the Steelers’ situation is different this winter because of none other than Miller.
With two monstrous catches for 54 yards in the first two minutes last Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts, Miller equaled the number of catches by Steelers tight ends in all the 2004 postseason, all the 2001 postseason, all the 1995 postseason, and surpassed the number of catches by Steelers tight ends in all the 1997 postseason, the 1992 postseason, and Super Bowl XXX. Not since 1994, when Neil O’Donnell spent a significant if ultimately fruitless portion of the postseason throwing to Eric Green, have the Steelers deployed anything close to the postseason weapon from the tight end position that Miller represents.
“I’d have to say that’s the biggest difference with us this year,” wide receiver Hines Ward said. “A lot of teams play cover 2 and are successful at taking the wide receivers out of the game. When you have a threat at the tight end, it makes people think twice, and we didn’t really have that in past years.
“Now, especially with Plaxico Burress gone, some teams will try to take me out of the game. If someone wants to leave Heath one on one with a strong safety, we’ll take that any day.”
Roethlisberger took it twice for those 54 yards on the opening drive last week, then whipped Miller a 6-yard scoring pass on the second for a 14-0 lead. It wasn’t just that Miller presented a strategic opportunity. At 6-feet-5, he towered over Indianapolis’ defensive backs, only one of whom is taller than 5-10. Denver’s secondary isn’t quite so vertically challenged. Corner Champ Bailey is 6-foot, safety John Lynch is 6-2, but Miller can’t be intimidated, at least if his running style after the catch is a reliable indicator.
Miller smiles when asked how he came by his philosophy of what to do once he catches it, a style that evokes the general tone of what happens when the gate swings open on the national bull-riding circuit.
“I’m not going to outrun too many safeties,” he said. “So I just kind of catch it and go.”
A tackle-breaker whose yards-after-catch dimension has gouged defenses, Miller came to the NFL with an uncluttered view of his pro future.
“I always knew that Pittsburgh had a strong running game,” he said, “and a lot of times, that opens up the game and gives the receivers and tight ends a good chance to contribute.”
Yeah, a lot of times, though not so much in these parts.
But in the Heath Miller Era, public complaints regarding under-utilization of the tight end have dropped 4,000 percent because he caught 39 passes, 17 more than all the tight ends caught the year before, with six going for touchdowns, good for third among tight ends.
Bill Cowher didn’t hesitate when asked when it was apparent that Miller would enable this offense in ways not seen here in some time.
“When we selected him (in the draft),” the coach said.
