Limiting impact of Hill a must for Steelers
Brook Ward / For the Observer-Reporter
Kanas City wide receiver Tyreek Hill is under investigation by the NFL for an incident with his family.
Kansas City’s Tyreek Hill was a unanimous choice at punt returner for the Associated Press NFL All-Pro Team, which was announced last week.
PITTSBURGH – The Steelers can rest easy this week.
According to Kansas City head coach Andy Reid, the Steelers don’t have much to worry about in regards to speedy wide receiver/return man Tyreek Hill as they prepare to face the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium in an AFC Divisional playoff game Sunday.
“We’ll only have about two plays in for him this week,” Reid joked Wednesday.
Are they both touchdowns?
“We’ll have to see,” he said.
Given what Hill has done in his rookie season, the more times he touches the ball, the more likely he is to score.
Hill, a 5-10, 185-pound wide receiver from West Alabama who was timed 4.24 seconds in the 40-yard dash at a predraft workout, has scored three times on rushes, six on passes, two on punt returns and once on a kick return. He has touched the ball 138 times, scoring 12 touchdowns.
“He’s a playmaker guy,” said Steelers defensive end Stephon Tuitt. “The fastest guy in the NFL, you can definitely see that. He gets touchdowns off punt returns, kickoffs. He’s got to get past a lot of fast guys to do that. He’s a big impact guy for them offensively, special teams, everything that they need him for. He’s going to be one of our main focuses of stopping. It’s not going to be easy but you’ve got to do it.”
It hasn’t been easy for any opponent, including the Steelers.
Hill, who fell to the fifth round of the draft because of a domestic violence issue in college, became a bigger factor for Kansas City as the season wore on, finishing with 61 receptions and 24 rushing attempts.
Hill was limited to five catches for 24 yards and a short touchdown late in the fourth quarter and one carry for minus-2 yards in Pittsburgh’s 43-14 win over the Chiefs back in October at Heinz Field. But Hill also scored a touchdown on a punt return in the first half that was negated because of a penalty.
“There were a few missed tackles on that one,” said Steelers punter Jordan Berry. “Everyone has to make sure they hit their tackles and get in their coverage lanes. Nothing too crazy. We just have to be on top of our game.”
Tuitt has an idea of how to stop Hill, who had seven touchdowns of 38 or more yards.
“You hope he cuts back one time and you give him everything you’ve got and try to get him out of the game,” Tuitt joked. “That’s what I’m hoping for, that he cuts back.
“A guy like that, bubble screens, taking it up the field right away, getting vertical, I probably won’t get too many touches on him unless he’s in the backfield.”
Hill has done a little of everything for the Chiefs. And given Pittsburgh’s issues on special teams, it appears to be a bad time to face a player such as Hill.
Despite not allowing a kickoff or punt to be returned for a score, the Steelers ranked 30th in kickoff coverage at 24.7 yards and 24th in punt coverage, allowing 9.6 yards per return. That didn’t change in their playoff-opening win over Miami last week as the Dolphins averaged nearly 30 yards on four kickoff returns, including a 58-yarder.
“We understand what he can do on offense and special teams,” said wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the Steelers’ best gunner on punts. “We just need to go down and make big plays. We have to get No. 10 on the ground.
“Unless you’re (Houston defensive end) J.J. Watt or somebody, I’m not giving you a whole meeting talking about him. He’s one player. We’ve got 11 guys. We just have to go out and make a play.”
The Steelers could try to kick the ball away from Hill to limit his touches, especially on punts. But on kickoffs, that’s tougher to do because a ball kicked out of bounds gives the opponent the ball at its 40-yard line.
“It’s hard to put the ball in the corner in case the wind takes it out,” said Steelers kicker Chris Boswell. “We’ve just got to play the (weather) conditions and go from there.
“I don’t know if you can really kick away from him. (There’s) one return man, you’ve got to put the ball in play, depending on weather situations. So he’s going to return balls. We’ve just got to tackle.”
Safety Sean Davis (shoulder) and Tuitt (ankle) were limited participants in practice Wednesday. Safety Robert Golden, who has been out with an ankle injury, was a full participant. Not practicing because of injuries were linebacker Anthony Chickillo (ankle), tight end Ladarius Green (concussion), defensive end Ricardo Mathews (ankle), running back Fitzgerald Toussaint (concussion) and linebacker Vince Williams (shoulder). Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and running back Le’Veon Bell were given Wednesday off.