Just when Aaron Rodgers began clicking with all facets of the Steelers offense, his primary target – DK Metcalf – will miss two games due to league suspension.
Rodgers doesn't seem worried.
"Obviously DK has drawn a lot of attention all season long," said the Steelers' quarterback. "There've been a lot of doubles on him, so it's given other guys opportunities. When there've been one-on-ones with DK, we've made a lot of plays, so we'll have to have a few other people stepping up."
The numbers show Metcalf bearing the majority share of the pass-catching duties among wide receivers.
This season, Metcalf has been targeted 99 times and caught 59 passes for 850 yards.
The rest of the wide receivers have combined for 91 targets and 56 receptions for 665 yards.
Who will step up to replace those big numbers Sunday in Cleveland?
"I'm sure (offensive coordinator) Art (Smith) will have a good plan for all that," Rodgers said. "Obviously we get more opportunities for Marquez (Valdes-Scantling) and Adam (Thielen), and hopefully Roman (Wilson) as well."
Valdes-Scantling and Thielen are in-season acquisitions who've made an impact the last two weeks. Valdes-Scantling caught a touchdown pass two games ago against the Dolphins, and Thielen caught 4 passes for 49 yards, including three critical third-down conversions, Sunday against the Lions.
The two veteran receivers played their snaps primarily at the expense of Wilson, who's been inactive the last three games.
Wilson, though, has become anything but forgotten in Rodgers' eyes.
"I've had some conversations with him," Rodgers said. "He's kind of still a rookie. He didn't really play at all last year. He's come in and improved.
"The most important thing for any young player is the mental part of it, and not just learning the X's and O's and becoming a master of your craft, but it's dealing with the adversity that happens to everybody at every age throughout your entire career. It's tougher when you're a younger player because it seems a lot more ominous and a lot more foundational, where it can kind of crack the stability that you feel. But I feel he's handled himself really well. He's had good practices and now he's going to get an opportunity. I'm excited for him."
Wilson can take advantage of the Steelers' extra usage recently of "11" personnel, or three wide receivers in offensive packages. For a team that likes to use two, three, and four tight ends, and often an extra offensive lineman, the Steelers switched tactics and used 11 personnel on a season-high 33 snaps two weeks ago against the Dolphins. In Detroit, the Steelers used 11 personnel on 28 snaps.
Rodgers was asked if that increase in 3-WR packages is due to the additions of Valdes-Scantling and Thielen, or simply the way the coaching staff viewed the matchup.
"A little bit of both," Rodgers said. "When we went to Ireland and introduced Spencer (Anderson) being the sixth offensive lineman, that has kind of gone around the league and people are figuring out how to attack it best. So you have to adapt and adjust.
"One of our adjustments has been more 11 personnel. Obviously that's coincided with MVS and Adam playing more snaps for us and the stability they bring from an X's and O's standpoint and a veteran presence and experience. It's been good for us. We've been productive in it. Art's always going to mix it up; unconventional warfare. Just not as many snaps with Spencer as a sixth offensive lineman."
The Steelers will travel to Cleveland riding a three-game winning streak and can clinch their 10th division titles since 2002 with either a win Sunday or a Baltimore loss or tie Saturday night.
All three of those Steelers wins have occurred since Rodgers turned 42 on Dec. 2. In those three games, Rodgers completed 73 of 102 passes for 774 yards with 4 touchdowns and no interceptions. His passer rating during those three games is 106.4.
"The last five or six years, I've kind of Benjamin Button-ed this thing, compared to some of the other guys where guys just kind of hanging on," Rodgers said. "For whatever reason, I feel I get stronger as the season goes on. I think part of that is the cold weather. I always say the cold weather slows everybody else but me down, so I'm going normal speed and it's slightly faster than the other guys who are slowed down by a field or the cold or whatever.
"Yeah, the wrist is still healing, but everything else feels really good."
