It’s been a long time since the Steelers have played a relatively stress-free game, but that’s what the fans were treated to on Monday night. After an evenly sloppy first quarter-and-a-half, the Steelers pulled ahead by scoring a touchdown on four consecutive drives for the first time since 2018.
The Steelers have added some new faces to the roster in recent weeks as they’ve looked to cover for injuries and upgrade positions where production was lacking. This week, Read & React dives into the performances
of some of those new additions who helped lead the Steelers to victory on Monday Night Football and maintain their one-game lead for the AFC North.
Several newly-added names have been big parts of the Steelers’ recent wins. How did they impact the Dolphins game?
RB: There are a handful of names that fit this prompt. I’ll be going with everyone’s new favorite wide receiver duo in Pittsburgh: Adam Thielen and Marquez Valdes-Scantling.
The two had just one catch each against the Dolphins (Valdes-Scantling’s went for a touchdown, to be fair), but one or both of them were on the field for nearly every offensive snap. Behind D.K. Metcalf, Thielen served as the team’s WR2 (38 snaps) and MVS wasn’t far behind as the WR3 (34).
It was each player’s second career game for Pittsburgh, but they’ve already leapfrogged youngsters Calvin Austin III and Roman Wilson on the depth chart. Even in their Steelers debuts last week against Baltimore, Thielen was WR2 in snaps while MVS tied with Austin for third place.
It’s obvious that Aaron Rodgers prefers playing with veteran wide receivers. And maybe Arthur Smith does too. That’s because Thielen and Valdes-Scantling’s impact went beyond the box score.
In cliche terms, we talk a lot about “veteran savvy,” but there’s never as much discussion about what it really means.
For one, you can already tell there’s a level of trust between Smith, Rodgers, Thielen (12th NFL season) and Valdes-Scantling (eighth) given how quickly the latter two have acclimated to the offense. The two wide receivers were tasked with running Rodgers’ indicator motions most of the game, and Thielen was used in a role we really haven’t seen much from the Steelers offense this season.
Miami loves to mug the line of scrimmage, and Thielen spent much of the night lined up with Pittsburgh’s tight ends as an extra blocking option up front. Both he and MVS have immediately proven to be some of the better blocking receivers on the roster, and they were able to be a part of several nice runs Monday night.
Of course, there’s the Jonnu Smith rushing touchdown clip that’s gotten the most attention, with Thielen clearing out a defensive back to open a massive hole in the defense:
But there were plenty of other examples, as well.
Here are Thielen and MVS opening a lane from a bunch formation that might’ve gone for more yardage if Jaylen Warren was healthy:
Here’s some great sustain on a toss play:
And sometimes, it was less technically impressive as it was just being willing to get in the way of a potential tackler. Sometimes it really is the thought that counts:
Here was my favorite rep of Thielen’s from Monday, where he turned what was just an RPO dump-off option in the flats into a subtle block that helped Kenneth Gainwell bounce a run for his biggest gain of the game.
But why fill your computer screen with Thielen blocking content? His willingness and toughness in that phase of the game allowed Pittsburgh to hop on the “C-gap insert” trend all the cool kids in football are using at the moment, where a wide receiver starts the play in the gap just outside the offensive tackle.
It’s an unorthodox look that can be hard to cover for defenses, but it only works if the inserting wide receiver can hold their weight when it’s a run play.
In Thielen’s case, he definitely could. When the Steelers tried to pass out of the look, he was shut down in coverage, but it’s something they could definitely return to in the future.
It’s fair to say Thielen won’t be running away from many defenders in the passing game at this stage in his career, but it’s not like the Steelers were getting high-end production from their receiver room in the first place. The veteran’s blocking ability has already been an upgrade.
MVS wasn’t quite as much of an impact player throughout the game, even if he did record his own subtle play with a legal pick to create some separation for Kenneth Gainwell on a fourth-and-three conversion. It was textbook: minimal contact that was clearly more route than block, but just enough to make a difference.
And then here’s the touchdown pass. It’s more of a coverage bust than a truly incredible offensive play, but unlike Thielen, the 31-year-old Valdes-Scantling showed he still has some legitimate NFL speed left in the tank.
Still, it’s a good route. Both Valdes-Scantling and Thielen still run their routes with urgency and good spacing, and I was impressed with the way MVS stair-stepped his route to avoid colliding with Metcalf, all without losing much speed. He was a solid deep threat in his prime and clearly still has a few big plays in him.
Ultimately, though, I’m not sure if Monday night’s performance was more indicative of Thielen and Valdes-Scantling playing well or the talent level of Pittsburgh’s receiving room before the two arrived. As fun as it is to highlight the impact Thielen made as a blocker, it’s not a good sign that he’s still playing over a 2024 third-rounder at the same position. Thielen has made a bigger impact on offense than I expected, but his one catch for six yards on the night showed where he is as a pass catcher at this stage of his career.
However, there is the keeping Aaron Rodgers happy angle that shouldn’t go unmentioned. As veteran-heavy as the Steelers’ team-building has been this year, the wide receiver room was noticeably inexperienced – and that didn’t always mesh well with their quarterback, who was drafted 20 years ago.
Some of Rodgers’ accuracy issues this year have been the fault of a lack of chemistry with his pass catchers as much as clean misses, and getting names who have more experience with Rodgers or just football in general has been the right move for the offense the team is trying to run.
With Thielen and MVS in the fold, there should be some more optimism surrounding the Pittsburgh passing game entering the final stretch of the season, but nothing that sparks confidence against a good secondary.
Wide receiver is absolutely one of the team’s biggest – if not the biggest – non-quarterback draft need entering the 2026 offseason. General manager Omar Khan can’t afford to leave the position short-handed for yet another season, even if this time around, his midseason additions are contributing.
RP: The Steelers new wide receivers aren’t the flashiest, but their contributions have been noticeable. However, the first player I’ll highlight was much less noticeable on the TV broadcast, and I mean that as a compliment. Monday’s game was left tackle Dylan Cook’s first NFL start, but you could hardly tell based on his performance.
Per PFF’s charting, Cook didn’t allow a single pressure against the Dolphins. Nor did he in short relief of Andrus Peat against the Ravens a week ago. Cook had 13 total snaps against Baltimore and now has 79 total NFL snaps to his name. We can question the veracity of the pass rushers he’s faced – the Ravens’ defense has a bottom-five pressure rate, and the Dolphins are 21st – but Cook has so far passed with flying colors.
I still think it’s important we maintain our expectations for Cook. The Dolphins are far from the fiercest defense, and the Pittsburgh offense isn’t all that typical either. Of the 41 pass blocking snaps Cook has taken, only 14 were what PFF considers “true pass sets.” That’s just a fancy of saying snaps that exclude the following:
- Play action
- Screens
- Rollouts
- Time to throw below two or over four seconds
- Less than a three-man rush
Simply put, Cook hasn’t played enough to confidently say he will keep this up against stiffer competition. Still, it’s an intriguing development for the Steelers and a pretty cool story.
A former high school quarterback, Cook started his college career in the NAIA before transferring to Montana. Cook used the year he had to sit out due to transfer rules to make a position change to offensive line. Cook was an undrafted free agent in 2022 and spent that season on the Buccaneers practice squad. Pittsburgh signed him in May 2023 and Cook made the roster, though he didn’t play in any games. He was injured for part of 2024 and has been on the practice squad until his recent call up.
Cook also had some positive reps in the run game as well.
The Steelers gained six yards on the run above, and Cook was phenomenal on this rep. What most impresses me is not only did he win his rep and help create a huge lane for Jaylen Warren, but he also was present of mind enough to notice the ball pop loose and jump on it. The refs would rule that Warren was downed before the ball came free, but when you consider how little Cook’s actually played – 23 starts at right tackle in college and then essentially 3.5 years where he’s been with an NFL program but had zero NFL snaps until a week ago – it’s an impressive display of awareness. Awareness that I’m not sure we always get out of Broderick Jones.
Cook’s situation is somewhat reminiscent of former Steeler’s tackle Alejandro Villanueva. Though their backgrounds are different, both Cook and Villanueva received their first NFL start at age 27 while filling in for injury. It’s unusual for a player that age to finally break into a fulltime starting role, but the Steelers have previous precedent with players like Villanueva and James Harrsion (29). If Cook can prove he’s steady during this final stretch of the season, he should be a player we watch with great interest next training camp.
If I’m the Steelers, I’d leave Cook in even once Peat returns from injury. If he regresses terribly, you can always put Peat back in, but they should find out if they’ve uncovered a late bloomer in Cook.
Elsewhere, it was hard to miss the contributions of new cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. Monday was our first substantial look at him. He was pressed into action Week 13 due to injuries to other players, but only played 10 coverage snaps in a game where Buffalo’s running game was dominating. He then only played a single snap on defense in Week 14. Finally given the start this past week, Samuel wasted little time leaving his mark against the Dolphins, snagging an interception on Miami’s second drive of the game.
This week, Samuel played 36 coverage snaps, and looked good out there. The Dolphins have mostly abandoned the passing attack this year, with most of their production split between Jaylen Waddle and running back De’Von Achane. On Monday night, Samuel was only targeted three times, securing that interception, but also two catches for 14 yards and a touchdown.
In Samuel’s defense, I don’t really love the personnel deployment by the Steelers here. The Dolphins have tight ends Darren Waller (6’6, 245 pounds) and Greg Dulcich (6’4, 245 pounds) lined up to the right, while the smaller Waddle (5’10, 182 pounds) is split to the left. The Steelers decide to have Samuel (5’10, 180 pounds) on the side with those behemoths and have Joey Porter Jr (6’2, 193 pounds) on the side with Waddle. That’s a tactical error as the clip above shows.
Still I’m encouraged by Samuel’s performance. If James Pierre comes back fully healthy from his calf injury, there are still situations where I’d prefer him on the outside, but I think Samuel has earned more playing time. He hasn’t played much slot/nickel corner in his career, but I’m curious if he could mix in there against smaller slot receivers. He should be an intriguing player to try to bring back next season.
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