This Explains a Lot: Struggling Steelers Apparently Worried About Opposing Star Who's on IR
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ game preparation is so meticulous and well-drawn-up that one of the players they’re keying on stopping in Sunday’s hopeful-playoff-salvaging game against Cincinnati is absolutely guaranteed to have zero receiving yards.
The player in question is Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert, and the reason pundits can make that bold prediction so readily is that Eifert has been on injured reserve since Oct. 5.
The Steelers apparently game-prepped for him anyway, their coaches seemingly blissfully unaware of who’s suiting up for the other team.
Pittsburgh defensive coordinator Keith Butler discussed how difficult it would be to stop Eifert in an interview published on the team’s own website, Steelers.com. (For some reason, it has since been deleted.)
“I think (Eifert) is very good,” Butler said, according to ESPN. “I think he’s up there. He can get deep on you. He does a good job of catching the ball, all that stuff. He’s going to be a problem for us to cover.”
Yeah, probably not going to be any defensive players lined up where Eifert is, in street clothes on the sideline.
The Bengals also lost wide receiver A.J. Green to injury, and someone asked Butler who was going to step up in Green’s absence “besides Tyler Eifert, the tight end.”
Lo and behold, it was another whoopee cushion sound from Butler’s mental process.
Butler said Eifert “is doing a good job” before correctly referring to John Ross and Alex Erickson, who will actually be playing Sunday.
From a certain point of view, you could give Butler the benefit of the doubt on that one, though. He might have thought the interviewer knew something he didn’t in regards to Eifert by name-dropping him in a way that suggested he was going to play.
The interviewer, Steelers.com editor Bob Labriola, accepted “full responsibility” and referred to his work as “a sloppy interview.”
It was a sloppy interview I did with #Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler, and for that I take full responsibility. pic.twitter.com/EQWc0qD0wC
— Bob Labriola (@BobLabriola) December 29, 2018
“I have apologized to Keith Butler for the way I conducted the interview and for not being more current on the upcoming opponent’s personnel,” he said.
But at the same time, for Butler to fail to correct the error points to just how far out of sorts the Steelers’ coaching has been this year, as a team that started 7-2-1 has lost five out of six to go from “they just stole home field from the Patriots” to “they need a win and a Ravens loss or a Colts-Titans tie to get into the playoffs.”
Pittsburgh beat an Eifert-less Bengals squad 28-21 on Oct. 14; Eifert was lost for the season after breaking his ankle in a Sept. 30 game against the Atlanta Falcons.
Eifert, for his part, was amused and a bit flattered by the attention from Pittsburgh this week.
“Hey I am ahead of schedule! Glad the Steelers are still thinking about me though,” he tweeted.
Hey I am ahead of schedule! Glad the @steelers are still thinking about me tho ?♂️ https://t.co/6rokqU6MkW
— Tyler Eifert (@tylereifert) December 28, 2018
Butler has a long tenure with the Steelers, spending 12 years as linebackers coach before his promotion to defensive coordinator in 2015.
Under Butler, Pittsburgh’s defenses have ranked 11th, 10th, seventh and 15th in points allowed.
But if Steelers fans are looking for a fall guy in case the perennial AFC North powerhouse misses the playoffs for the first time since 2013, Butler’s lack of awareness of the other team’s personnel in the most important game of the year might be the signature on the death warrant.
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