PITTSBURGH —When the Pittsburgh Steelers claimed Adam Thielen off waivers from the Minnesota Vikings and also inserted Marquez Valdes-Scantling into their lineup in early December, the team went on a three-game winning streak, beating the Baltimore Ravens , Miami Dolphins and Detroit Lions to knock on the doorstep of the postseason.
While the veteran receivers were a part of the on-field group that turned things around for the Steelers, they weren't really a big part of the game plan. Over the three-game run, Thielen had six catches. MVS had five.
But after the Detroit game, DK Metcalf was suspended for the final two games of the regular season. Arthur Smith and Aaron Rodgers were forced to change the way they attacked the passing game. At first, it didn't necessarily go well.
Against the Cleveland Browns in Week 17, MVS was targeted nine times and caught three for 21 yards, Thielen was targeted five times and caught two for 14 yards, and the entire Steelers' passing offense plummeted, with Rodgers throwing for just 168 yards.
Things turned around against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 18, though. Rodgers had his biggest passing game of the season with 294 yards, and Thielen (three catches for 43 yards) and MVS (five catches for 34 yards) were big parts of it. Despite the lack of Metcalf, Smith and Rodgers found their answers in the passing game.
Now, they'll get a chance to add Metcalf back into the success they just had against Baltimore in time for the postseason.
"I think everybody in that receiver room just got more opportunities and I think it gave us more experience in this offense with Aaron," Thielen said after practice on Thursday. "Now it's a big group of a lot of guys that can do a lot of things well. In this league, the more guys you have who can help create success on offense, the better. It's great to have DK back and to have options for the OC and for the quarterback, I think is always a good thing."
While Thielen, MVS and Calvin Austin III had plenty of success against Baltimore, they will definitely need Metcalf this week. Derek Stingley , one of the top cover cornerbacks in football, has the ability to take one receiver out of the game whenever he wants, so the ability to stretch the field and catch-and-run with a 235-pound wide receiver are going to be essential for Smith's ability to find a successful game plan.
"He's a big body who has great body control and catches the football extremely well and obviously has great speed and athleticism," Thielen said. "To have a piece like that back in an offense, is absolutely huge, and not only that, his energy and his effort and what he does in the run game that people don't talk about and what he does run-after-catch, those are huge for this offense."
Thielen said earlier this season that this is probably the last season for him after a 12-year NFL career. He's already seen it flash before his eyes once, as the wild ending of the Steelers-Ravens Week 18 showdown played out, and he seems determined to keep it going as long as he can.
"Crazy ending, obviously," he said. "But going into games like that, it's all or nothing. For me individually, probably being done after, you go into the game knowing that you've gotta win or that could be it forever."
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : With DK Metcalf Back, Steelers Passing Attack Peaking at Right Time
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