Burns turning into Steelers’ lockdown corner

Sep 19, 2017 By Jim Wexell for The 8 min read

PITTSBURGH — Last year, Artie Burns was just a skinny cover corner trying to survive as a 21-year-old rookie.

This year, he’s a muscled-up veteran who’s turned into the Steelers’ lockdown cornerback.

“Top DB in the room,” said Antonio Brown. “Boy a beast.”

Brown, of course, spent the spring and summer schooling Burns, but Brown is quick to say, “I didn’t play into that. That’s all him.”

In two games so far, Burns — the “other A.B.” — has allowed six catches and a pass interference call on 13 passes to the receiver he covered.

Including the 17 yards penalized, Burns has allowed those receivers to gain only 46 yards, or 6.6 yards per completion. The 17-yard pass interference call was the longest play he’s allowed.

One of his highlights in Sunday’s win over the Minnesota Vikings occurred after Burns stayed home on a play in which Case Keenum faked to the running back, faked to the receiver coming around, and threw a screen that Burns stopped for a one-yard loss.

He’s not only covering, he’s tackling, and Burns credits Mike Tomlin with telling him after last season that he needs to get stronger.

“That was my No. 1 goal for the offseason, to get stronger,” said Burns. “To be able to play in this league, you’ve got to be strong.”

The added muscle on the 6-0, 197-pounder is obvious. So is the confidence. And it doesn’t matter to Burns that he’s “old news” to reporters who’ve focused lately on newcomer Joe Haden instead of last year’s first-round draft pick.

“If we get to the Super Bowl, man, that’s all that matters,” Burns said. “I don’t care what the media’s talking about. I want a ring and a trophy. That’s all I have to worry about. However my career goes, it goes.”

It’s going in the direction of a scheme-versatile, lockdown corner.

“I see things better,” he said. “I have more experience. Things are coming to me better than they did last year.”

BEN’S BIG ‘NO-PLAY'

The longest gain by the Steelers on Sunday came on a “no-play,” when a Viking jumped offside and Maurkice Pouncey snapped immediately to Ben Roethlisberger, who threw deep to a diving Martavis Bryant for a 51-yard gain in the third quarter. It led to a field goal and a 20-9 lead.

“They know when the ball’s snapped on a no-play to take off long,” said Roethlisberger. “The receivers know what they’re supposed to do.”

So did Pouncey, although the snap was high.

“I told him ‘It was a horrible snap, Pounce,'” Roethlisberger said. “We had a good laugh about it, but we knew it was a free play.”

Roethlisberger said the same thing happened about a dozen times last season.

“We’ve had quite a few of those, more than people probably know,” he said.

Another under-the-radar play by Roethlisberger was his low block on Pro Bowl defensive end Everson Griffen that sprung Bryant for a seven-yard gain on an end around in the first quarter. Roethlisberger later dove at backside pursuer Harrison Smith in an attempted block that actually slowed Smith and allowed Le’Veon Bell to get out of the backfield.

“I’ll do anything to help the team,” said Roethlisberger, who throws coaching advice to the wind in the middle of a game.

“Usually on the reverse, I am supposed to block and they’ll say, ‘Don’t use your right shoulder.’ That’s usually what’s said, but you can’t think about that. In the heat of the battle you’re just trying to slow a guy down.”

DOWN GO THE VOLS

David DeCastro was talking after the game Sunday about the high number of talented “freaks” on the Vikings defense when he overheard someone ask Ramon Foster about Tennessee’s last-second loss to Florida the previous day.

“Oh, too soon,” DeCastro scolded. “Too soon.”

Of course, DeCastro and the rest of the offensive line had already given it to Foster. But even Pouncey, from Florida, felt kind of bad for Foster.

“A little bit,” said Pouncey. “But they won last year, so it was payback.”

For rookie QB Josh Dobbs, also from Tennessee, it was a case of deja vu.

“Same exact thing happened when we played Texas A&M last year,” Dobbs said. “We were down seven. They had the ball, third-and-6, and dude breaks it 65 yards for a touchdown. Malik Foreman chases him down, strips at the 1, out the back of the end zone, we recover, go on the field, score a touchdown, go to overtime, double overtime, lost in double overtime. Same exact feeling. Same exact feeling.”

Dobbs made that feeling clear immediately after the Vols’ rally started with a strip-fumble at the goal line, only to tie the game and lose on a bomb as time expired. He tweeted, “I’m sick,” immediately after the play.

“Yeah, I was sick,” Dobbs said. “I know all the guys on the team so I know how much that play meant. Bled with everyone who was down there fighting for the dub (W) down there.”

SPECIAL TEAMS PRO BOWLER?

For the second consecutive game, reserve linebacker Tyler Matakevich made a key special-teams play for the Steelers.

Matakevich blocked a punt for a touchdown in the opener, and Sunday broke up the Vikings’ pass off a fake punt to end the first series of the second half. The Steelers took over at the Minnesota 36 and eventually kicked a field goal for a 17-3 lead.

“We were just saying to be alert for the fake,” Matakevich said. “Near midfield, fourth-and-4, you’ve got to know first of all they’ll try a hard count to get you to jump.”

Amid teammates’ calls to be alert for a potential fake, Matakevich also noticed he was across from a new man, tight end Blake Bell, instead of the linebacker who normally lined up at the left tackle spot on the Minnesota punt team.

“It’s usually a linebacker, (Kentrell) Brothers, a guy I know,” Matakevich said. “So I noticed it was a different guy, and then he didn’t even try to block. He just sort of ran a route. As soon as he didn’t block me, and with people yelling ‘Watch the fake! Watch the fake!’ you’re like ‘What’s about to happen?'”

Matakevich followed Bell into the flat and broke up the pass to give the Steelers the ball.

QUICK HITTERS

Stephon Tuitt said he made big strides last week with his injured biceps muscle and hopes to play this week. “That’s the plan,” he said. “I’m just going to keep doing exactly what I did last week and hope it continues to get better.” … Rookie CB Brian Allen replaced Mike Hilton as the punt gunner in the second half Sunday and downed Jordan Berry’s punt inside the Minnesota 1-yard line. “They told me to go in for Mike because he had played so many reps on defense and on kick coverage,” Allen said. … It was the first time Allen touched the football in his NFL career. That success was rivaled by another rookie, WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, who scored on his first pro touch when Roethlisberger shoveled to him a three-yard touchdown pass. But Smith-Schuster’s most impressive play Sunday was his crushing interior block of Smith, the Vikings’ box safety, during a Steelers running play. “It was something we’ve been working on all week,” said Smith-Schuster. “It just so happened he came in that gap. That’s my gap and I just did my job.”

TOMLIN ON INJURIES

At his Tuesday press conference, Mike Tomlin talked about these injuries: RT Marcus Gilbert (hamstring) and TE Jesse James (ankle) could miss early practices; Vance McDonald (back spasms) should be back, as should Tuitt (biceps), who “has potential to play,” Tomlin said, and the same for T.J. Watt (groin). Reserve safety J.J. Wilcox is “finishing up his last elements of the concussion protocol.”

TOMLIN ON HARRISON

Tomlin was asked why he didn’t play James Harrison at all when Watt left in the second quarter wih an injury.

“We wanted to leave the hot hands in there,” he said. “(Anthony) Chickillo being that hot hand. We appreciate James. We know what James is capable of. James will ready himself. There will be a time in the season where we’ll call on his services and he’ll deliver and deliver in a big way, much like he did in the latter part of 2016. In the meantime, we’re going to continue to roll people and play and play guys that we see fit and not do a real good job of maybe describing our mindset or outlining their intentions because part of it is gamesmanship and part of it will define itself as we move forward.”

�山��