AFC Wild Card 2016, Dolphins at Steelers: 3 things we learned
By John Buhler
The No. 3 Pittsburgh Steelers crushed the No. 6 Miami Dolphins 30-12 to advance to the AFC Divisional round. Here are the three big takeaways from this game.
The Pittsburgh Steelers took care of business in their home AFC playoff game by hammering the Miami Dolphins to the tune of 30-12. Pittsburgh advances to the AFC Divisional Round where the Steelers will play the No. 2 Kansas City Chiefs at 1:05 p.m. ET on Sunday, Jan. 15 at Arrowhead Stadium.
Miami’s strong 2016 season comes to an end with this tough loss. Here are the three biggest takeaways from the Steelers’ easy victory over the Dolphins on Sunday afternoon.
1. Le’Veon Bell can get Pittsburgh Lombardi Trophy No. 7.
With this big win for Pittsburgh over Miami, it’s safe to say that the Steelers are a serious Super Bowl 51 contender in the AFC. Pittsburgh went out and crushed Miami from opening kickoff. The Steelers’ best battering ram was running back Le’Veon Bell.
Since coming back from his four-game suspension to start the year, Bell has been undoubtedly the best running back in the AFC, probably in the NFL. He has tremendous patience in the backfield, is agile, and a bruising runner that no defense will want to go up against.
Pittsburgh will need to win three more games to reach the highest mountain, but Bell is the tailback the Steelers will need to win its seventh Lombardi Trophy. Is there a run defense in the NFL Playoffs that can hold Bell under a 100 yards? This guy is unbelievable.
2. Are we sure Vance Joseph is getting a head coaching gig?
The coaching carousel is in full tilt in early January 2017. Six NFL organizations decided to part ways with their head coach after the 2016 NFL regular season. A few coordinators are pushing for their first head coaching gig. One of those guys happens to be Dolphins defensive coordinator Vance Joseph.
Joseph may be a perceived finalist for most notably the Denver Broncos. However, his defense came out flat like a three-day old two-liter bottle of Coca-Cola. The Dolphins had little interest in wrapping up Bell in the Steelers backfield or preventing wide receiver Antonio Brown from humiliating them over the top.
He may be a finalist for the Denver vacancy, but with the way that the Dolphins played on defense, it might end up costing Joseph a head coaching job on this ride on the coaching carousel. He clearly has work to do in Miami should he stay.
3. Pittsburgh is being far too antagonistic on defense.
It’s finally starting to click on the Pittsburgh defense. Though we may not see this side of the ball gel quite like it did when Troy Polamalu was starring in the Pittsburgh defensive backfield, Pittsburgh went out and punched Miami in the mouth on defense Sunday.
While it was a dominating defensive performance by Pittsburgh, the Steelers were far too antagonistic for their own good. Outside linebacker Bud Dupree’s hit on Dolphins quarterback Matt Moore was uncalled for. It was the most notable play from this game for the Steelers defense.
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Many times Steelers were leading with their helmets on tackling attempts. That’s not a safe brand of football and not technically sound. The Steelers may need to win on that side of the ball with a brash sense of confidence, but it could get them burned later down the road. Kansas City doesn’t play that way. New England is too good for that. The NFC has a ton of offenses than can expose reckless tackling tactics.