James Washington will be "a better player."
Jaylen Samuels will be "way better."
Or so they've both assured me, and not just in the obvious context of being a year older and a year wiser than they were as rookies in 2018. No, this time I was asking only about beating New England. Which, as some will recall, the Steelers did do in their most recent meeting Dec. 16 at Heinz Field by a 17-10 count.
Everyone does recall this, right?
I wonder sometimes, if only because the Nation as a whole has a collective tendency to blot out anything positive that their favorite team does against the Patriots, and I hardly ever hear anyone cite it. Even this week, with the teams meeting again Sunday night in Foxborough, it's all big-brother this, dominance that, with nary a mention of the immediate precedent.
Well, it did happen. I was there.
So were these two dudes:
And so, from what I've heard, were a whole lot of you. Our city and its beloved football franchise did, indeed, have themselves 'a moment,' as I wrote that day. It was beautiful.
After which, with a seeming snap, it was gone. Joe Haden got jobbed in New Orleans, that sordid season-opening tie in Cleveland came back to bite, and the Steelers would wind up 9-6-1 and long-faced witnesses to the playoffs:
A fan, Dec. 31, Heinz Field. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPSBut that doesn't erase New England.
Nor should it erase why these Steelers really ought to beat these Patriots again: They've got the better talent. And, in a couple key cases, that talent will be better or even "way better," to borrow Samuels' term, than it was back in December.
Which swings this back, of course, to Washington and Samuels, the Steelers' top receiver and top running back, respectively, that day against New England.
Washington ran up 65 yards on three catches, including this Lynn Swann-ish 32-yard gem over Jason McCourty on a sideline throw from Ben Roethlisberger in the third quarter ...
... and this 24-yard catch-and-run on the same drive that utterly emasculated poor McCourty at the point of reception:
Washington's built his resume on the top example, the catch where his arms and hands flat-out outduel the opponent, even for a true 50/50 ball, so it's no surprise he'll light up when it's brought up. Which I've done more than once.
“I think of it as three things,” Washington began when I asked for a breakdown. “The first thing is playing through the hands of the DB. You’ve got to be strong, steadier than the DB when that ball gets there. Next, it’s playing through any kind of collision. You’re going to bump somebody with some kind of body part. Again, you’ve got to be stronger, steadier. And the third …”
He paused for a second, one eyebrow raised.
” … it’s just will. You’ve got to want it more than the other guy.”
Nice.
And yet, he isn't that guy anymore. He's stripped down 16 pounds; he's quicker, more agile and, as we've all seen, he's making more different types of plays as a receiver than ever. Which is precisely what was promised upon his arrival.
Also, he's visibly embracing that with a big smile and bigger air of poise.
"I just want to see him play and have fun like he did in the preseason," Randy Fichtner, the offensive coordinator was saying of Washington heading into this opener. "He played pretty much error-free. He played aggressive and confident. That's all he's got to do. He's very talented. He's got good power, good strength, good hands. And that confidence level he has right now, with him and 7 and a full year's work ... now he's just got to do it in a real game."
Again, he surely meant.
Similarly, Samuels will be seeking a sequel-plus, only his will be far more to ask. In the previous meeting, he piled up 172 all-purpose yards, chiefly 142 on 19 rushes. Immediately afterward, Roethlisberger called that performance "special," and Mike Tomlin offered uncharacteristic praise for both rookies, saying, "I think about the young guys that had positive contributions, guys like Jaylen and guys like James Washington. I can’t say enough about their contributions.”
That was plenty. But with Samuels, too, he hardly saw that as the ceiling. In fact, Fichtner has used the film from that game -- more than any other, ironically -- to demonstrate ways he can improve.
So while the rest of us can look back and see Samuels bulldozing toward 7.5 yards per carry through the Patriots' paper-thin run defense ...
... or helping Matt Feiler with this block on a blitzing Kyle Van Noy before spontaneously finding a soft spot a layer deep for Roethlisberger ...
... all he's been hearing about was a single missed block that could have resulted -- but fortunately didn't -- in a sack of the franchise quarterback.
Heck, Fichtner brought that up on his own Thursday when I'd asked about something else:
"I want to get one of those big guys on him in protection," he said of Samuels and New England's linebackers. "Because he ran through them one time last year and he missed him one time, too. The growth comes right now in just protecting our quarterback. And I believe, I feel very confident right now that, if 38 is in there, he'll block whoever they send. And that's a whole lot different than how I felt going into last year's game."
He then extrapolated that to include Washington.
"Jaylen had never taken a snap in a real game and run the ball. When we took him as a rookie, he'd never played running back. He was a tight-end-slash-fun-player who did fun things."
Fichtner laughed at that, but he also was serious. Samuels' college background at N.C. State was more at tight end, wide receiver and even a couple invented positions.
"He never got the ball handed to him. So that was a big change for him. As it was for James Washington. James came out of a system where he played on the right side. He ran three plays. He ran a post, a go, and a hitch. He never motioned."
This was at Oklahoma State. With Mason Rudolph at quarterback.
"Now he plays on the left side. He's got to motion. He's got to play inside, outside. He's got to route-adjust. He's got to have the whole route tree. So his development's been great, too."
Washington looks ready, sounds ready.
So does Samuels:
So does this whole group, to be honest. In a casual canvassing of this locker room Thursday, there wasn't the tiniest trace of awe or intimidation related to the Patriots or Tom Brady or Bill Belichick or the Super Bowl celebration they'll likely be forced to endure Sunday night at Gillette Stadium or anything of the sort. Most of them already have been there, beaten that.
But beyond that, as I'll keep reminding, the dynamic of this group's changed quite a bit of late. Not just on offense, and not just through the character quotient that shot through the roof once two clowns were removed from the locker room.
Devin Bush, Terrell Edmunds and others have made the defense younger, faster, possibly more capable of forcing turnovers. That's very much been the focus here from reporting day at Saint Vincent, fueled by Tomlin but founded within the locker room leadership. It's been about themselves. It's been about getting better.
Yeah, even better than beating New England that one time.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Steelers practice, Rooney Sports Complex. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS