Oct 27, 2019 By Jim Wexell for The 9 min read

The Steelers need a victory over the winless Dolphins at Heinz Field tonight to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.

MEMORABLE SERIES MOMENT

Steelers 3, Dolphins 0

Nov. 26, 2007 at Heinz Field

No other game symbolizes this Monday’s matchup of the 0-6 Dolphins and 2-4 Steelers better than the “Muck Bowl.” The Steelers won with 17 seconds left on a short Jeff Reed field goal in a game highlighted by a punt that plopped like a pig into the mud and stuck straight up on the air. Without Troy Polamalu and LaMarr Woodley, the Steelers allowed only 159 yards for the shutout. “We played good defense,” said then-LB coach Keith Butler. “It was raining. It was a lot of rain.” Tonight’s game has that same pig-sty appeal to it, but without the rain.

TALE OF THE TAPE

“Randy Fichtner can minimize the exposure on Mason Rudolph by using regular people (2WRs, 2 RBs) to run the ball on the Dolphins. Run the ball, because these guys give up almost 5 yards a whack. They give up a lot in the air, but this comes at a time when your offensive line is coming together on Monday Night Football at Heinz Field, where they have a great tradition of winning. I’m sure it’s the Dec. 15, 1983 mantra given to us before Terry Bradshaw’s last game. It was a whole week of: ‘Nobody touches Terry.’ In this case it’s Mason and that’s the way this offensive line is going to play. I think this offensive line will take it upon themselves to be the personal protectors AND conductors of a good ground game.” — Steelers Radio analyst Craig Wolfley.

TOP QUESTION

Will the Steelers play down to their opposition?

The Steelers are 14.5-point favorites against a team with a better quarterback. No offense to Rudolph, but Ryan Fitzpatrick is quarterbacking his eighth team in 15 years through which he’s compiled a steady passer rating of 80.6. The experience at QB portends potential disaster for the Steelers, who tend to play down to inferior opponents. But under Mike Tomlin, the Steelers have lost only once in the 11 games they’ve been favored by more than 12 points (lost to visiting Oakland in 2009 as a 15-point favorite.) So, keep calm and carry on.

THREE QUESTIONS” With RB JAMES CONNER

Q: What’s it like to get Mason back?

JC: “Happy to have him back. First and foremost happy he’s healthy. He plays with a lot of passion and he’s fired up about the opportunity, so I know he’s going to prepare well this week and have a big game on Monday.”

Q: What’s it like to have Rosie Nix back?

JC: “Man, that’s what I’m excited about the most (laughs). Pro Bowl fullback leading the way, going head first into people. I need that. The whole team is happy to have him back, just his presence out there alone in the special teams game. He blocks punts, the first one down the field on kickoffs. He’s a playmaker. Happy to have him.”

Q: Do you suspect that his return and the fact you have a young quarterback mean there’ll be more fullback usage?

JC: “I hope so. I need him.”

GAME BREAKDOWN

What to look for from the Steelers Monday night at Heinz Field

ON OFFENSE:

The whole world sees Nix returning to fullback, Conner and the O-line returning to form, and a young quarterback returning from a wicked KO in his last game. It adds up to a big game for the jumbo running set. The Dolphins allow 4.7 yards per carry, but even worse is their 32nd-ranked pass defense (13.6 yards per completion). Look for the Steelers to soften the Dolphins on the ground and then strike deep with James Washington back to health. Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard will no doubt check JuJu Smith-Schuster, and the Dolphins’ best pass-rusher is waiver claim Taco Charlton, who has three of their seven sacks.

ON DEFENSE:

Only Mark Barron is on the injury list (questionable) out of the top 14 (with DL Stephon Tuitt now on IR), so it’s an all-out assault on Fitzpatrick. His leading receiver is rookie Preston Williams, who was undrafted (probably because of a 2017 domestic incident) but very productive at Colorado State. He’s 6-4, 211 with 4.59 40 speed. Fitzpatrick’s big-play threat is 6-3, 216-pound 2015 first-rounder DeVante Parker. Former Penn State tight end Mike Gesicki is the third receiver averaging over 15 yards per catch for Fitpatrick. Speedster Kenyan Drake is the Dolphins’ pass-receiving back and Mark Dalton has become their primary runner of late.

PREDICTION

Tomlin might be 6-0 at home on Monday night, but he’s 6-6 coming off a bye and, again, his team is a big favorite against a better quarterback. But the Dolphins have a weak offensive line and are awful on defense. Aside from their poor numbers against the run AND pass, the Dolphins allow a league-worst 70 percent touchdowns in the red zone. With the resolve of the Steelers offensive line, and a healthy Conner, look for them to grind out a lead and hold it with their young, fast and developing defense. … Steelers, 27-17.

BY THE NUMBERS

3.2: Average yards per carry this season by Conner. He averaged 4.6 yards per carry last season.

5: Sacks allowed by the Steelers, fewest in the NFL.

75: Rushing yards by Benny Snell vs. Chargers stands as the single-game high for the Steelers this season. The next best is Conner’s 55 vs. the Ravens.

95: L.T. Walton’s jersey number, the predicted winner of the “two dogs/one bone” D-line challenge made this week by Tomlin. Either No. 95 Walton or No. 96 Isaiah Buggs, the rookie defensive lineman from Alabama, will be active Monday night.

111: Rudolph’s passer rating at Heinz Field this season (3 games).

DOWNLOADS

n The Steelers offensive line has allowed only five sacks and last game paved the way for the first 100-yard rushing game of the season (124). The catalyst has been David DeCastro, who, according to rankings by Pro Football Focus, is the league’s best pass-blocking guard. DeCastro will line up across from the Dolphins’ best defensive lineman, according to PFF, John Jenkins.

n The Dolphins drafted their top cornerback, Howard, 13 picks after the Steelers had selected CB Artie Burns in 2016. With S Reshad Jones having been ruled out with a chest injury, the 6-1, 198-pound Howard will be the lone Dolphins Pro Bowler (2018) on the field Monday night. Howard led the NFL last season with seven interceptions, but doesn’t have any this season and missed the last two games with a knee injury. He’s expected to play, but is listed as questionable.

n Also ruled out for the Dolphins is center Daniel Kilgore (knee), who’ll miss his second consecutive game. Last week he was replaced by right guard Evan Boehm, and undrafted rookie Shaq Calhoun stepped in at right guard. That gives the Dolphins three rookie starters on an O-line that’s allowed 24 sacks this season. It’s up against a Steelers rush that’s third in sacks per game (3.33).

n QB Fitzpatrick has completed over 66 percent of his passes for over 7.5 yards per pass the last two games, but the 36-year-old is 0-6 against the Steelers. He’s played at Heinz Field three times, the last time with the New York Jets in 2016 when the Steelers won by 18 points. Fitzpatrick’s Texans lost at Heinz in 2014 and his Bengals lost here in 2008. He has a career 80.6 passer rating against the Steelers.

n The Steelers were in the pistol alignment before snapping the ball on Conner’s 12-yard touchdown run against the Chargers. Fichtner said he used it one other time in that game, and also used it in a 2010 win over the Ravens, when Ben Roethlisberger played out of the pistol because of a foot injury. Roethlisberger joked that the pain in his foot went away after his nose was broken by Haloti Ngata in that game. But why the pistol with a healthy QB? “You can balance out some of your runs,” Fichtner said. “It gives you a chance to get yourself going a little bit more downhill. It gives you the ability to run right and left. A lot of times when you’re offset in the ‘gun you don’t have the ability to do that.”

PARTING SHOT

“My dad’s a linebacker. My brother’s a defensive end. A lot of times I wish I could have more contact in the game because I truly love it. That’s kind of the backyard player that I am. So I’m not going to be gun shy at all. If anything, I’ll be seeking it out, contact, earlier in the game to get the rust off and know what it feels like to get hit.” — Mason Rudolph.