Steelers’ Wallace looking ordinary

Associated Press

pittsburgh

Pittsburgh wide receiver Mike Wallace was already thinking about his touchdown dance when the pass from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger dropped out of the sky toward Wallace’s waiting hands.

Clank. The ball smacked off Wallace’s hands and fell harmlessly to the ground.

No biggie. Twice more during last week’s 13-9 win over Kansas City, Roethlisberger chucked it deep to one of the NFL’s emerging big-play receivers. And twice more the Steelers missed, turning what could have been a rout into a game that wasn’t decided until the final seconds.

Wallace offered no excuses for the uncharacteristic drops even as they extended a monthlong slide in which his eye-popping numbers have turned ordinary.

“They’re just plays I usually make,” said Wallace, who had a season-low two receptions for 17 yards against the Chiefs. “I just got a little bit overly excited for that game. I’ve just got to come back down, take a step back.”

Wallace half-jokingly predicted a record 2,000-yard season during training camp. For the first seven games of the season, he appeared to have a shot, averaging 104 yards a contest and setting a team record with a 95-yard touchdown against the Cardinals.

The problem with playing at that level is opponents take notice. Getting behind the defense isn’t quite so easy when you’re being double-teamed on just about every play as Wallace is these days.

All that attention has forced one of the league’s fastest players to throttle down. Wallace is averaging a pedestrian 11.0 yards per catch over the last four games with just one touchdown. He isn’t frustrated — it’s hard to be when your team is winning — yet he knows who coach Mike Tomlin is referring to when he says his receivers need to make “more competitive catches.”

“If he’s saying it, there can only be one person he’s talking to,” Wallace said.

Wallace understands his strength is his speed. His hands still need some work, though they’re getting better. After making a fingertip grab of a pass from Roethlisberger earlier this season, Wallace made it a point to show his quarterback he didn’t try to use his palms.

It drew a good laugh, proof of the rapport the two have developed over the last three seasons.

“I try to tell Mike to let the big games come to him,” Roethlisberger said. “Those 100-yard games are going to come.”