Football Footnotes: How the Steelers used DK Metcalf's yards-after-catch skills in Week 1

One area where the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense was particularly strong Sunday in New York was its ability to exploit the run-after-catch skills of new receiver DK Metcalf. In this Friday’s “Football Footnotes” post, we analyze how the Steelers used Metcalf’s athleticism to turn short passes into big chunk plays in his Steelers debut during a Week 1 victory versus the New York Jets.

And we’ll see if that’s possible Sunday in the home opener when his former team, the Seattle Seahawks, will no doubt load up to stop him.

• In Week 1 against the Jets, Metcalf totaled 83 yards on four receptions over seven targets. Sixty-eight of those yards were after the catch. Only three players in the NFL had more than that.

Two of them — Atlanta’s Bijan Robinson (106) and Cleveland’s Dylan Sampson (89) — are running backs.

The only receiver with more YAC than Metcalf was Baltimore’s Zay Flowers with 89.

“DK is big and fast. You certainly want to get the ball in his hands. He is certainly capable of being a tough tackle in the secondary,” head coach Mike Tomlin said Wednesday. “It’s our job to get him the ball in spaces where those talents show. Sometimes it’s quick-hitting passes, particularly early in the game.”

“I think he had two of the bigger plays in the game,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said Wednesday. “I thought DK played how he plays in practice. The best players can make practice like a game environment. The game was not too big for him. I thought he had a nice game.”

• The Steelers were opportunistic when (and how) they got Metcalf involved. New York put its best cornerback back, Sauce Gardner, on Metcalf most of the game.

When the Steelers saw the Jets were in an alignment where Metcalf was free of Gardner, they tried to get the ball in his hands as quickly as possible.

On 3rd-and-10 midway through the first quarter, Gardner was lined up outside the numbers on the defense’s left side, eight yards off Pittsburgh receiver Roman Wilson. Wilson ran Gardner deep off the line and right into Gardner to block him.

Metcalf ran a simple hitch to the outside underneath that action, caught a pass from Rodgers, turned upfield, made a move around Tony Adams, and darted ahead for 23 yards.

“Whenever I catch the ball, I look to protect it, get vertical as fast as I can. It just so happened it played out like that when we were playing the Jets,” Metcalf said Tuesday.

With 16 seconds left in the first quarter from their own 32, Gardner was playing off coverage on the outside opposite Ben Skowronek on the right side of the defensive formation.

Metcalf stepped back in the slot to receive a pass behind the line of scrimmage from Rodgers. Skowronek jumped out to block Gardner, and Metcalf took off for 31 yards after easily shaking a slipping Michael Carter II.

DK Metcalf in week 1:

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— Portersburgh (@PortersBurgh) September 9, 2025

On the day, Gardner was only targeted four times, allowing just two receptions for 18 yards. He collected two pass breakups for a 90.3 Pro Football Focus grade, tops among NFL corners in Week 1.

Sauce Gardner's first game as the highest-paid CB in the league:

???? 4 targets
⬜️ 2 catches, 18 yards allowed
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⬜️ 90.3 PFF grade

Gardner lined up against DK Metcalf of 30 of Metcalf's 33 routes, per @NextGenStats

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— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) September 8, 2025

“Sometimes you might have a mindset about approaching the game a certain way, and a counterstrategy might alter that. We weren’t certain whether Sauce Gardner was going to travel with DK,” Tomlin said Tuesday. “It didn’t take long to realize that he did. You make plans whether he does, or he doesn’t. You see what is going to happen, and then you go down the line accordingly.”

• The attempt to get Metcalf the ball in space and then allowing him to accelerate quickly is a return to the roots of his NFL career.

Metcalf’s rookie season featured 367 yards after the catch, a mark that is still his career high. It has declined every year since then to a career low of 217 in 2024.

Metcalf says some credit should go to Rodgers for putting the ball in a catchable location.

“He does very well at throwing us away from the DB to where we just catch the ball and go upfield, because he is the one actually looking at the defense,” Metcalf said. “Nine times out of 10, my back is to the DB when I don’t know where they are after I make the break.”

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• As a team, the San Francisco 49ers posted 121 yards after the catch, tied for seventh in the NFL in Week 1. They played against Seattle.

However, 62 of those yards came from running back Christian McCaffrey. Wide receiver Ricky Pearsall had a big game with 108 yards and two touchdowns, but just 15 after the catch.

The Seahawks have had an eventful few days in the secondary since their 17-13 loss to the 49ers. Safety Nick Emmanwori is dealing with a high ankle sprain. According to Seattle Times writer Bob Condotta, cornerback Devon Witherspoon has a knee injury and didn’t practice Wednesday or Thursday. ESPN.com’s Brady Henderson says Safety Julian Love was limited on Wednesday and didn’t participate Thursday.

And Riq Woolen had a really rough performance covering Pearsall and may be benched in favor of Josh Jobe.

Rodgers had a big game against his former team in New York. Metcalf may be poised to do the same thing against the Seahawks on Sunday.

Listen: Tim Benz and Dave Softy Mahler of KJR Radio in Seattle discuss the Seahawks in advance of their visit to Pittsburgh.