Each of the past three Pittsburgh Steelers games has featured a different kicker. Danny Smith emphatically shot down any idea the Steelers might make it four kickers in four weeks.

“There’s certain people in my life that I trust,” Smith, the Steelers’ special teams coordinator, said of Matthew Wright. “And I trust him.

“He’s good. Very good.”

Two missed field goals in one afternoon weren’t going to change Smith’s opinion — or that of the organization — on Wright, whom they signed off the Kansas City Chiefs practice squad early last week in the wake of news that regular kicker Chris Boswell would need to be placed on injured reserve.

Wright missed field goals of 39 and 48 yards during last week’s 20-10 victory against the New Orleans Saints. But Wright did make a pair of 33-yard field goals and two extra points in addition to handling five kickoffs without incident.

With Boswell out at least three more games, the Steelers are sticking by their man. After all, Wright had missed just four previous field goals in 32 prior NFL tries before Sunday.

“Matt is a pro,” long snapper Christian Kuntz said. “He’s made a ton of kicks in his career, and that happens.

“He’s one of the best in the world, and he will be fine on Sunday for sure.”

Wright, after all, has a 59-yard field goal to his credit — no Steelers kicker ever has made one longer. It was that kind of leg — in addition to the familiarity with him over two former stints with the club — that compelled the Steelers to turn to Wright.

On a team that ranks 31st in the 32-team NFL in scoring, points are precious enough that the kicker decision could prove highly important.

In that context, it was perversely lucky for the Steelers that their game prior to the Saints victory didn’t come down to a placekick — even if their kicker that day was perfect on them.

Nick Sciba was the Steelers’ kicker for their 35-13 loss in Philadelphia on Oct. 30, in part because it wasn’t logistically feasible to get Wright in time following the discovery of Boswell’s groin injury the Friday of that week.

For a man who embraces preparation as much as Smith does, learning his kicker was injured 48 hours prior to a game was … less than ideal.

“It was a very stressful Friday,” Smith said. “And that’s what upset me about it. Injuries happen, and you gotta deal with ’em and you gotta be prepared for ’em. We gotta go to the next guy. I get that. But when they come on Friday, man, I don’t like that.”

Smith said he didn’t get a chance to meet with Sciba until 10 p.m. that Friday night.

“That ain’t comfortable,” Smith said.

Sciba was with the Steelers all summer after setting the NCAA career field-goal percentage record at Wake Forest. Aside from an out-of-bounds kickoff, Sciba was perfect on three kicks against the Eagles.

“I like and respect Nick,” Smith said.

But with the benefit of an extra week to evaluate Boswell’s injury, the Steelers swapped out Sciba for Wright.

Players signed off other team’s practice squads are guaranteed three weeks of active-roster salary and must count against the 53-man limit over those three weeks. That could have had Steelers management cringing when Wright missed a field goal during the third quarter of a tie game Sunday or when he later flubbed a 39-yard chip shot.

“Obviously, I’d like to make every single kick that I take,” Wright said. “But it’s part of the business. You’re gonna miss kicks.

“It doesn’t matter what you did (in the past). All that matters is the next one. And when you can win, when you miss kicks it makes it a little bit better.”

With Boswell out at least three more games and the Steelers figuring on being involved in more low-scoring games, Wright will have more opportunities to be the hero or goat.

“We felt we would sign the best player,” Smith said of Wright. “We always will in Pittsburgh. And we felt we signed the best player. One game don’t make a season. One game don’t make a career.”

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