Ladarius Green could be the perfect complement to a dangerous Steelers offense

The first 100-yard receiving game of Ladarius Green’s five-year NFL career happened Sunday night. It couldn’t have been better timing for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Pittsburgh, locked in a dogfight with arch rival Baltimore for control of the AFC North, sputtered to a 4-5 start this fall. A four-game losing streak, at least tangentially related to a leg injury that forced Ben Roethlisberger from playing at peak Ben levels, put the franchise in danger of missing the postseason. Before exploding for 30 points against a red-hot Dallas team, the Steelers had been limited to just 15 points per game in conference losses to the Dolphins, Patriots, and Ravens.

While Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell have played at Pro Bowl levels, it was clear Pittsburgh needed another weapon to diversify the offense and stretch opposing defenses even thinner.

Enter Green.

The 6’6 tight end was signed away from the San Diego Chargers last spring after a four-year career rooted in potential and athleticism. The Steelers brought him to town after a 37-catch, 429-yard campaign with hopes he could fill the role beloved veteran Heath Miller once held down at Heinz Field: a reliable red zone threat who can provide the midrange yardage lost between the team’s running backs and deep threats.

Green started the season on the Physically Unable to Perform list while his team shot out to a 4-4 start without him. Though injuries have limited him to only four games after being added to the active roster in November, his quarterback thinks that’s the kind of presence he can provide.

“I have all of the faith in the world in him and what he can do,” Roethlisberger told reporters after Green’s breakout game. “He is a weapon for us.”

Roethlisberger also noted the building chemistry with the tight end. “He made the one [reception] on third down where there were two guys on him,” the quarterback said. “That was awesome. There just needs to be more consistency on my part and his part working together. That just comes from repetition and working together. I have all of the confidence in the world in him.”

Green gives the Steelers another vertical threat who can stretch defenses up the seam. His two biggest receptions in Week 13 showed off just how dangerous he can be when opposing defenses try to chip him near the line of scrimmage. Here he is exploding for 33 yards after the Giants try, ineffectually, to jam him up with two different defenders.

Six plays later, New York tried bringing safety Landon Collins out of the secondary to shadow Green in what was expected to be a short-yardage route. Instead, Green turned on the jets and escaped toward the end zone, producing an easy touchdown that all but sealed Pittsburgh’s win over the NFC’s second-best team.

Green did a great job of making himself a target in the biggest game of his career, but was quick to credit his teammates for his success.

“Ben has been throwing me open,” he told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo after the game. “He’s put the ball where nobody can be around it except for me. So like I said earlier, he makes it easier for me, as well as A.B. (Antonio Brown) and Le’Veon (Bell). They draw so much attention that it makes it easier for everybody else.”

That’s exactly what makes the budding tight end so valuable to the Steelers. Opponents already faced a pick-your-poison decision between Brown and Bell. Adding another capable receiving threat — someone with an entirely different style than Brown’s masterful play along the sidelines or Bell’s work out of the backfield — brings an entirely new dimension to the Pittsburgh offense.

The Steelers will need every weapon they can get to extend their playoff streak to three years for the first time under coach Mike Tomlin. Playing in an underwhelming AFC North kept Pittsburgh in the playoff hunt despite a 4-5 record, but the team’s improved play has turned it from an afterthought to a threat. Beating a tough New York team was the Steelers’ biggest hurdle before a Week 16 game against Baltimore that will likely determine the division winner.

Pittsburgh won’t just have home field advantage in the rematch. It will have a new, dynamic receiving threat to stretch the field against the Ravens as well.