Wheaton's Big Catches Save Day for Steelers

Wheaton's big catches save day for Steelers
By Chris Harlan
http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/...#axzz3CSal2mjG

No longer must Markus Wheaton worry about last season.
With only a few seconds left Sunday, the second-year wideout caught a 20-yard pass that was essentially a game-winner in a 30-27 victory over the Cleveland Browns. Two snaps later, the Steelers won with a 41-yard field goal.
Wheaton had waited months for that moment. It was a confidence-building catch for a wideout who needed some.
“I was a disappointment to myself last year,” said Wheaton, who was injured for much of his rookie season. “I wanted to make it up. I wanted to come out and make an impact on this game.”
With teammate Antonio Brown facing Cleveland's best cornerback and at times double coverage, Wheaton's afternoon was key. Often matched with a rookie cornerback, Wheaton finished with 97 yards and caught six of seven passes thrown to him.
After a lost rookie season, Wheaton had a strong sophomore opener. He made two catches on the winning drive (11 and 20 yards). His catches on consecutive snaps covered the final 31 yards before Shaun Suisham's kick.
Wheaton and running back Le'Veon Bell, another second-year player, combined for 294 yards from scrimmage.
“I just wanted to build trust in the quarterback and my teammates, and I think I did do that,” Wheaton said. “Having the young guys step up in that situation was huge for us, to see how poised we can be.”
His final catch proved his worth, in part because of the adjustment the 23-year-old wideout made.
With first down at the Browns 44 and 20 seconds left, Ben Roethlisberger switched Wheaton's route to exploit a soft spot in the middle of Cleveland's secondary. Wheaton ran the route, beat the coverage and made the catch.
“I have confidence in him, obviously, if I'm going to him in that situation with the game on the line,” Roethlisberger said. “I've got all the confidence in the world he's going to make the play. I think what (that catch) does is it instills a confidence in himself, too.”
Without the catch, the Steelers were headed to overtime having lost a 24-point halftime lead. A Roethlisberger spike stopped the clock with 5 seconds left.
“My hat goes off to him for making the adjustment,” Roethlisberger said. “I threw before he came out of his break. He turned his head, he finds the ball, and he makes a great catch.”
Wheaton broke a pinkie finger in Week 4 last season and needed two surgeries to fix it. He missed four games and finished his season with six catches. That disappointment stuck with him.
“It was tough,” Wheaton said. “I think that motivated me to work a lot harder for this year.”
As they have before, the Browns shadowed Antonio Brown with star cornerback Joe Haden. Despite the attention, Brown finished with five catches for 116 yards and a touchdown.
But that left Wheaton matched at times in coverage with rookie Justin Gilbert, a situation Wheaton showed he could exploit.
“He made some great plays,” Brown said, “especially down the stretch in the last minute. … He's going to be helping us out.”
Wheaton's first-half highlight was a 40-yard catch in the first quarter on third-and-6 when he dragged his foot to stay inbounds. The catch led to a 7-yard touchdown run by LeGarrette Blount three plays later.
Wheaton matched his total catches from last season. But his talent was never in doubt, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin insisted.
“I think you won't find anybody in that locker room that's surprised by what he's capable of,” Tomlin said. “But he's still got to do it.”