Martavis Bryant's first game back at Heinz Field since his season-long suspension in 2016 showed what the Steelers were missing during his absence. His mere presence on the field forces defensive coordinators to make a decision as to whether they have their safeties stay back and help the cornerbacks cover deep routes, or use the safeties to help in the box to stop Le'Veon Bell.
The Vikings chose the latter in the Steelers' 26-9 victory Sunday, allowing Bryant to burn the secondary throughout the game.
Bryant had three catches for 91 yards and a touchdown, but the stat line does not tell the full story. His efforts force cornerbacks in that coverage scheme to win downfield, and a missed tackle on a short pass can be the difference between an 8-yard play and a touchdown.
The Vikings discovered that when the Steelers scored their first touchdown of the game on a slant to Bryant for 27 yards. The Vikings had one high safety, a look they often presented before and during this game, and used zone coverage to try and limit where the Steelers could throw the ball.
Bryant's slant route attacks the seam between the high safety and the cornerback, the normal soft spot of a Cover 3 zone scheme, and his speed makes him untouchable after the catch when he has that much room:
What helps Bryant's route open up is how the Steelers combined Bryant's slant route with a flat route by Jesse James. Doing so forced safety Harrison Smith, No. 22, to sprint to the right sideline, opening up the passing lane for Bryant, who was right behind the space Smith occupied at the snap of the ball.
A slant-flat route combination like this is a very common and fundamental passing group pattern. But what makes this such a nightmare for a defensive coordinator is that the normal wide receiver doesn't run away from a safety and a cornerback as fast as Bryant did.
Notice how safety Andrew Sendejo, No. 34, starts to approach Bryant by attacking with a sharp angle towards him, but then stops because he realizes that Bryant is taking a flatter path across the field.
By the time Sendejo stops and changes direction to chase Bryant back to the inside, the Steelers' No. 2 wide receiver is running to the end zone at full speed and cannot be caught.
The Vikings often employ defensive formations with one safety in the middle of the field because they have faith in their talented cornerbacks: Xavier Rhodes, a Pro Bowl player, Terence Newman, who has been in the league since 2003, and Trae Waynes, the team's 11th-overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft.
I asked Bryant about how the Steelers prepared for the Vikings' secondary and the touchdown.
"We always work on different routes in practice to take advantage of 'one high' looks," Bryant said. "When that play came, we executed it like we did in practice."
The Steelers tested the Vikings' faith in those cornerbacks with several deep passes to both Antonio Brown and Bryant.
