DK Metcalf talked before Week 5 like a receiver who had nothing to prove. Then the Pittsburgh Steelers went out and beat the Indianapolis Colts, and Metcalf’s own performance made the whole thing look worse.
Before the game, he was asked what he needed to be “mindful of” against cornerback Sauce Gardner. Metcalf shot back, “Who?...
I don't worry about what a DB does well. They gotta guard me.”
That line aged badly in a hurry.
Metcalf’s team got the win on Sunday, but he barely had any impact on it. He was targeted four times and finished with three catches for 12 yards.
Against Gardner, he was targeted twice, caught one pass for nine yards, and dropped the other. The other two grabs came with linebacker Austin Ajiake, who was beaten for a zero-yard catch, and rookie linebacker CJ Allen, who allowed a three-yard reception.
For a player built like Metcalf - big, fast, and supposed to be the kind of receiver defenses have to account for every snap - four yards per catch is a brutal number.
That’s been part of the problem with Metcalf in Pittsburgh. The tools are obvious, and the upside is there, but the consistency hasn’t followed.
He can look like a difference-maker. He just doesn’t do it often enough.
There’s also the business side of this move, and it hasn’t aged well for him either. Metcalf wanted out of the Seattle Seahawks’ roster in the 2025 offseason because he wanted a better shot at a Super Bowl.
He was traded to the Steelers, and then Seattle won the title the season that followed. The Seahawks, as the source put it, were better off without DK Metcalf.
Pittsburgh still paid up. After arriving, he signed an extension worth as much as $132 million over four seasons.
But in his first year with the Steelers, he produced a career-low 850 receiving yards and a second-lowest career total of 59 catches. He might have done more, but he was also suspended for two games after an altercation with a fan during a game.
None of that matters to the Colts, of course. But after a day like this, Metcalf’s pregame swagger looks a lot different.
Gardner backed it up. Metcalf didn’t.
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