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Ben issued stern challenge to Coates at Halftime

antdrewjosh

antdrewjosh

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http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/...-to-Sammie-Coates-career/stories/201609200057

Not sure of the rules regarding Post Gazette articles so here is the link..

Here's another article also on Coates. Still growing as a player but he is doing what he showed in college make big plays


Sammie Coates turns into Pittsburgh Steelers' deep threat



Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Sammie Coates has caught four passes for 153 yards this season. That's a whopping average of 38.3 yards per reception.

Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw to Coates five times in the Steelers' 24-16 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. All were deep balls, and Coates came with up two for gains of 44 and 53 yards, setting up Pittsburgh touchdowns with both catches.

"It's just about finishing," Coates told the Pittsburgh Tribune after the game. "I've got to finish it when they call my number, and that's what I'm trying to get better at."

The Steelers were playing without their No. 2 and No. 3 wide receivers from last season. Martavis Bryant is suspended for the season for violating the NFL's substance-abuse policy, and Markus Wheaton was out with an injury. Pittsburgh also was missing its No. 2 overall receiver from last year because tight end Heath Miller retired at the end of the 2015 season.

The Bengals clamped down on Pittsburgh All-Pro wide receiver Antonio Brown, holding him to four catches for 39 yards, even though Roethlisberger threw Brown the ball 11 times. The yardage total was Brown's lowest since the final game of the 2012 season.

But Roethlisberger threw for 259 yards and three touchdowns against the Bengals.

"I think guys rose to the occasion," Roethlisberger told reporters in the locker room after the game. "Guys accepted the challenge that someone else needed to step up. I think we proved today that it's not all about AB. We have other guys that can make plays."

Sammie Coates
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Sammie Coates catches a pass for a 44-yard gain during the first half of an NFL game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Pittsburgh on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2016.
AP Photo

Coates said the Bengals' emphasis on stopping Brown gave opportunities to Pittsburgh's other receivers. Tight end Jesse James caught the second touchdown pass of his career and tight end Xavier Grimble caught his first for the Steelers.

"We've got one of the best receiving groups in the country," Coates said. "We've got to step up when (the defense) is double- and triple-teaming him."

Roethlisberger threw to Coates for the first time on Sunday on a third-and-9 snap from the Pittsburgh 45-yard line on the Steelers' third possession of the game. Coates beat Cincinnati cornerback, Darqueze Dennard for a 44-yard gain to the Bengals 21.

The next play was a handoff to running back DeAngelo Williams before Roethlisberger threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Grimble as Pittsburgh took a 7-0 lead.

The next three throws to Coates didn't connect. On each, the former Auburn standout was covered by a former Alabama standout, Cincinnati cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick.

After an incompletion on second-and-2 from the Pittsburgh 16 in the second quarter, Roethlisberger tried to hit Coates deep again just two snaps later, and Kirkpatrick intercepted the pass at the Cincinnati 32-yard line.

Kirkpatrick had a line on intercepting Roethlisberger's next bomb to Coates in the third quarter, too, but he dropped the ball.

Auburn NFL roundup: Week 2
Auburn NFL roundup: Week 2
Roethlisberger went back to Coates with Dennard on him later in the period. A first-and-10 snap from the Pittsburgh 38 turned into a 53-yard pass to Coates, putting the Steelers at the Cincinnati 9. On the next play, Roethlisberger found James in the end zone as Pittsburgh took a 17-6 lead.

"We liked the look they were giving us," Roethlisberger said. "They were giving us single coverage, and we wanted to take some shots. They did a good job of kind of cutting him off at times and making the plays. I told Sammie that I was going to come back to him and came back to him on the deep ball."

After Pittsburgh selected Coates out of Auburn in the third round of the 2015 NFL Draft, he caught one pass for 11 yards during the regular season and two more for 61 yards in the playoffs as a rookie.

"You've got to grow every day," the former Leroy High School star said. "That's one thing about being a football player: You've got to be ready to grow every day and learn from your mistakes."
 
Can someone edit the title lol
 
I thought posting the PPG was off limits
 
I didn't the article posted is not PPG. The link is only posted to PPG. The article posted is another site in Alabama. Guess they wrote because Coates is from there
 
Steelerfan81 said:
PPG is allowed now. I spoke to them and it's all good. Just make sure you always link back to them.
Click to expand...


Cool here is the full article



Well timed, well-placed push might prove to be key to Sammie Coates' career
September 20, 2016 12:00 AM
By Ron Cook / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Years from now, perhaps at the end of a long, productive NFL career, Sammie Coates will look back and remember a conversation with his quarterback as the turning point.

“I told him at halftime, ‘Listen, you need to decide what you want to do,’ “ Ben Roethlisberger said of his one-sided talk with Coates during Sunday’s Steelers-Cincinnati Bengals game. “ ‘Do you want to go sit on the bench and put [Darrius Heyward-Bey] in or are you going to step up and make a play? Because, right now, we’re pretty determined what we’re going to do.’ “

This was after Coates stopped running on a deep pass late in the first half that was intercepted by cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick. Roethlisberger wasn’t happy, even though Coates had a 44-yard catch in the first quarter to set up the Steelers’ first touchdown. Roethlisberger, as offensive captain, never has been afraid to use constructive criticism as a motivational tool. You might remember he did it with Martavis Bryant last season before Bryant had a big game in a playoff win against the Bengals.


“He said he wanted to make a play,” Roethlisberger said of Coates.

“I’ve got to go back to him. The deep ball to him was my call. I saw something. I came to the sideline and told the coaches, ‘Hey, let’s call this because we have a chance.’ He ran a great route. I threw it out there, and he made a play. That’s what we want from him, and he did it.”

Coates kept running this time. He ran by cornerback Darqueze Dennard to pull in Roethlisberger’s pass for a 53-yard gain. It set up Roethlisberger’s 9-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jesse James on the next play that gave the Steelers a 17-6 lead on their way to a 24-16 win and a 2-0 start to the season for the first time since 2010, their most recent lowB repuS season.

“You’ve got to run and be fast — all the time,” Coates said. “It’s about finishing. I have to finish when they call my number.”

Coates, in his second NFL season, is far from a polished wide receiver, but he has done a nice Bryant imitation so far. Getting his first significant playing time last season in the playoff loss at Denver because Antonio Brown was out after being concussed the week before, Coates had catches of 37 and 24 yards. In the opening win at Washington this season, with Bryant suspended for the year, he had a 42-yard catch to set up a second-quarter touchdown and a 14-yard catch on a third-and-13 play to set up the first of DeAngelo Williams’ two late touchdowns in the Steelers’ 38-16 win. Throw in the two catches for 97 yards against the Bengals and get out your calculator to add up Coates’ surreal numbers. He was targeted 11 times by Roethlisberger in the three games, catching six passes for 214 yards, an almost silly average of 35.67 yards per catch.

That is Bryant Light, at the very least.

Don’t mention that to Coates, though.

Talk to him long enough and you get the idea he wants to be the first Sammie Coates, not the next Martavis Bryant.

“We’ve got a whole bunch of deep threats on this team. Everybody in our wide receiver room can run deep routes. We’re going to take advantage of it,” Coates said.

“We’ve got a great group of wide receivers, probably the best group in the country, I think.”

Throw in Roethlisberger and the offensive linemen, who have allowed just one sack in each of the first two games.

“He’s the greatest quarterback in the league and we’ve got the greatest offensive line,” Coates said. “Our offensive line does a great job, giving Ben time. Ben always puts the ball where it needs to be. You put two and two together, you just can’t stop it.”

Roethlisberger won’t go quite there yet, but it’s obvious Coates is growing on him, slowly, but surely. Touchdown catches figure to be the next step for Coates. Bryant had 16 in 24 games, including the postseason.

“He’s getting there,” Roethlisberger said of Coates. “We have to continue to do the little things. But I see progress. I see a guy who really has a chance to help this team a lot going forward.”


http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/...-to-Sammie-Coates-career/stories/201609200057
 
Coates is going to be a beast by the end of this year. I smell it!!!!!!!!
 
Sammie Coates' fantasy value rooted in Steelers' allegiance to deep ball
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7:21 PM ET
Jeremy Fowler
ESPN Staff Writer
PITTSBURGH -- Four deep balls Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals perfectly illustrated where second-year receiver Sammie Coates is in his NFL development.

One moment, the Pittsburgh Steelers receiver is getting muscled out of a play by Dre Kirkpatrick. A few moments later, he's blowing past Darqueze Dennard on a post route that the safety can't catch.

Know this about Coates: He's going to get his deep shots. He's the classic high-risk, high-reward fantasy option. But with Markus Wheaton out and the lack of an established No. 2 option behind Antonio Brown, Coates hasn't hit his ceiling yet.

He has four catches in two games, but he offsets that low number with a 38.3 yards-per-catch average, including 97 yards on two plays Sunday.


Sammie Coates is averaging 38.3 yards per catch through the Steelers' first two games. Justin K. Aller/Getty Images
"I know I can beat (corners) downfield," Coates said.

Coates' explanation of Sunday's deep balls helps understand his progress. After Coates and Ben Roethlisberger connected on a 42-yard play on a broken play, the two tried connecting late in the second quarter.

The Bengals were playing Cover 2 defense to force the run, but Roethlisberger saw an opportunity down the sideline, one-on-one. He called the play for Coates on a go route. But Coates appeared to slow up midway through, allowing Kirkpatrick to get position. That's where Coates playing defense and trying to force an incompletion would have been helpful. Instead, the Steelers turned the ball over and lost first-half momentum.

Coates acknowledged he needs to push through the route. "That one I didn't run like I was supposed to," Coates said. "That's on me."

But that didn't shake Roethlisberger's confidence in Coates, who got two more chances in the third quarter. The two missed on a deep shot with Kirkpatrick, but when matched up with Dennard, Coates ran a perfect post route for a 53-yarder.

Coates seems comfortable with the post because there's more room with which to operate. He ran a ton of post routes at Auburn.

"We said, 'we're going to take a shot on them," Coates said. "They didn't have time to get over because of the speed. Once I beat the corner, I knew the safety wouldn't have time to get over the top."

Coates' operative is helping loosen coverage on Antonio Brown, who no longer has Martavis Bryant on the other side. The Bengals dedicated a safety to Brown's side for much of the game, Coates said.

Coates is not going to get as many intermediate looks as Brown, Eli Rogers and Wheaton, at least not yet. But he is set up to lead the splash-plays charge.

"When you have other guys making plays, it makes it harder to shade somebody (like Brown)," Coates said.
 
Ben can do whatever he wants. He owned up to his poor play, and he kept putting it on the line, if a guy isn't fighting for the ball, I have no problem with his teammates calling him out. Can't take the heat, get the **** outta the kitchen.

Joe
 
Kudos to Coates for accepting it and not pouting
 
Go Sammie!

Listen to Ben!
 
Young hungry WR's and TE's getting an opportunity to work with a HOF bound QB with 2 lwoB repuS rings? And another veteran WR that's tearing up records?
This is going to be fun!
 
SteelerFan448 said:
It's nice to hear something other than coachspeak from players.
Click to expand...
Everyone says they would like to hear players say what's on their mind instead of coach talk, unless it's Ben then everyone pisses and moans
 
MTC said:
That's a good list. Lol

I think Coates is gonna be a beast by seasons end too
Click to expand...

I hope you're right MTC. He has all the size, speed, and talent you want in a receiver. He just has to be more aggressive to the football and he can become special.
 
The big thing Coates needs to address that when the ball is going to the defensive player you need to try and break the play up. He has made some nice catches , I ran him down in preseason for effort, I was wrong .
 
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