I’ll Give Kudos to Shaun Suisham For His Play This Year

Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

In somewhat joking fashion, Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review tweeted the following earlier today:

While I will agree that it is difficult for many to praise kickers over skill-players in today’s NFL, I for one will not ignore how well Shaun Suisham has played this year for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Pittsburgh’s kicker has been “money” throughout the 2013 campaign for his team. Not only has Suisham connected on all 10 of his field goal attempts this year, he leads the team in scoring with 38 points. Due to the fact that Pittsburgh’s red zone offense has under-performed this year, the anemic unit has definitely benefited from their kicker’s consistency.

In fact, Suisham was once again the team’s biggest scoring threat in yesterday’s 19-6 win over the New York Jets.

Suisham went 4-for-4 on his field goal attempts, netted 13 of Pittsburgh’s 19 points, and he even made an important tackle of  Clyde Gates on a kickoff return.

Was his performance as “exciting” as Emmanuel Sanders’ touchdown reception and front-flip into the end zone? No. Did Suisham record much-needed turnovers near the goal line? No. Did he will his offense into scoring position like Ben Roethlisberger? No.

But you know what Pittsburgh’s kicker did do? He finished drives that stalled and helped to extend the Steelers’ slim second half lead of three to 13 by the end of the game.

I for one will tip my cap to Suisham for the job he did not only yesterday, but has done throughout the course of the 2013 campaign. One could make a strong argument that he has been the team’s most consistent performer this fall, and he definitely deserves praise for his efforts during the team’s first five games.

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