Since entering the league in 2005, Heath Miller has been one of the most consistent, yet underrated, tight ends in football.
Having missed only four games in his entire career, Miller has quickly developed into one of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's favorite targets. But not all of Miller's contributions show up on stat sheets. Perhaps his greatest contributions to the Steelers lie in his ability to run and pass block. Miller's numbers dipped slightly this season as he was called on to block even more frequently because of injuries to the Steelers' offensive line. In Sunday's AFC Championship against the Jets, Miller was used 15 times in three-tight-end formations.
In Sunday's Super Bowl, however, look for Roethlisberger to find Miller early and often. This season, the Packers' pass defense ranked in the top five against wide receivers, yet it ranked only 22nd against tight ends. Green Bay cornerback/safety Charles Woodson is frequently used in blitzes, usually leaving only one safety in deep coverage. This allows tight ends to get into that vacated seam in the middle of the Green Bay defense.
Heath Miller showed his capability in exploiting the chink in the Green Bay defensive armor with his performance in last season's Week 15 matchup against the Packers. Miller had 7 catches for 118 yards then, including a 30-yard catch on 3rd and 15 on the Steelers' game-winning drive.
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Correction: The caption in this article has been corrected from its original version, which incorrectly stated that a win on Sunday would be Steelers coach Mike Tomlin's third Super Bowl title in the last six years.
