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Four times in nine games, an opposing player has taken the ball to the yard, the latest being unheralded Jamaal Charles of Kansas City.
That inadequacy is another reason that one key special-teamer — Stefan Logan — has gone largely unnoticed.
The 5-foot-6, 180-pound Logan is averaging 25.9 per return in 2009 and ranks second in the NFL in total return yards with 938. He also has a 9.1 average on 20 punt returns.
To put that in perspective, last year in kick returns the Steelers ranked 29th in the league with a dismal 20.3 average. They are seventh this year at 24.7.
"What I've done is strong, but it's not strong enough," Logan said. "I have to do better returning those kicks. We've had four kickoffs returned on us, and that is stressful to me. I just want to go out there and put us in better field position."
Since 2006, Pittsburgh has had 16 kickoff returners, and 10 players have returned punts. During that period, the Steelers have never ranked higher than 22nd in kickoff return average.
The Steelers last kept a roster slot open for a return man in Mike Tomlin's first season as coach. That player, Allen Rossum, proved to be a big disappointment. While Logan hasn't shown the explosion he did in the pre-season, when he averaged 21.1 on punt returns, he has given the team some good field position — just one reason the offense is ranked in the league's top ten.
"He's been above the line," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. "It's been the best we've had since I've been here, but that doesn't mean it's acceptable. We're trying to search for the ceiling. We want to be the very best in the world in all areas, because it increases our chances of winning."
If those words sound harsh, it's because Tomlin has been trying to light a spark under all his special-teams players. In the past two weeks he has released three players in hope of alleviating coverage issues and Logan, who is part of that squad, realizes this.
But it's not Tomlin that has lit a spark under Logan's feet during the season. It's the fact he hasn't put any points on the board for his team.
"I put a lot of pressure on myself, because so far there have been 12 kickoffs returned for touchdowns in the NFL this year and I haven't got one," Logan said. "I don't let stuff bring me down but it is stressful to me. As for coverage we just have to get out there and make plays, myself included. We have to go back in the lab and make some changes and see how it works out."
Although Logan spent time on the Dolphins' practice squad in 2007, he was eventually released and spent last season as a return man in the CFL where he averaged 10.6 yards per punt return, and a whopping 29.6 on nine kickoff returns for the British Columbia Lions.
Now this former mystery man from the Canadian Football League is one of the success stories of 2009 in the NFL. Just don't try telling Logan that. He's all about team.
"I just have to keep making plays and do whatever they ask me to do," Logan said. "We are a team here, and everybody has to take responsibility."
