Tight end Visanthe Shiancoe is tied for the NFL lead with five touchdown catches and now has eight touchdown catches in the past 10 regular-season games.
Shiancoe has caught 12 touchdown passes the past two seasons. Only Tony Gonzalez has more touchdown catches (13) among NFL tight ends. Brett Favre obviously has a lot of confidence in Shiancoe inside the red zone. Shiancoe talked about the key to being an effective target inside the 20. "To really get a feel for the defense, a feel for zone and open areas," he said. "Man versus zone, etc. If it's zone, you have to get in that open area or at least box out of the guy. If the guy is over here you have to box him out and leave a lot of room for the QB to work with. If they are in man it speeds up a little bit so you have to be a little bit quicker, a little bit faster. Everything kind of tightens down in that red zone because they have to have the back of the end zone as a defender." Favre spoke highly of Shiancoe during his Wednesday press conference. "He's a big, physical target," Favre said. "I think the sky is the limit for a guy like him. He can stretch the field. He can really put guys in a bind if you want to put a corner on him. As good as our running game is and can be, and has been throughout, you don't need much room and you don't need much room anyway on certain passes. When you have a big physical target it sure helps. I even wonder sometimes if Shank has any idea of how good he can be. That catch [19-yard touchdown] he made the first drive was unbelievable. I don't know how he caught it. It was a great catch. When I threw it I thought it was too far but then I go 'OK, you make me look good.' That is the type of player he can be and then some. I think he can stretch teams like no other." Field concerns Field conditions at Heinz Field could become an issue Sunday because rain is expected in Pittsburgh this weekend and Pitt is playing host to South Florida in a college game on Saturday. Heinz Field workers replaced the sod between the numbers earlier this week because it was getting worn. The Steelers installed an all-grass field this year so that new sod could be laid down whenever needed. That wasn't possible with their previous surface. "Just generally when you have college games on Saturday and NFL games Sunday, the NFL takes the brunt of it," Vikings kicker Ryan Longwell said. "They re-sodded it between the numbers but you just don't know how it's going to hold up. It's definitely a factor." Longwell spent nine seasons in Green Bay so he's used to kicking in adverse conditions. "You have to get out there a little quicker on field goals to make sure you have a spot," he said. "If you need to repair something, you only have 40 seconds to do it. You have to get there. You don't want too many late decisions to call for a field goal. ... I've seen as bad as Lambeau [Field] can be and as bad as Soldier Field can be so I'm used to adjusting on the fly and if your foot slips being able to adjust in mid-kick."
