Steady Suisham enjoying a career year

It was a rare show of emotion from a player who has learned to take emotion out of the equation. It’s no easy task in one of the most stressful and disposable positions in the game.

 

Suisham, however, has found a sweet spot this fall after a bumpy 2011 in which he made just 74 percent (23 of 31) of his kicks. He had to beat out Dan Hrapmann in training camp over the summer and barring a case of the shanks he’ll easily set a personal best in field goals made and field goal percentage.

 

Not bad for a player who came into the league a little wide-eyed in 2005 and spent the first five seasons of his career bouncing back and forth between Dallas and Washington.

 

“He’s come a long way,” said Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Todd Haley, who was an assistant with the Cowboys during Suisham’s brief stints in Dallas in 2005 and 2006. “You can see that he’s developed into a heck of a kicker. When those young kickers come into the league, especially you’re in Dallas, you’re coming in to fill in for somebody that didn’t pass the test ... that’s a lot of pressure.”

 

Something Suisham hasn’t gotten used to in Pittsburgh. He provided a steadying presence at the position after replacing an erratic Jeff Reed midway through the 2010 season, making all but one of his 15 field goal attempts.

 

Things were shakier in the playoffs, where Suisham missed a pair of kicks, including a 52-yarder in the third quarter of a 31-25 loss to Green Bay in the Super Bowl.

 

Like most perfectionists, it’s the failures that tend to weigh on Suisham’s mind more than the success. Mention how accurate he’s been this year and Suisham notes the one miss — a 54-yarder with 54 seconds remaining that would have given the Steelers the lead in a game they ended up losing 26-23 to Tennessee on Oct. 11.

 

“I should have made it,” Suisham said.

 

He hasn’t missed since, one of the main reasons Pittsburgh heads into Sunday’s game against San Diego (4-8) in the hunt for a third straight playoff berth.

 

“It’s very comforting for everybody involved when you have a kicker you can count on,” Haley said.

 

Even if Suisham takes nothing for granted, not even the prospect of making his first Pro Bowl. That would put him in elite company and to be honest, he’d rather not think about it.

 

“I don’t know what I consider myself,” Suisham said. “I’m just trying to make every kick they ask me to kick. I consider myself the best kicker on this team.”

 

NOTES: Steelers S Troy Polamalu sat out a second straight practice on Thursday, though it was not injury related. Polamalu has missed nine games this season due to a strained right calf. He is expected to play against the Chargers ... S Ryan Clark (hip), LB LaMarr Woodley (ankle) and P Drew Butler (illness) also missed practice ... WRs Mike Wallace (knee), Antonio Brown (ankle) and Jerricho Cotchery (ribs) practiced Thursday, as did T Willie Colon (knee).