PITTSBURGH — Markus Wheaton had become the forgotten man in the Pittsburgh Steelers passing game until last Sunday.

Seemingly out of nowhere, he had the biggest game of his three-year career, catching nine passes on 13 targets for 201 yards in a 39-30 loss to the Seahawks at Seattle. All career bests.

Wheaton had just 16 catches for 273 yards in the first 10 games, being targeted just 32 times, while playing in the shadow of fellow wide receivers Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant.

So it’s not clear whether the performance was an outlier or if the Steelers have found another star.

Wheaton is optimistic that his performance is the beginning of bigger things.

“Anyone can break out at any time,” he said. “It could happen to (reserve wide receiver) Sammie Coates if he had to come in. For me, it’s about staying on my assignments, blocking when I have to block and catching the ball when it does come to me.”

Wheaton says he feels he’s been consistent but easy to overlook because he hasn’t caught many passes.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, though, wasn’t so impressed by Wheaton’s star turn. He attributed it more to the Seahawks’ celebrated Legion of Boom secondary paying closer attention to Brown and Bryant, who line up wide while Wheaton handles the slot.

Furthermore, a rib injury that forced tight end Heath Miller to leave the game in the second quarter also opened up routes in the middle of the field for Wheaton. Twelve of his targets came after Miller exited.

“When you’re playing a team like that, if they’re matching (cornerback) Richard Sherman, then other guys not named Antonio Brown are going to have opportunities, and that’s what it’s about,” Tomlin said. “Let’s not make too much out of that. Markus did a nice job, no question.”