If the two point conversion play ran Thursday night by the Pittsburgh Steelers late in the loss to the Baltimore Ravens looked similar to the touchdown play, it’s because it was the same play except for the route ran by wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders.
“We called the exact same play that we scored on the touchdown before,” said Roethlisberger after the game. “I knew they had a corner down, obviously after getting hit with Le’Veon [Bell], so they brought a different corner in. I took a chance with Emmanuel and I’m frustrated with myself, I got to give him a better ball.”
As you can see in the two animated gifs below, the only difference in the two plays is the route run by Sanders. On the touchdown play to Jerricho Cotchery, Sanders broke inside, but on the two point conversion, he broke outside for the back shoulder throw. While it would have been a tough catch the way that cornerback Chykie Brown was face guarding him, it’s a catch big-time receivers make.
In hindsight, Roethlisberger said he thinks Antonio Brown was wide open on the other side.
“The only tough part about it is I have to pick a side,” said Roethlisberger about the play. “It’s a quick throw and there’s no way to read it out from right to left, and hindsight is what it is, because afterwards, I asked JCo (Jerricho) and AB (Antonio) if they won and AB said that he won in the corner.
I will get you better gifs of these plays once the all-22 views come out. I like that the play as so many options, but like you, am disappointed in the execution the second time around.
