Minkah Fitzpatrick had an unbelievable first season with the Pittsburgh Steelers. One so successful I’m not sure even the front office anticipated the type of immediate impact he had, the missing piece to turn the Steelers’ defense into an elite one.
So Fitzpatrick was a great choice for NFL Game Pass’ Film Session, sitting down with Brian Baldinger and Kurt Warner to break down some of 2019’s biggest moments.
One play was his interception in his first game after getting traded, grabbing a tipped pass by Joe Haden versus the San Francisco 49ers. Fitzpatrick goes through the entire play, from what the WRs tight split tells him, what he’s seeing backside, and the finish of the play.
We captured the clip below.
Of course, the conversation later turned to his 96 yard pick six against the Colts. Fitzpatrick goes through what he saw pre-snap, why he thought QB Brian Hoyer might be baiting him, and how he jumped the route to pick the throw off.
Fitzpatrick even discussed some off-field but still football-related topics, noting the Steelers still use paper playbooks instead of iPads. He chalked it up to them being an old-school organization. In that discussion, he also noted he popped into Teryl Austin’s office first, another sign Austin has taken over as the de-facto DB coach, even though he’s still listed as an assistant on the Steelers’ website.
He’s expected to have a big impact again in 2020, now more comfortable in the defense, allowing him to move around more than he did than when he first arrived.
