One of the first plays of the 2022 NFL season was also one of the best. On the second play from scrimmage in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Week One tilt against the Cincinnati Bengals, FS Minkah Fitzpatrick made a house call against Joe Burrow, a 31-yard pick-six.
The NFL is slowly releasing the Top 100 plays of this past season. Monday night, they dropped #100 through #91 and Fitzpatrick’s play came in ranked at #93.
If you don’t want to have to scroll through to find it or want to more easily put it on repeat, here’s a singular look at the play. It was the Steelers’ first points of the season and set the tone for a dominant defensive display in a win over the Bengals.
In fact, Fitzpatrick’s 31-yard score tied for the team’s longest score of the year and stood alone in first place until George Pickens’ 31-yard touchdown in the regular season finale against the Cleveland Browns.
For Fitzpatrick, it was the fourth pick six of his career and his third as a Steeler. He could’ve had a second later in 2022 but selflessly went out of bounds after calling game against the Atlanta Falcons.
Fitzpatrick finished 2022 with a career-high six interceptions, tying for the league lead. Since becoming a Steeler in 2019, his 17 interceptions are tied for the third-most in the league only trailing CB J.C. Jackson’s 22 and S Justin Simmons’ 20. Those three pick sixes are tied for most in football alongside S Mike Edwards and CB Marcus Peters.
Pittsburgh is unlikely to litter the list of top plays on the NFL’s season but there should at least be one more accompanying the league’s list. George Pickens’ incredible one-handed grab in Week 3 against the Cleveland Browns will be making an appearance.
Expect it to rank high on the league’s list as one of the best individual plays of the year and one of the top two catches right alongside Justin Jefferson’s 4th down grab later in the year. Pickens’ play should at least make the Top 15 and really should crack the Top Ten. We’ll see how high the league places it in the coming days and weeks.
