It’s remarkable sometimes how a game can hinge on just a single moment, any moment, even when you least expect it. The Pittsburgh Steelers had their moment last Monday against the Cleveland Browns in the middle of the fourth quarter.
Trailing by three, the defense was facing a second-and-9 for Cleveland from the 20-yard line, the Browns having already picked up one first down. Then with 7:09 to play, OLB Alex Highsmith turned on the jets and beat LT Jedrick Wills Jr. around the left edge, knocking the ball out of QB Deshaun Watson’s outstretched throwing hand.
From there, the Steelers’ other outside linebacker, T.J. Watt, retrieved the ball for a scoop-and-score touchdown that gave them a lead they would not relinquish. It was their second defensive touchdown on a day on which both were very much needed. Highsmith explained on Thursday just what he saw that helped him win when the Steelers needed him to.
“Just feeling stuff out in-game, different things that they’re saying and different words that we hear and stuff like that”, he said, via the team’s website. “I know they checked to a different play, but I just noticed a little something that I felt it was gonna be a play-action, so I widened out a little bit and got out the ball. It’s just little things like that that you can pick up on throughout the game”.
Earlier this offseason, Watt explained how he learned from older brother J.J. the art of listening on the field to pick up details that will serve you well. Or listening on the couch. Listening to game broadcasts for any audio he can pick up. He’s even passed his cues on to others on the field, with former Steelers CB Arthur Maulet using them to get tackles for loss.
Highsmith didn’t go into specific details about what he saw and heard that told him it would be a play-action pass, but you get the idea. He knew that it would require Watson to turn his back to the ball. It would mean Wills would set up a certain way. And knowing that, he would set up in the best way to counter that.
It worked out well, as you know. He got the sack and fumble, and it was off to the races for Watt, putting the ball into the end zone for six. But any good player is going to do this. It’s not like anybody is out there not realizing that every word or phrase has a meaning, because they have to know their own.
If you can decode what one team means when they say one thing or make some gesture, then you have a huge head start. It’s like stealing a catcher’s signs in baseball so you know what pitch is coming. Right, Astros?
