It was perfect coverage from Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Patrick Peterson on San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk.
Until it wasn’t.
Second and 12 from the Pittsburgh 19-yard line, 13:30 left in the second quarter and the Steelers seemingly in position to win the series and hold San Francisco to a field goal attempt. Then, San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy dropped a dime to Aiyuk with Peterson in tight coverage, giving San Francisco a 17-0 lead that all but put the game away.
It was a remarkable throw. Turns out, it was the “most improbable” throw of Week One, too.
According to Next Gen Stats, the Purdy throw to Aiyuk for the touchdown had just a 16.6 percent completion probability, edging out New England quarterback Mac Jones’ 9-yard touchdown to Hunter Henry against the Philadelphia Eagles for the “most improbable” play of the week.
Peterson can’t do more than he did there in coverage on the play. He ran the route for Aiyuk and was in great position. That said, he was late to get his head around and find the football. By the time he found it, it was zipping past his arm and into Aiyuk’s chest for the touchdown.
After putting a target on his back earlier in the week for comments on his podcast about getting an interception in the game against the 49ers due to some “tells” Peterson didn’t back it up in the loss and was the culprit on two touchdowns. Even though he was in great position on the second touchdown, it still went for six points and burned the Steelers.
Purdy felt good after that touchdown, too, telling reporters after the win that the second touchdown to beat Peterson felt good after the veteran’s comments earlier in the week.
“At first no, I wasn’t thinking about any of that,” Purdy said of the two touchdowns on Peterson, according to Niners beat reporter Nicholas McGee. “The second TD, the deep ball, that one I was like, ‘Alright, that felt good.'”
And why wouldn’t it? It was a tremendous throw into a tight window, right on the money. It beat a cornerback who had given some bulletin board material, too. Now, it’s the most improbable play of Week One, too.
