Last week, it was George Pickens. This week, it was Calvin Austin III. For the first time since 2018, the Pittsburgh Steelers hit 70-plus yard touchdowns in back-to-back weeks. Pittsburgh picked up its initial first down in the first quarter of the season in explosive fashion, Pickett hitting WR Calvin Austin III on a deep post for a 72-yard touchdown.
After the game, Pickett explained to reporters what he saw.
“They were doing a really good job with doubling George all night,” Pickett said via the team’s YouTube channel. “Making it really hard to get him touches. That leaves other guys singled up and Calvin had press and he took the post, and it was really good. We missed that earlier in the season against San Fran. It was good to hit it tonight.”
Here’s a look at the play.
Austin showed the 4.3 speed that got him drafted, speed he kept despite a foot injury that caused him to miss his entire rookie season. Pickett referenced this play being similar to San Francisco. At the end of the first half, Pickett looked for Pickens on the post, a route that was open earlier in the game but missed, though this one landed incomplete.
As Pickett said, with WR Diontae Johnson on IR, teams are looking to take away Pickens, the team’s top receiving threat. They haven’t let him win over the top, forcing him to work underneath. But it creates chances for others like Austin and veteran WR Allen Robinson II, who had a crucial third down catch to eat clock in the final minutes.
It’s those types of explosive plays the Steelers missed last year and didn’t have enough of throughout the first two weeks. Austin is here to be a gamebreaker and he got behind the Raiders’ defense in this one, showing he can do it in the regular season and not just the preseason.
Speaking with reporters after the game, per Steelers’ beat writer Brian Batko, Austin said he felt good about the outcome as soon as the call came in.
It was one of only two catches on the day for Austin, the other a failed screen, but the first was obviously an important one. For once, the Steelers didn’t have to play from behind the entire game and were able to build up a 23-7 second half lead, though they made things interesting late.
