There were a lot of things that went wrong for the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, but one that stuck out as accidental was the footing on the football field.
On Sunday, it appeared that there was a lot of slipping by the Steelers. CB Patrick Peterson notably had a slip up during the contest, coming on one of the two touchdowns he allowed to WR Brandon Aiyuk. Talking with former Steelers CB Bryant McFadden on the All Things Covered podcast, Peterson revealed that he started the game wearing exclusive, custom-made cleats.
“You know, I only slipped that one time,” Peterson said on All Things Covered which aired on the show’s YouTube channel. “You know it only takes that one time… obviously it was a touchdown too. Ya, I changed them right away. I brought an extra pair out there anyway, you know, just in case because I warmed up in the cleats pe-game, but I didn’t warm up in them throughout the week.”
When you watch the play, you see Peterson lose his footing on his right side as Aiyuk cuts inside on his route to the middle of the field. Peterson falls to the ground, popping right back up. But that split second is all the time that Aiyuk needs to get wide open into the end zone and catch the touchdown pass from QB Brock Purdy.
It’s frustrating to know that Peterson actually had other cleats on standby “just in case” the custom-made cleats he had for this game didn’t work out. Obviously, you must factor in the actual field conditions as the University of Pitt had played at Acrisure Stadium the night before the Steelers’ season opener. But one would have wished for Peterson to get little extra run in those cleats to get a better feel for the traction on the grass and be confident in his footing prior to being on the bad end of San Francisco’s first touchdown of the game.
Everyone is prone to have a misstep or two in their career. Well, maybe more than that, especially at the cornerback position where the footwork is so technical to make sure that you stay in-phase while working in a backpedal or transitioning in coverage. Still, there’s something to be said about familiarity with the equipment that you wear, and exposing yourself to something new for the first regular-season game may not be a wise move. It sounds like Peterson is going to stick to what he knows regarding his footwear for Pittsburgh’s next game against the Browns. Hopefully that helps him stick to the field more on his feet to prevent unnecessary slips from happening.
