Last week, this Pittsburgh Steelers’ playcall hit for a 72-yard touchdown to Calvin Austin. This week, it ended in a Steven Nelson interception. Had this article been written in 2019, the latter would’ve been a good thing for the Steelers. But Nelson is now a Houston Texan and he got revenge on his former team Sunday. Pittsburgh made things easy on him, running their favorite pass concept of the year on his pick.
Speaking with reporters after the game, Nelson said film study told him what play the Steelers were running on his INT.
“It was just all film study, man,” Nelson said via Texans.com’s Deepi Sidhu. “Watching what they do, what they were successful at. They hit the same player, same formation look like last week, they scored on the touchdown versus Vegas. And I was just ready for it. Recognizing the formation and the player who they run the post with, and it just allowed me to go out there and make a play on the ball.”
As Nelson alluded to, Kenny Pickett found Austin on the post for a score in Week Three’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders. It was the Steelers’ shallow cross that involves the crosser, a deep curl/over the ball route by the tight end, a route tagged on the backside (usually a curl or go) and a post. Here it is against the Raiders.
It’s a call we talked through after Week One’s loss to San Francisco in our video highlighting how boring the Steelers offense looked. This shallow cross was called at least seven times, as counted by The Athletic’s Ted Nguyen to little success.
Canada has dressed it up in slightly different ways, running it out of 3×1 and 2×2, but Nelson got a read on what was coming. Here’s a look at what he saw. Nelson is the RCB to the top of the screen.
At its core, this isn’t an inherently playcall. It can put defenders in conflict, the safety biting on the dig/curl by the tight end which opens up the post. And obviously, this play has had success. But NFL defenses do their homework and know offense’s personality. What they like to run and what they’ve won with based on down, distance, personnel, and formation. Nelson used all that to his advantage.
In fairness, Pickett’s throw needed to be stronger. It hung in the air and was a bit underthrown, forcing Austin to slow down for the ball. Once it became a jump ball situation, it was circumstances Austin wasn’t going to win. Nelson’s pick set up a field goal to put Houston ahead 10-0, a two-score lead they wouldn’t give back the rest of the game. The Texans won the game and Nelson could taunt his former club.
