In his second game back from injury and first game without former OC Matt Canada, TE Pat Freiermuth had a career day. His first 100-yard game came not a moment too soon, picking up a Pittsburgh Steelers passing game that had been MIA.
Speaking with reporters afterwards, QB Kenny Pickett detailed what led to Freiermuth’s monster outing.
“Just playing off of what they were showing defensively,” Pickett said via the team website. “Felt like they were showing a lot of middle field open coverages where we need Pat to step up and be big for us. Which he was. Had him in some one-on-one routes too, to move the chains. I think Pat had an unbelievable game, really happy for him. Battling back off an injury, a hamstring, which isn’t easy. So it’s great to have 88 out there.”
Freiermuth was involved early and often, ending Sunday with nine receptions for 120 yards and a long of 29 yards. All season-highs for an offense rarely featuring the tight end throughout the season. Coming into this game, no Steelers tight end had more than 45 yards in a game this season. Freiermuth had that mark — and more — by halftime.
Pittsburgh targeted Freiermuth from the literal first play of the game. Off play-action with a pulling guard to bring the linebackers in, Pickett hit Freiermuth down the middle – usually a foreign land for the Steelers – for a 24-yard gain. It was Freiermuth’s longest reception of the season. The Bengals were playing two-deep on that play, creating a void between the two safeties for Pickett to fit the ball in to Freiermuth. The two connected on the same route later in the half, a 29-yard gain on third-and-long.
Those are the “middle of the field open” routes Pickett referred to as opposed to a single-high safety with the middle of the field closed, like the Cleveland Browns utilized the week before.
His 120 yards are easily a career-high and the first 100-yard game of his three-year career. He becomes the first Pittsburgh tight end to hit triple-digits since Vance McDonald in 2018, his famous “stiff-arm” game in prime-time action against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Since 2015, Freiermuth is just the third Steelers tight end to achieve that mark joining McDonald and Heath Miller, who did so in 2015.
This season has been difficult for Freiermuth. He caught just eight passes his first four games before going down with a hamstring injury in the third quarter of the team’s Week Four loss to the Houston Texans. Attempting to return after the bye, he suffered a setback and was placed on injured reserve, shelving him for the next four games. In his Week 11 return last Sunday, the Browns held him to just one catch as Pittsburgh put together one of its most miserable passing performances in recent history. A breakout today might not make him forget all of this season’s obstacles. But it’s a start as the Steelers’ offense looks to build off its success today.
