One of the game-changing plays in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 31-17 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Monday evening was QB Josh Allen’s 52-yard scramble for a touchdown. That made the score 21-0, which proved to be enough for the Bills to hold off the late comeback attempt by the Steelers.
Allen’s run might be talked about a bit in the coming days as he appeared to start the process of giving himself up before planting his foot in the ground and taking off down the field for the score. S Damontae Kazee talked about that play in the media locker-room availability after the game.
“Just trying to track the inside, didn’t wanna lunge, was just trying to make sure – I didn’t know if he was gonna slide or not,” Kazee said, according to Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Sports on X. “It’s hard to explain. Just pissed off, dog.”
At least one member of the Steelers knows a thing or two about the fake slide. QB Kenny Pickett got rules changed in college football due to a play where he faked a slide before bursting upfield for a long touchdown run. The rule was changed because it puts defenders in an impossible situation. Don’t hit the quarterback and risk the long touchdown or hit the quarterback and risk the 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty.
It wasn’t quite as egregious as Pickett’s fake slide, but Allen did slow down and lean backwards a bit as he approached the defenders. Kazee confirmed with his quote that he was thinking a similar thing. Here is the play in question.
Keep in mind that Kazee is fresh off a suspension for his hit in Week 15 on Indianapolis Colts WR Michael Pittman Jr. The league has escalating punishments for repeat offenders of safety violations, so it is reasonable to think that Kazee hesitated, even if just for a second, because of this.
The league’s punishment structure for player safety violations is heavily slanted toward punishing defenders. Late hits, roughing the passer, targeting — these are all things that punish defensive players. It is in the name of player safety, which is a noble cause, but plays like this are taking advantage of those rules and making things harder on defenders. Allen is hard enough to bring down as it is.
Myles Jack talked about this play in his locker room availability as well.
“I was just trying to play through the whistle,” Jack said in a clip posted by Post-Gazette Sports Now on YouTube. “You see a guy like that running through, I wanna say he did a fake slide earlier, so you don’t know what’s real and what’s not. It’s part of the game. I take full responsibility.”
Jack was penalized for unnecessary roughness after hitting Allen in the process of a slide later in the game. That flag set up the Bills’ final score to put the game out of reach.
