Even in the modern NFL era, special teams remain an undervalued part of the game. Former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick often referred to offense, defense, and special teams as equal thirds, viewing each as important as the others.
If this mantra is true, it’s fortunate for the Steelers that they have a special teamer as good as Miles Killebrew. He’s been a reliable special teamer since the Steelers signed him in 2021, and he earned All-Pro honors for the first time last season.
Killebrew does it all on special teams, and where his value is felt the most is through blocked punts. He has four of them in his career, with three coming during the three seasons he’s spent in Pittsburgh.
It’s pretty rare to be able to ask someone what their favorite punt block of their career is; that would imply that they have multiple. But that was the exact question Killebrew fielded on the Christian Kuntz podcast.
“Against the Ravens? I think so. I’ll tell you why this one’s my favorite because they didn’t blow their assignment. And it’s not like I was untouched. Geno Stone was exactly where he was supposed to be,” Killebrew said of the first Baltimore-Pittsburgh game last season. “This one just felt better man. It’s the Ravens.”
Not only was it a rivalry game, but the blocked punt was a huge play in the game and the season. The Ravens came in at 3-1, and the Steelers at 2-2. A loss would have put the Steelers two games back in the division early, and they wouldn’t have the tiebreaker over the Ravens.
Pittsburgh’s offense had struggled all game, and the Steelers were down 10-3 in the early third quarter when they forced the Ravens to punt the football, which Killebrew blocked. While they weren’t able to corral it in the end zone for six points and had to instead settle for a safety, they did manage to pick up an additional field goal off their gained possession.
That would cut the lead to 10-8. And after the defense managed to get another stop in the form of a Joey Porter Jr. interception in the end zone, Kenny Pickett found George Pickens for a 41-yard game-winning touchdown.
Many people will look back at this game and remember the Porter interception or the long Pickens touchdown. But none of that would have been possible if it wasn’t for the punt block by Miles Killebrew. As always, special teams get overlooked.
