Better late than never.
That’s probably the type of message that new Pittsburgh Steelers’ cornerback Donte Jackson is telling himself after his late interception helped seal the season-opening win on the road over the Atlanta Falcons.
Earlier in the game, Jackson dropped an interception, helping the Falcons eventually go down and kick a game-opening field goal. After that, Jackson had a hands to the face penalty extend a drive in the second half, and gave up some key third-down receptions.
But in the end, Jackson made the last play against a familiar foe, recording his 4th-career interception against the Falcons in his 12th-career game against Atlanta, returning the pick 49 yards to help set up a Chris Boswell field goal to seal the win.
After the game, Jackson credited an in-game adjustment for the interception, as well as the pressure from star pass rusher T.J. Watt, forcing Atlanta’s Kirk Cousins to get the ball out quickly and leading to the interception.
“Just in-game adjustments. They had ran that play to score where they was seeing three high and was just trying to hide a guy going up the sideline. That’s how [Kyle] Pitts got open on the touchdown,” Jackson said of his fourth-quarter interception, according to video via Steelers Live on Twitter. “So, in-game adjustments on the sideline, we knew they’d come back to it. So I just had to widen my vision and play when the ball was there.
“Shoutout to T.J. [Watt] for making them get the ball out and throwing an errant pass, and that’s how we capitalize.”
After watching Falcons’ tight end Kyle Pitts get himself open on a broken play, leaking up the sideline and getting into free space behind rookie cornerback Beanie Bishop Jr. for a late first half touchdown, the Steelers made an adjustment and were able to capitalize on the coverage later in the game on a similar play, leading to Jackson’s interception.
It helps that T.J. Watt, Cameron Heyward and Larry Ogunjobi all collapsed the pocket around Cousins, leading to the quick, off-balance throw that floated. Jackson undercut it and returned it 49 yards on the turnover.
A great example of rush and coverage going hand-in-hand, and it ended up being an impactful play in the process, which is exactly how the Steelers’ defense needs to play this season, especially early on as the new-look offense adjusts and gets its feet underneath them.
While the Steelers’ defense has some key new faces, too, they have the veteran presence in key positions to lean on, especially up front. And it created a big play late in the game, leading to a win and a 1-0 record on the season.
