For Chris Boswell, punting is apparently like riding a bike. You never forget.
It helps when your previous punt a decade ago and the one from Sunday are almost identical.
On top of kicking six field goals and accounting for all 18 of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ points in a win over Atlanta, Boswell was called upon to serve as the team’s emergency punter for the final boot of the game. Cameron Johnston suffered what appears to be a serious knee injury and while a veteran replacement will be brought in before the Denver game next Sunday, Pittsburgh had to power through with Boswell to exit Atlanta victorious.
The good news is Boswell isn’t completely lacking in punting experience. In college at Rice, he punted 15 times for an average of about 40 yards, the designated punter for games against Houston and Tulsa.
But the last time he punted came after that. As he told reporters postgame Sunday, Boswell punted his rookie year, 2014 with the Houston Texans. Competing with one-time future Steeler Randy Bullock, Boswell served as Shane Lechler’s backup at punter for the summer. In fact, Boswell led the team with 15 punts across four games.
His last chance came in late August against the San Francisco 49ers. And his final punt, as the Texans were suffering through a blowout loss, looked just like his next one with Pittsburgh 10 years later.
On 4th and 4 with 4:26 left and the line of scrimmage his own 15, Boswell took a couple steps to the 5-yard line and sent a ball down the right hash. PR Bruce Ellington called fair catch at his own 38 for no return. A 47-yard punt.
Against the Falcons? Almost the same scenario. About a minute less but fourth down from the Steelers’ 17. Boswell lined up and took a few steps to his own 5-yard line and sent a kick to the right side, this time between the hash and numbers. It also didn’t yield any return yards, though WR Scotty Miller (replacing the injured Darius Rush) made the tackle on the return, making the stop at the Falcons’ 40. A 43-yard punt.
Not the exact same but as close as you could ever expect. Here are the kicks back-to-back.
Did Boswell channel his inner-Texan to get the job done yesterday? No, of course not. He probably doesn’t even remember the play, only the vague memory of punting for Houston. But it’s funny and definitely weird to see the similarities between his last two punts separated by different decades.
More to the point, it’s a testament to Boswell stepping in and stepping up whenever the team’s called upon him. Which has been a lot over the past few seasons. Backup specialists always create risk, it’s not something you really ever practice besides messing around on the side, but Boswell was clean and competent. That’s all you can ask for. Scotty Miller proved the same replacing Johnston as the team’s backup holder.
Winning is a team effort. This isn’t basketball where a superstar, even one as good as T.J. Watt, can do it all himself. This is a kicker becoming a punter even after doing everything to will his team to victory. And using what he sparingly did in college and in the summer of 2014 to help engineer victory in 2024.
