Pittsburgh Steelers rookie CB Beanie Bishop Jr. had a week he won’t forget thanks to a two-interception performance against QB Aaron Rodgers Sunday night in a win over the New York Jets. However, it wasn’t quite enough to win AFC Defensive Player of the week. Despite feeling like a shoo-in for the award, it instead went to Denver Broncos LB Cody Barton.
Barton had a big week, too. In a 33-10 Thursday night win over the New Orleans Saints, he notched eight tackles (one for a loss), one sack, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery that he returned 52 yards for a touchdown. He nearly had another scoop and score, but it was waved off due to a Denver penalty.
In most other weeks, what Beanie Bishop did would’ve been enough to land him the award. They were the first two interceptions of Bishop’s career and crucial to the Steelers climbing out of a 15-6 hole and responding with 31 unanswered in a 37-15 victory. Bishop’s first pick came late in the first half, a fantastic one-handed snag over the middle that set the offense up for a two-minute drill.
They took advantage, QB Russell Wilson finding WR George Pickens for their first touchdowns of the year to close the gap before the break.
Bishop would record his second pick midway through the third quarter, squeezing a vertical throw to WR Garrett Wilson and picking off the pass as it bounced out of Wilson’s arms. He nearly returned it for a touchdown before being tracked down by WR Davante Adams at the 1-yard line.
Wilson snuck over the goal line to score the next play.
Beanie Bishop finished the game with six tackles (one for a loss) and his two interceptions. He became only the second rookie to ever intercept Aaron Rodgers twice in one game, joining the Detroit Lions’ Kerby Joseph in 2022. Bishop is the first undrafted rookie to ever accomplish it.
He’s the first Steelers rookie to pick off a pair of passes in the same game since Darren Perry in 1992 and the first UDFA to achieve the feat since Shawn Vincent the year before.
Unfortunately, Bishop probably fell one yard short of having a real case to make over Barton. Had he gotten in the end zone on his second interception, the pick-six would’ve made his great day even better and matched Barton with a defensive score. Perhaps that would’ve given him the edge given that Bishop made his plays in primetime on national television instead of the Amazon crowd in a game that, by the NFL’s standards, wasn’t watched.
The last Steeler to win Defensive Player of the Week was EDGE T.J. Watt in Week 18 of last season. The last DB to do so was Minkah Fitzpatrick to open the 2022 season, and the last Steelers corner to take home the award was Mike Hilton in Week 16 of 2020.
It’ll be another chip on Beanie Bishop’s shoulder and an achievement to play for going forward. Instead of a trophy, Aaron Rodgers autographing his intercepted passes will have to do instead.
