The Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense got rolling under QB Russell Wilson. The defense shut out New York Jets QB Aaron Rodgers and company in the second half. But we gotta talk about how good the Steelers’ special teams were in a 37-15 win. They were at the top of their game in essentially every phase and impacted the Sunday night contest in obvious and more subtle ways. Let’s break down every angle where Danny Smith’s crew came up large.
Kicking
Chris Boswell. Perfect. As virtually always. He’s still just missed one kick this season, coming from 60-plus yards against the Los Angeles Chargers. And he remains on track to break David Akers’ record for most field goals in a single season. Boz is on pace to finish with 46 field goals this season, two more than Akers’ current record. You’d love for that pace to fall off and the Steelers end more drives in touchdowns but if this offense can keep putting up 30-plus, it’s hard to complain.
Punting/Punt Coverage
Give it up for P Corliss Waitman. Four punts, 46-yard gross average, four total punt return yards creating a 45-yard net punt average (an excellent number), with three punts landing inside the 20. One of which landed inside the 5 and had perfect spin to bounce back and avoid a touchback. Pittsburgh downed it at the 7. TE Rodney Williams fielded it and S Terrell Edmunds made sure his momentum didn’t carry him into the end zone.
New York would throw a pick on the possession, jump-starting the Steelers’ offense as they posted 31 unanswered.
Gunners Terrell Edmunds and James Pierre did well. Edmunds’ pressure caused a muff while Pierre knocked the ball out. Both times, the ball went out of bounds but there were impact plays that got in the returner’s head.
Kick Coverage
The Jets returned five of seven kickoffs in this game (the other two touchbacks at the 30). Here is where each of those returns ended up.
– Jets’ 22
– Jets’ 28
– Jets’ 22
– Jets’ 23
– Jets’ 26
All five inside the 30, a win for the coverage team. Three pinned the Jets inside their 25. The Steelers had a plan to kick to the right and force/entice the return and they were ready to cover it. A cut-up of the plays made here by a variety of faces, including TE Connor Heyward, OLB Jeremiah Moon, and RB Jonathan Ward. Hidden yardage to back the Jets up.
Aside from the final example where the returner fell, these are all self-made plays by the Steelers’ coverage unit.
Field Goal Blocks
The first didn’t count, even though it should’ve. Minkah Fitzpatrick leaping over the line to block this extra point. He was flagged for “leverage” even though the refs themselves thought it was the wrong call. Players are allowed to touch the opponent. They just can’t springboard off them and Fitzpatrick clearly did not.
But the game would end with a block. DL Dean Lowry got his hand on a field goal that prevented the Jets from closing the gap to 23-18. Great timing over the A-gap here.
Pittsburgh got the ball back and took it to the end zone for the touchdown, pushing its lead to 30-15. Game-changer. It’s yet another block under Danny Smith. The second field goal block along with a punt block, the Steelers have now blocked a kick/punt in threes-straight games. For most teams, doing either once in a year is a big win. For Pittsburgh it’s routine.
And we should mention how close Miles Killebrew came to blocking (another) punt in this one. Inches away. The All-22 should show that better.
Watching the team celebrate with Danny Smith after the Lowry block, they just love playing for this dude.
You won’t see many better well-rounded performances than that. Aside from kick returns, Pittsburgh had none, you won’t find an area where the Steelers failed to make an impact in. From hidden yardage like field position to splash like blocked field goals to direct field goals like Boswell putting everything through the uprights, it’s hard to beat a team that can win the third phase so convincingly.
