Just when it looked like the Pittsburgh Steelers were going to need to punt the football back to the Washington Commanders one final time with 1:02 remaining in the game, the Steelers did what many teams try to do, but few accomplish: go with the hard count and try to draw the opponent offsides for a free first down.
Fortunately for the Steelers, they did what is rarely done in those situations, drawing offsides Commanders rookie defensive tackle Jer’Zhan Newton, giving Pittsburgh a first down that allowed them to kneel the ball and win the game. In that moment, the Steelers were the more disciplined team as veteran QB Russell Wilson sold the cadence just enough, causing the jump and setting off a celebration.
For former NFL offensive lineman and analyst Mike Golic Jr., who appeared on his DraftKings show “GoJo and Golic” with his dad and namesake, he believes that moment and the way the Steelers won that game by being the more disciplined team in that moment has to bring a “unique amount of joy” to head coach Mike Tomlin as the Steelers moved to 7-2 on the season.
“I think you begin at the end there and that in particular, the winning by drawing a player offsides seems like something that’s going to make Mike Tomlin happier than any other way that you could have finished that off,” Golic Jr. said, according to video via the show’s Twitter page. “A man who is so dedicated to the details overall and who I think has relished in this season in particular, at the way they’ve managed to go about their business. Going back to the decision to switch to Russell Wilson that has now aged like fine wine for them so far, he just seems to be pressing all the right buttons right now.
“And so to see them get to do that and take advantage of the discipline of his team versus the other team has to bring him a unique amount of joy.”
Early in the season, the Steelers were struggling with discipline offensively, leading to plenty of pre-snap penalties and illegal formation violations. That drew the ire of Tomlin in the first few weeks. But as of late, the Steelers have been locked in, avoiding the self-inflicted mistakes and showing discipline on the offensive side of the football.
That 4th-and-1 moment against the Commanders was a great sign that a young offense has grown up in recent weeks, especially with a veteran presence and leader like Russell Wilson at the helm.
That the Steelers seemingly went to the line of scrimmage with no play in place and didn’t have any intention of snapping the football and still got the Commanders to jump is rather impressive. In that snapshot in time, the Steelers were a disciplined, well-coached team that came up big in a tight spot.
After how trying it was early in the season, Tomlin had to be thrilled with his team in that critical spot. It’s a sign of progress from a young offense in a season in which Tomlin continues to push all the right buttons.
