The Pittsburgh Steelers fell to the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday, 34-17 on the road to put both teams at 10-5 with two games to play. Pittsburgh struggled to slow down Baltimore’s offense, but its own offense was fairly underwhelming for the second-straight week, the Steelers going over 300 yards of total offense but only managing to score 17 points.
It was expected that WR Calvin Austin III would again step into a larger role once again with WR George Pickens out for a third-straight week with a hamstring injury, and the third-year man out of Memphis again led Pittsburgh in receiving with four catches on five targets for 65 yards.
THE FILM
Austin got into the game on a quick pass toward the sideline after lining up in the slot and WR Mike Williams clearing out CB Brandon Stephens by going vertical. However, S Kyle Hamilton comes down quickly to pop Austin after making the catch along the sideline, knocking him down for a gain of six on the play.
Austin’s next grab would be his biggest of the game and the Steelers’ longest play from scrimmage, going 44 yards down the field on a deep ball along the right sideline. Austin lines up split out wide at the top of your screen against rookie CB Nate Wiggins, who is a speedster in his own right.
Austin quickly breaks to his right to get an outside release on Wiggins, turning around to locate the football while maintaining his momentum down the field. Austin manages to turn his body around, make the catch in close quarters with Wiggins, and get both feet down before falling out of bounds to complete the explosive play.
Just a couple of plays later, QB Russell Wilson goes back to Austin on third down after the latter lines up across from Stephens. Austin fakes outside on Stephens, getting the corner to bite as he quickly breaks inside getting vertical on the slant route. He makes the catch with Stephens in his face for a pickup of 16 yards to move the chains.
However, Austin would be met by Kyle Hamilton again, this time on fourth down after a heave by Wilson with Austin streaking down the seam. Austin lines up in the slot at the bottom of your screen and flies down the middle of the field on fourth and six, getting a step on the defense.
Wilson fires the ball deep, but Hamilton closes ground to make it to Austin with a clear height advantage (6-4 to 5-9). He nearly intercepts the ball as Austin attempts to make the catch himself, resulting in a collision near the goal line and the pass falls incomplete.
It was another notable performance by Austin. He made two big plays in the game but also had a play go for negative yardage as well as a key fourth-down pass to him fall incomplete. Austin is in the midst of his best season to date, having caught 32 passes for 517 yards and four touchdowns.
Still, Pittsburgh has been missing its WR1 in Pickens the last few weeks as Austin is more suited for a complementary role as a WR2-3, not necessarily as the team’s top wideout. Austin will benefit from having Pickens hopefully back for the Steelers’ Christmas Day game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
While Austin has been more dependable in 2024, Pittsburgh will likely go back to the well via the draft this offseason and look to bolster its WR corps. Both Pickens and Austin are entering the final years of their respective rookie deals and the Steelers also need more production from the unit as a whole.
