The Pittsburgh Steelers squandered a season’s worth of effort on Wednesday, filling fans’ stockings with a big lump of coal. They suffered their third blowout loss in a row, the latest to a Kansas City Chiefs team that looks ready for the playoffs. And along the way, they made a hero out of the hometown man, Justin Watson.
Watson entered the day with 19 catches for 224 yards and one touchdown on the season. His longest catch was 25 yards—until he ran into the Steelers and Donte Jackson. Returning from injury, the veteran cornerback lost his one-on-one and helped ignite the route. Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes walked through his 49-yard pass to Watson, setting up a touchdown to the local product.
“The offensive line protected well, I stepped up”, Mahomes said of his big throw to Watson that sparked the Chiefs’ second touchdown drive against the Steelers, via transcript. “You could feel the safety push. I was giving a peek out to [Justin Watson] wide. He stacked his corner. I put it out there, let him make a play. I’m happy for him. This is home for him. To be able to make a couple plays, get a touchdown, it’s always special to get a touchdown in your home city”.
Justin Watson was born in the Pittsburgh suburb of Bridgeville, attending college at Penn. A 2018 fifth-round pick, he is on a blessed run. After winning the Super Bowl with Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020, he is looking to three-peat with the Chiefs for his fourth ring. And the way they played against the Steelers, that seems very doable.
Watson had only those two catches on that second drive for the Chiefs, but they were daggers for the Steelers. His 49-yard grab over Donte Jackson set the tone for what kind of day it was going to be. Finishing the drive with an 11-yard touchdown on 3rd and 4 was the icing on the cake.
The most galling part of the sequence is the fact that the Chiefs and Watson did nothing special. Yes, they blocked up the play well, including Travis Kelce picking up a blitzing DeShon Elliott. But the Steelers simply got burned, with Donte Jackson in his first big test returning from injury.
And Watson’s touchdown a few plays later wasn’t much different. It was just a man-on-man loss, with the Chiefs conquering the Steelers. This time, however, it was James Pierre, who lost leverage on an out route from the slot. Mahomes made a great throw, but the Steelers allowed the play.
Over the past three games, the Steelers have exposed all of their shortcomings while introducing new ones. Communication issues have suddenly become crippling, and their cornerback depth has been tested beyond sustainability. It doesn’t matter that this was the Chiefs and Mahomes when they are making Justin Watson look like Julian Edelman.
