There were a handful of key plays that can be circled when telling the story of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Week 2 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Aaron Rodgers’ interception on the goal line, intended for Pat Freiermuth, was one of the biggest ones. What was nearly a game-changing play quickly took a turn for the worse, in large part due to Calvin Austin III.
Rodgers told the media he was looking for Pat Freiermuth as he explained what transpired after the game.
“Cal [Austin III] is the best kid ever, but he probably should have just stayed in the flat there,” Rodgers said via the team website. “He knows it. Or he was kind of stealing it from Pat or just catch it, put it away, score a touchdown. But Cal’s the best kid and it sucks because he’s such a great kid, but unfortunately that whole sequence took points off the board.”
Austin ran an out route to the pylon, and he needed to stay shallow in the end zone. Instead, he drifted deep to create more traffic where Freiermuth was laid out to catch a would-be touchdown. Rodgers couldn’t have placed it much better than he did. Unless Freiermuth dropped it, that would have been a touchdown to make it a 21-14 game in the third quarter.
Here is the play, complete with Rodgers’ frustration towards Austin on the sideline.
It was an honest mistake by Austin, who probably didn’t realize he was plucking it out of Freiermuth’s reach. He probably learned a lesson with that particular route concept.
Some might try to spin this as Rodgers being critical like the “red-line” situation with Mike Williams last year. But his tone was gentle and he made sure to highlight how much he likes Austin throughout his critique. That’s what a 20-year veteran ought to do when a teammate makes mistakes that cost the team. And it was in nobody’s interest to try to skate around the question when it was obvious to everybody what happened on the play.
It was a costly mistake, but Rodgers’ response showed the balance of accountability and support. If the Steelers are going to grow from early setbacks, that leadership will matter as much as the corrections on-field.
