The Pittsburgh Steelers spent last week preaching assignment-sound football on defense. On offense, WR Calvin Austin III discovered—the hard way—why sticking to the plan matters after his culpability on a critical end zone interception in the third quarter of a 31-17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
“That’s most definitely on me,” Austin said via Mike DeFabo on X. “That interception wasn’t on 8 [Aaron Rodgers] or on Pat [Freiermuth] or anything. If I had just stayed on the front pylon, it probably would have been a touchdown. I was in scramble rules. I was in the wrong spot, just trying to make a play. But I gotta do what I’m coached and not, in the spur of the moment, do something to try to make a play.”
Rodgers escaped pressure and almost added a touchdown to his highlight reel with a tough low throw to Pat Freiermuth in the back corner of the end zone. Alas, Austin drifted into his area and tried to catch the ball himself. He cut off the ball’s path to Freiermuth and knocked the ball into the hands of Derion Kendrick for a Seahawks interception.
It can be hard to overrule instincts in the heat of the moment. If a receiver sees a catchable ball and a chance at a touchdown, most are going to take that opportunity. Not that he was trying to steal it from Freiermuth. Austin just lacked the presence of mind to realize the ball was intended for his teammate behind him. But he wouldn’t have been in position for instincts to take over had he followed his coaching.
The above video shows what Austin is meant to do pretty well. As soon as the play breaks down, he needs to stay in the front of the end zone to allow some separation between himself and Freiermuth. You can see Rodgers giving Austin some grief on the sideline after the mistake.
Rodgers explained what happened on the play after the game, but took a gentle approach to his critique of Austin, whom he called a “great kid” several times. Unfortunately, it took points off the board, but don’t expect this to shake Rodgers’ confidence in the young receiver.
We will chalk it up to a lesson learned. But, as the Steelers found out after dropping to 1-1 on the season, sometimes those lessons can be costly.
