He had been invisible in recent weeks, but in a big spot Thursday night in Cincinnati, Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth showed up in a big way, like he tends to do in Cincinnati.
Facing a 3rd and 18 in the red zone and trailing 20-10 in the third quarter, Freiermuth shook free up the seam and hauled in a dart from Aaron Rodgers for a 19-yard touchdown, giving the Steelers life once again at Paycor Stadium.
In the last Steelers’ two games, Freiermuth had played just 15 snaps against the Minnesota Vikings and 21 against the Cleveland Browns, hauling in just one pass for 11 yards. He didn’t have a catch prior to the third-down look. But in a big spot, Freiermuth came up clutch for the Steelers.
Over the last few weeks, there have been many questions about Freiermuth, his role and his fit with the Steelers moving forward. To his credit, he’s kept his head down, continued to show trust in the organization, and has been a great teammate.
In a big spot on the road, it’s rather telling that Rodgers went to his little-used tight end. Thanks to an important throwing session in the summer in Malibu, and strong chemistry developed during training camp, Rodgers trusted his Freiermuth and threw a great ball. Freiermuth made a great play through contact, too, dragging the Steelers back into the game.
Though they had their differences early in the season in New England in which Rodgers ripped into him on the field after a mistake on the scramble drill, Freiermuth proved with the touchdown that he can still make plays when called upon. Hopefully he going to be a bigger part of the offense moving forward.
