LANDOVER, MD (93.7 The Fan) – Why Mike Tomlin said he went for the fake punt & James Pierre owning up to it. Cam Heyward and Najee Harris moving up the record books, plus injuries and some great quotes following the Steelers 28-27 win to get them to 7-2 Sunday.
Related
Fake punt
Mike Tomlin said he was going to be aggressive on Sunday. That included running a fake punt from the Steelers own 16-yard line on a 4th and 15. The pass from Miles Killebrew was perfect, it would have gone for a first down, but James Pierre dropped it.
“I knew it was coming all week,” Pierre said. “I was practicing all week for it. I caught it all week. When it came, I was ready to go, too ready. I was really hard on myself, but my teammates helped me out.”
“Just let it go,” said Steelers captain Cam Heyward of his words to Pierre. “We all mess up. I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve messed up. If we had lost this game and we had said this is the reason we lost. I think that’s incomplete.”
“Every game is full of little spurts where guys can make plays. Whenever something happens like that, we rally around them and make more plays.”
Tomlin said he owns it and will call it again, they just didn’t execute it.
Harris zone
Najee Harris had a one-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter. That makes his third touchdown in the last four games. It’s his 25th career touchdown, which moves him past Willie Parker on the Steelers all-time rushing touchdowns list and now tied with long-time running backs coach and tailback Dick Hoak for ninth place. John Henry Johnson and Barry Foster are one ahead of him.
Heyward heights
With a sack to end Washington’s second series, Cam Heyward passed Hall of Famer Howie Long and with his second sack at the end of the third quarter, passed Steelers Hall of Honor member James Harrison with 85.5 career sacks.
Pat time
Pat Freiermuth’s touchdown catch in the second quarter was his third of the season and most since his rookie year. In his first season with Ben Roethlisberger, Freiermuth had seven touchdown catches.
Related
Injuries
Big injury of the game was to the ankle of outside linebacker Alex Highsmith. He stepped on Jayden Daniels foot late in the fourth quarter and couldn’t put any weight on it as he was helped off the field. Highsmith had just returned from a hamstring injury a couple of weeks ago.
Corner Donte Jackson left the game with a hamstring injury and while he returned to the game, tailback Najee Harris will have his ankle looked at either Sunday night or Monday. WR Calvin Austin also left the game at the end with an undisclosed injury, although he was around the team in the locker room with no obvious issue.
Quotes
“Just having confidence in the people around you, that’s what makes football great. We had confidence in the defense to have a huge stop, they did. Just guys answering the call, the ability to respond in the face of adversity is really what is important.”
QB Russell Wilson
“I’ve seen it a few times in highlight shows, it’s a little better in person.”
Head coach Mike Tomlin on Russell Wilson’s deep throws
“We were panicking too on the last play. It’s how the game goes. The whole game was like that. It’s a game of inches, battle every play. Never give up. You see you got to wait to the last second in the NFL.”
Safety Damontae Kazee
“These dudes are relentless as hell. I love the mindset and the dawg mentality. It’s not one person with the dawg mentality, it’s everybody. Those are great people to be around.”
OLB Preston Smith
“We understand we are not going to be perfect every game. But, when the s*$! hits the fan, you just got to step up and make plays.”
Captain Cam Heyward
“Nah, nah, it wasn’t designed to be back shoulder. I was just adjusting to the ball to be honest.”
WR George Pickens on his TD catch
“Be real slow comparing people to Lamar Jackson. That’s a multi-time MVP, that’s Mr. Jackson. We will see Mr. Jackson in a few days.”
Tomlin asked about comparing Jayden Daniels to Lamar Jackson
Related
Up Next
The first conference game of the season, Steelers hosting Baltimore November 17 at 1p followed by a Thursday night game in Cleveland.