PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – All tight end Pat Freiermuth knew in the NFL as an offensive coordinator was Matt Canada. In his first game with Mike Sullivan calling plays and Eddie Faulkner as the new OC, Freiermuth set career highs in receptions and yards.
Freiermuth had nine catches for 120 yards, interestingly two of his other big games of his career also came against the Bengals in 2022, one seven catches for 85 yards and the other eight catches for 79 yards. That speaks to a part of what we saw on Sunday, it was as much about what the Bengals defense was giving them.
"Yeah, playing off of what they were showing defensively," said quarterback Kenny Pickett. "It felt like they were showing a lot of middle field open coverages where we need Pat to step up and be big for us, which he was. Having some one-on-one routes to move the chains."
"Sometimes coverage dictates that," said head coach Mike Tomlin. "Pat's first week back was last week. He was out an extended period of time. It was more of a reflection of him and Kenny (Pickett) getting back on things. When (Freiermuth) is on, he really makes a difference."
While he didn't have big stats in his first four games this season, a quarter of his receptions were for touchdowns. There were hopes of the second-round pick building on his 732 yards from last season or tapping into his seven touchdowns his rookie season.
"It's been tough, obviously been battling through some injuries," Freiermuth said. "Never really was healthy from Week One taking that hit in the chest. Handled some adversity. Need to keep stacking on this one for sure."
Freiermuth said throwing deep on the first play of the game gave them early confidence. It got all of them believing, not just himself or the tight ends. He said it was just nice to move the ball and glad they handled adversity with a lot of eyes on them.
"I think Pat had an unbelievable game," Pickett said. "Really happy for him. (He was) battling back off an injury with his hamstring which isn't easy. So, it's great to have 88 out there."
For years we've heard how the middle of the field could open it up for the deep, outside passing game. The Steelers showed a threat on Sunday. How will it impact going forward.
