PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Steelers had given up 352 yards and 27 points, didn’t have a sack and the Bengals were 1st and 10 at the Steelers 38-yard line with 53 seconds to play. Then the play that changed the game as the Steelers won 30-27 Sunday at Acrisure Stadium.
Steelers defensive lineman Derrick Harmon said as he was reading his keys, he noticed something.
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“Seeing the right tackle had his foot all the way back, and I just knew it was going to be a kick-step, and I just went,” Harmon explained.
He was able to chase down Joe Burrow and not only get a sack, but knock the ball free and Steelers defensive lineman Sebastian Joseph-Day recovered to seal the game.
“Shoutout to D-Harm, he made a big-time play in a big-time situation,” Joseph-Day said. “I was just there to do my job.”
Cam Heyward, who had a key quarterback pressure to force a three-and-out in the previous series, credited Harmon for not only beating the lineman off the ball, but being aware enough to knock the ball free.
“Just continued to be relentless, we knew our time would come and luckily D-Harm cashed out on it,” said TJ Watt.
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“Just coming together as a defense,” Harmon said. “Right before the last few drives and just really believing in one another and our coaches, and
we just came out the victor.”
Harmon explained they did gather and said it ‘was going to be on us to win this game’.
The 2025 first-round pick is coming off an eight-tackle game, but head coach Mike McCarthy also gave some credit to the coordinator for the Steelers being able to close out the game.
“I think the biggest thing is I thought Patrick Graham, he didn't panic as a play caller,” McCarthy said postgame. “He kept us in clean calls. Then Derrick [Harmon], that was a big rush. That was a big-time rush, sack and fumble on it. You'll be watching that on the highlights for quite some time.”
“I just think it's important in game situations to trust your players to make sure -- a quick, clean call to me is better than a last-minute or last-second perfect call. I think that comes with trust between coaches and players and I thought we had that there critically at the end.”
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Now it’s back to Cleveland, on a Thursday night.
“We haven’t won in Cleveland on Thursday night in a while,” Heyward said. “Looking forward to it. Really looking forward to it.”
Harmon strips Joe Burrow as defense finds way to end it
Harmon strips Joe Burrow as defense finds way to end it
