Steelers Botch Fake Punt, Hand Washington Momentum
A rare bad Pittsburgh Steelers special teams play on a botched fake punt by James Pierre handed the momentum to the Washington Commanders.
LANDOVER, Md. — The Pittsburgh Steelers special teams units have been on a roll of making big plays, but a negative one turned the tide of the team’s Week 10 game against the Washington Commanders on Sunday.
The Steelers were lined up to punt from deep in their own territory on a 4th and 15 from their own 16-yard line. James Pierre was aligned to the left in his usual gunner spot, with Ben Skowronek, recently reinstated from the injured reserve list, on the right.
With the Steelers close to their own end zone, the Commanders chose to go for a block against punter Corliss Waitman, bringing their jammer in and leaving Pierre uncovered on the far left.
The Steelers just ran a perfect fake punt.
Unfortunately James Pierre was part of the play…pic.twitter.com/kwmesP1xMW
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) November 10, 2024
The Steelers have built-in checks for when teams leave a player wide open, and special teams captain and punt protector Miles Killebrew made the call to cut off the snap and throw it to Pierre, who had 40 yards of open field in front of him.
The audible worked to perfection, except that Pierre dropped the perfectly thrown pass from Killebrew.
The turnover on downs won’t count as a turnover, but the quick change gave the Commanders excellent field position, and the capitalized with a 1-yard touchdown plunge by running back Austin Ekeler. That tied the score at 7-7 in the first quarter, after the Steelers had been rolling early.
