Steelers Safety Damontae Kazee Rips Packers Tackle for Late Hit

PITTSBURGH — Steelers safety Damontae Kazee sealed Pittsburgh’s 23-16 win over the Green Bay Packers with his game-ending interception. But he did not go down, and at the end of his return, while going out of bounds, Packers tackle Zach Tom decked him right into special teams coach Danny Smith.

Tom will probably receive a hefty fine from the league office. It was a late hit. Steelers teammates hurried to Kazee to get him out of there. But he sounded off on the play after the game, and while he did not go at Tom directly, he certainly had some thoughts on what went down.

Danny Smith took a shot! #Steelers #NFL pic.twitter.com/uWCo5FGzRr

— Blitzburgh (@Blitz_Burgh) November 12, 2023

“I don’t know what happened aside from that I do know I got tackled out of bounds,” Kazee said. “It was just uncalled for. I’ve been an injured guy, I’m just trying to stay healthy.”

Mike Tomlin said he ‘assumes’ that Smith is fine after getting shellacked. He said reporters like to ‘chase emergency vehicles’ with questions about the brawl. Regardless, Kazee and the rest of the team did not appear to like what happened. But they kept their cool in the heat of the moment, and it did not break out into anything more than it had to be. Players immediately got off the sideline and started to shake hands after that.

Pittsburgh still has to figure out what they are doing in the secondary to allow so many yards, but they are an opportunistic bunch who makes plays on the football. The Steelers were also out-gained, 399-324, by the Packers. Despite being out-gained in all nine games this year, they’re 6-3. They’re the only team in the league that’s been out-gained in every game. But when things get tight, they have a knack for winning football games. There are many things they can do to make it easier on themselves, but for now, that is who they are generally.