Plays of the Year: Ryan Shazier’s game-changing interception

Steel City Underground presents “Plays of the Year” featuring the tops runs, catches, hits and everything else in-between for the Steelers 2017 season.

We love our Steelers, but like any family member, we also know their quirks too.

One of those quirks is playing on the road. Another is playing “down” to “lesser” teams. And yet one more is coming out of the bye week cold.

You can check all of the boxes for those symptoms in the Steelers Week 10 matchup with the Indianapolis Colts. Indy entered the game with a 3-6 record after breaking a three-game losing streak a week earlier against the Texans.

The 6-2 Steelers were riding a three-game streak of their own, with three straight victories before traveling to Indianapolis. Therefore, most observers believed the Steelers should smash the lowly Colts.

With 13 minutes left in the game, that wasn’t happening. The Steelers struggled to move the ball and made more than enough mistakes to allow the Colts to have a 17-9 advantage in the fourth quarter. Pittsburgh was desperately in need of a big play, and they would get one from one of the best playmakers: Ryan Shazier.

At the time I recall mentioning that Shazier was “The closest thing to Troy [Polamalu] we’ve got right now.” As you watch the play below, you’ll see why I made that comment, as Polamalu always had a knack for coming up with game-changing plays at the most unexpected of times.

Shazier began carving out a niche for the same flair, leading the Steelers in interceptions at this point in the season following this juggling catch that should’ve never been in his hands to begin with!

Somehow Ryan keeps his eyes on the ball all the way through following the active play, making a dynamic catch, which overturned the Steelers fortunes. The interception instantly set the Steelers up for a touchdown and game-tying two-point conversion, en route to winning the game 20-17.

I imagine if he were watching, Troy Polamalu would be proud.