Three failed plays that could’ve made the Steelers win a blowout
The Pittsburgh Steelers came out of their road trip to Atlanta victorious on Sunday. However, the final score of 18-10 – all field goals by the Steelers – could’ve been a much more lopsided score.
Here are three different plays, that all failed for various reasons, that would’ve changed the outcome.
T.J. Watt offside penalty
Year in and year out, Steelers LB T.J. Watt continues to create highlight reels in every game he has a presence. A perennial NFL Defensive Player of the Year candidate for several seasons, including winning the award in 2021, Watt has the potential to change a game by himself: a rare feat in a team sport.
On Sunday, Watt continued his reign of terror on opposing offenses. While Watt statistically came away with a single sack, two others were negated by penalties. One of those was a mistake by the officiating crew that believed Watt jumped the snap and was offside. The play would’ve resulted in a strip sack and turnover, with the ball recovered by Watt. However, the penalty moved the ball to the Steelers’ 17-yard line and gave the Falcons a fresh set of downs.
Rather than Pittsburgh getting the ball back with 38 seconds to go before halftime, Atlanta would score their only touchdown on the next play, as Kirk Cousins found Kyle Pitts for a 12-yard pass that would put the Falcons up 10-6.
The human error was later apologized for by the referee who flagged it. Otherwise, it’s debatable if the Falcons would’ve scored more than three points in the entire game, as this marked their final points scored as the team was held scoreless in the second half.
George Pickens offensive pass interference
Another big play that was wiped out also occurred in the second quarter, on the series right before the would-be Watt strip sack. Backup quarterback Justin Fields, who started in place of the injured Russell Wilson, moved the ball to midfield, but had not taken many shots deep early in the game.
On a third-and-nine from the logo, Fields went downfield for his top receiver, George Pickens. Pickens was hand fighting with Atlanta CB A.J. Terrell, who was newly minted as one of the league’s highest-paid defensive backs.
The officiating crew called an incredibly weak offensive pass interference call on Pickens. Instead of the Steelers having the ball near the Falcons ten-yard line with first down in the redzone, they were forced to replay third down and subsequently punt when not converting the third-and-nineteen situation.
Had the play instead stood, it would’ve counted as a 36-yard reception and at least netted the Steelers three more points – if not another opportunity to score a TD.
Turnover on downs
New Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith did a tremendous job of dialing up plays that made the best use of Justin Fields’ skill set. Throughout the contest Fields would use his legs on designed plays that kept the Falcons defense guessing.
In total Fields would rush for a team-second 57 yards (4.1-per-carry) on the day. Logically, it made sense to keep the ball in his hands for a 4th-and-1 situation as the Steelers clung to a 15-10 advantage early in the fourth quarter.
Illogically, the play call would cost the Steelers points, as Fields was unable to covert the first down and Pittsburgh turned the ball over on downs.
The 13-play drive ended when Atlanta stacked the box as the Steelers decided to go for it on 4th-and-1 from the Falcons six-yard-line. The thought process was to keep the chains moving and get a first down to eventually punch the ball into the endzone. That outcome would’ve put the Steelers up at least 21-10, with a PAT or two-point conversion making the score 22-10 or 23-10 at the time.
Had the Steelers opted for a field goal from the six instead, the final score would’ve reflected three more points, potentially a 21-10 victory.
Final thoughts
When paired with the other situations above, the Steelers potentially could’ve wiped the floor with the Falcons with a spread that could’ve been anywhere from 25-3 or more. This would factor in the missed touchdown opportunity on the fourth down play, as well as Watt’s flubbed offside penalty negating Atlanta’s only touchdown.
There’s also a possibility the Steelers also score three or more points if Pickens isn’t tagged for OPI, bringing that final outcome up to 28-3 or more: which would’ve really opened the eyes of the national media as Pittsburgh coasted to a win over the “improved” Falcons.
Fortunately, this didn’t affect the action off of the gridiron thanks to some of the best sportsbooks. The Steelers entered Atlanta as underdogs and covered the spread. Unfortunately, some prop bets on solo performances and the over/under weren’t met, but if these few plays had turned out differently, that could’ve been a different story.
