LANDOVER, Md. -- The Steelers had just taken the lead on Mike Williams' 32-yard touchdown catch. It was the defense's turn to take a stand. Despite keeping the NFL's No. 3 offense to less than 300 yards, it wouldn't have mattered if they couldn't make just one play.
The Steelers walked out of Northwest Stadium Sunday evening with a 28-27 victory to improve to 7-2 because when they needed to, the defense made one of the biggest plays of the season.
Trailing by one with less than two minutes left in regulation, Jayden Daniels and the Commanders were driving down the field and approaching field goal range, which is all they needed. And, they had all three of their timeouts. The defense forced them into a fourth-and-9, which was obviously the most critical play of the game.
And, for all the complaining that's been done about Minkah Fitzpatrick not providing splash this season, he helped turn in one of the defense's most pivotal plays of the season:
— DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPSmedia) November 10, 2024
That is the true definition of fighting for every inch. And both Fitzpatrick and Damontae Kazee deserve a ton of credit for preserving the last few inches Zach Ertz needed to move the chains.
“I knew it was going to be close,” Fitzpatrick said. “I really just wanted to keep him where he was.”
Now, what exactly did Teryl Austin dial up for this type of play? I asked none other than Patrick Queen, the quarterback of the defense, for the play.
"It was like a fence. Everybody triggers based off the formation," Queen told me. "It's not a true Cover 3, but it was more of the show of it. We understood the ball was going to be in the middle of the field. There wasn't going to be anything on the outside. Minkah and Kazee did a great job of breaking on it at the same time."
The Steelers were definitely in a version of Cover 3, as they had three players responsible for the deep thirds downfield. Those were the two outside cornerbacks Joey Porter Jr. and James Pierre, along with Cam Sutton taking away the deep middle third. But the "fence" part of what he told me was interesting, so I went back and used the television broadcast to illustrate what ended up happening:
NFL ON CBS
In a typical Cover 3 defense, three players take away the deep middle thirds while four defenders are responsible for their respective zones underneath. Those zones most often comprise of two zones on the outside to play the curl or flat routes, then two zones inside to play the hook or curl routes. And there are many variations of how to defend each zone (Buzz, Cloud, etc.).
That's not what happened here. The two outside zones (Beanie Bishop to the top of the screen, Queen to the bottom) completely abandoned the flat. And, for good reason. No need to waste two defenders down low in the flat when the Commanders need to gain nine yards. Thus, Queen and Bishop wound up playing at similar depths as Fitzpatrick and Kazee in the middle, building that fence along the 41-yard line, which is where the Commanders need to get for a first down.
But, that's a pretty decent play call. Defend the necessary area without too much risk. And, it was a nice wrinkle to have Sutton take away that deep middle while Fitzpatrick and Kazee played the two hook/curl zones underneath. That's putting your best players into positions for them to make plays. And that's exactly what happened.
Sunday wasn't the prettiest day for this defense. They gave up a 95-yard touchdown drive at the end of the first half, then allowed the Commanders to double dip when they got the ball in the second half as they scored again with ease. That turned a 14-10 Steelers advantage into a 24-14 deficit in a hurry.
However, this group bounced back. They allowed only three points after that. And, they held the league's No. 3 offense to 242 total yards and only 60 yards on the ground.
This fourth-down stop was a feather in the cap for this defense. And it helped them get the only thing that matters to them: A win.