I suppose when touchdowns are as rare as two-headed snake sightings, each one will be heavily scrutinized. Or in this case, broken down into the tiniest possible micro morsels and analyzed like ancient cave writings. The “Kushan script” has nothing on the 41-yard pass that beat the Baltimore Ravens
I’m talking about the perfect pass from Kenny Pickett to George Pickens, of course, which happened late in the fourth quarter. Everything from Pickett’s hand signals to the precise words he used at the line of scrimmage to what exactly — if anything — he changed at the line to whether offensive coordinator Matt Canada had anything to do with the play to Canada’s facial reaction in the press box has been photographed and videoed and debated for roughly 64 hours now, interrupted only by the “Fire Canada!” chants that erupted at a hockey game.
Could it be that the Steelers simply operated like a normal NFL offense, and that’s what has everybody freaked out?
Every aspect of the play has been dissected, back to its very origins. Steelers cornerback Patrick Peterson was nice enough to broadcast one of Mike Tomlin’s core beliefs about the Ravens after the fact, telling the world on his podcast what Tomlin told the team behind closed doors last Wednesday. “Coach said, ‘When it’s a dying moment, they’ll try to burn the house down,’ ” Peterson said. “You go back to that moment (the TD pass), I’ll be damned, they tried to burn the house down — and we caught ’em.’ ”
Indeed, the Steelers “caught” the Ravens in zero coverage, although it’s not like the Ravens made a horrible mistake. They probably didn’t think the Steelers would have the guts to go deep when all they needed was a field goal to go ahead. They probably didn’t think the Steelers could execute such a play, seeing as they hardly ever score touchdowns. They probably didn’t think the Steelers line could hold off a massive rush, probably didn’t think Pickett could make such an accurate throw and probably wondered if the Steelers even had a mechanism by which Pickett could change to a sensible play.
Can you blame them for any of that? Tomlin and Canada put restrictions on 18-year veteran Ben Roethlisberger, sometimes preventing him from running his favored no-huddle offense and from changing plays at the line of scrimmage.
It’s a wonder Pickett, a second-year player, isn’t put out there in a literal straitjacket and handcuffs. In some ways he is, if you believe Roethlisberger, who on his podcast this week (everybody has one) spoke of a non-conceptual Steelers passing game. He says many simple routes and concepts are missing.
“I want to see more, like, where are the concept routes?” Roethlisberger said. “Where’s a curl route? I haven’t seen a 12-yard curl route, which is a staple in the NFL, not even NFL, in college, in a football game, a 12-yard curl route. Or how about a 10-yard hitch route, five yards? Where are those routes? Conceptual passing.” Those words surely won’t help Canada, whose public approval rating has sunk below the Nutting Line, heretofore thought impossible in this town
Canada’s reaction to the play, as he sat in the press box, even became a topic. He had none, which actually had people wondering if he was “mad” that Pickett might have changed the play. Others fairly joked that maybe Canada was so shocked at the sight of a touchdown that he didn’t know what to do. But let’s at least try to be fair here. There is plenty of legitimate reason to criticize Canada and his bosses. His press-box reaction is not one of them. Again, could it be that the Steelers simply functioned like a real NFL offense on a crucial play?
Quarterbacks are supposed to have freedom to change things at the line of scrimmage. That is, in fact, where games can be won and lost. This one was. Pickett said Tuesday that he changed both the protection and Pickens’ route at the line. Great! That means he has at least limited and obvious freedoms within the offense and that he and Pickens — and I’m assuming Canada — were on the same page with everything that happened.
