It is safe to say Steelers’ CB James Pierre may be getting the cold shoulder from the Steel City, following what appeared to be a beautifully designed fake-punt call by Pittsburgh’s special teams coach Danny Smith—only for Pierre to drop the pass from special teams ace Miles Killebrew.
On fourth down, deep within the Steelers’ own 20-yard line, the shocking 18-yard pass from Killebrew seemed to catch Washington’s special teams unit off guard, and would have given Pittsburgh a crucial first down. However, due to Pierre’s botched execution, the Commanders took over in the red zone on downs.
The Steelers just ran a perfect fake punt.
Unfortunately James Pierre was part of the play…pic.twitter.com/kwmesP1xMW
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) November 10, 2024
A handful of plays later, this decision on special teams ultimately gifted Commanders RB Austin Ekeler a one-yard rushing touchdown, tying the game at 7-7 and shifting momentum away from Pittsburgh.
The special teams unit eventually rebounded in a big way, recovering a fumble off a muffed punt in the second quarter, immediately granting red-zone positioning to the Steelers offense.
Pittsburgh will need all three facets of their game to be near-perfect, as the 7-2 Commanders are their toughest opponent of the 2024 season so far.
