The Steelers seemed destined for a long day against the top-ranked Colts once they easily allowed a successful fake punt. Aside from the fact that Indianapolis is known to go for it on fourth down, it’s just not what former Steelers LB James Harrison is used to. Another former Steeler, Joe Haden, couldn’t make sense of how they played it, either.
The Steelers were already down seven when they had the Colts on their own 25 facing a 4th and 1. While they put the punting unit out there, the Steelers made no visible effort to combat a potential fake. The Colts evidently realized this in abundance, saw an opportunity, and took it.
“I am lost”, Harrison said on the Deebo & Joe podcast in trying to understand why the Steelers didn’t play the Colts’ punt attempt differently to account for a potential fake. “When I played under Dick LeBeau, if it was anything around that 4th and 1, close to, less than two, it was ‘defense safe’. You knew you weren’t gonna get a great return, but we wanted to make sure that they didn’t do a sneak. And the best way to do that is to have the guys on the field that actually play defense instead of a mix of offensive and defensive players”.
“Defense safe” or “punt safe” are terms used to describe punt-return schemes designed to minimize risk. You’re neither going all out to block the punt but also not angling to land a big return. And generally speaking, you’re not going to have Ben Skowronek and Connor Heyward in the box. The Steelers had two offensive players on the front line against the Colts on 4th and 1.
While the Colts hadn’t previously attempted a fake punt this season, the Steelers knew the deal. Indianapolis twice converted on 4th and 1 on its opening drive, albeit on offense. That included Daniel Jones capping the opening drive with a quarterback-sneak touchdown. They went 5-for-5 on fourth down against the Steelers after entering the game 10-for-12. At an 88.2-percent conversion rate, they are unsurprisingly the best in the league at it.
“I’m with you 1,000 percent. You know what team you’re playing against. It’s 4th and 1. They’ve been going for four downs all the time”, Haden said, concurring with Harrison that the Steelers were ill-prepared against the Colts. Just because they put the punt team on the field doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have anticipated a potential fake.
While that fake punt considerably extended the Colts’ drive, the Steelers turned the tide thanks to T.J. Watt. Generating a strip-sack on the 15th play of the drive at the Steelers’ 38, they eventually converted that takeaway into seven points and a tie game. A new ballgame. Pittsburgh scored 24 unanswered and the Colts never touched the ball again with a chance to tie. But that doesn’t mean that moment isn’t something for the Steelers to learn from. It wasn’t Danny Smith’s shining moment in the game, for sure.
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