Despite long sustained drives, the Pittsburgh Steelers had tremendous difficulty punching the ball in the end zone on Monday Night Football against the New York Giants. Whether it was Brodierck Jones getting tagged with a facemask penalty or George Pickens not getting his second foot down in the endzone, Pittsburgh was forced to settle for field goals.
Thankfully, Calvin Austin III was there to save the day on special teams.
CALVIN AUSTIN TO THE HOUSE ‼️ @CalvinAustinIII
📲 Stream on NFL+: https://t.co/COxKRnr6Mc pic.twitter.com/MEAdfcquMc
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) October 29, 2024
This was the first touchdown of the game for Pittsburgh and finally gave them some breathing room against the Giants. Austin, who ran a 4.32 forty-yard dash at the 2022 NFL Combine, put his lightning-fast speed on full display.
Austin has proven to be a playmaker at times for the Steelers this year. Earlier in the season, he had had a brilliant catch-and-run for an explosive 55-yard touchdown against the Chargers.
Steelers punt return touchdown could have been called back
Though you won’t catch Steelers fans complaining, this punt return touchdown from Austin could have been brought back due to a running into the kicker penalty that wasn’t called. This is something I noticed on the broadcast view, and when you go back and watch it, you can clearly see pass rusher Jeremiah Moon running into the legs of New York’s punter without being pushed.
This was hardly the only controversial call in this game. On the Giants’ second offensive series that nearly resulted in a touchdown, Pittsburgh’s defense was bailed out when WR Malik Nabers was flagged for an illegal shift.
While we could sit here and nitpick about the officiating all day, it was nice to see the Pittsburgh Steelers get a long-awaited touchdown on special teams. This was the spark they needed on Monday Night Football.
