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Steel City Underground presents “Plays of the Year” featuring the top runs, catches, hits, and everything else in between from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2024 season.
In Week 18, the Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t earn a win over the Cincinnati Bengals, but they got a big splash play on special teams by a player that doesn’t get much recognition from week to week: Connor Heyward.
Sure, we know he’s veteran, team captain, 2023 Walter Payton Man of the Year Cameron Heyward‘s younger brother. Steelers fans know he’s listed as a tight end and fullback on this year’s roster. Otherwise, Connor quietly plays with little fanfare, which is often a good thing because he’s doing his job and not earning penalties.
On Saturday night, in the fourth quarter of the season finale, Corliss Waitman was called-upon to punt the ball back to Cincinnati, Pittsburgh down 14-19. On the punt, the ball hit the ground and touched D.J. Ivey, as the following image shows in detail.
After the ball bounced away, Heyward, closed in and secured the fumble, sliding before going out of bounds. His play gave the ball back to the offense that set up a successful Chris Boswell field goal to put Pittsburgh within two points of a comeback, 17-19.
BIG TIME SPECIAL TEAMS PLAY @ConnorHeyward1
Stream on NFL+: https://t.co/COxKRnrEBK pic.twitter.com/nhUtuhvVaf
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) January 5, 2025
The Steelers didn’t get the job done, but Heyward’s special teams fumble recovery gave them their best opportunity at a victory so late in the game. Pittsburgh would drop their final game of the season, their fourth-straight, in the 19-17 loss before heading into the postseason. They would finish the 2024 season with a 10-7 record.
Plays of the Year: Connor Heyward makes splash special teams recovery appeared first on Steel City Underground.