Author: Christina Tina Rivers

Re-evaluation: Special teams improved for Steelers in 2024

Steel City Underground presents a post-2024 NFL season re-evaluation of each positional group on the Pittsburgh Steelers roster in this series, highlighting the standout player or players among each group.

While other positional groups tend to receive more accolades for big plays, the Pittsburgh Steelers fielded a core group of special teams players in 2024 that can’t be ignored. In our final re-evaluation of last season, we look at how special teams, as a whole, not only improved from 2023 but who was key in making it so.

Specialists: Chris Boswell, Corliss Waitman, Christian Kuntz

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Boswell’s continuing wizardry

Although he retains that youthful appearance, Boswell – who admitted on the Christian Kuntz podcast on YouTube in January (Episode 25: 2025) that he considered leaving the NFL behind after a disappointing 2018 season – played arguably his career best for the Steelers in 2024. Surprisingly, Boswell hit the ten-season mark by successfully making 41 of 44 field goals; that mark placed him second in NFL history for field goals made in a single season.

Boswell was gold. You couldn’t have put money on more of a sure bet unless you had experts placing quality tips conveniently and directly into your hand, which you could if you download betting app. As part of his historic season, Boswell was successful on 13 of 15 field goal attempts that were beyond 50 yards. The two that missed: from 57 and 62 yards. Only one field goal was missed due to a block by an opponent all season.

Instead of a just being wizard, Boswell became something of a sniper.

Due to his invaluable performance on the field, Boswell was named first-team All Pro and became the league’s all-time leader in field goal percentage from 50 yards and beyond (82.7 percent) among players with a minimum of 50 attempts. By the end of the season, Boswell had moved into fourth place all-time in the NFL with a field goal success rate over 88 percent.

Boswell was perhaps the biggest key to improved special teams play, but certainly was not alone.

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Waitman in for Johnston

In 2023, the Steelers utilized the services of Pressley Harvin III. After some devastatingly bad punts, they reached out during free agency and signed veteran Cameron Johnston. After just two punts, Johnston was seriously injured in the season opener against the Atlanta Falcons and spent the remainder of the season sidelined.

That twist of fate opened the door for Waitman, a somewhat rare left-footed punter, to return to the team after spending time on the practice squad prior to 2023.

Waitman’s 46.4 yards per punt average certainly gave Steelers opponents more of a challenge in ball placement to open drives, but his unique style set up several opportunities for members of the coverage team to run down muffed return attempts.

That coverage team allowed just over 7 yards per punt return, finishing the season ranked sixth in the league (lowest punt return average).

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Other key players

Under the Dynamic Kickoff rules, implemented for the first time in 2024, the Steelers had Calvin Austin III primarily handle punt return duties while Cordarrelle Patterson and Jaylen Warren primarily split kickoff return duties. Austin finished with a 10.3-yard return average and one 73-yard return the house.

Averaging 23.0 yards per return on kickoffs wasn’t stellar for the Steelers, but all 32 NFL teams had learning curves when it came to the new kickoff rules. That should improve for Pittsburgh in 2025.

Miles Killebrew, a long-time special teams ace, earned All-Pro votes as did James Pierre and Kuntz at long-snapper.

Other notables:

Ben Skowronek scooped up a muffed punt return by Kadarius Toney in Week 14 that was turned into a Steelers touchdown over the Cleveland Browns.

Jeremiah Moon, Dean Lowry, and Isaiahh Loudermilk each blocked a kick in 2024 for a total of three ways the Steelers hurt opponents while boosting up coordinator Danny Smith’s reputation.

 

Re-evaluation: Special teams improved for Steelers in 2024 appeared first on Steel City Underground.

Plays of the Year: Austin grabs go-ahead TD against Browns

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.

It was near-whiteout conditions in Cleveland on Thursday Night Football in Week 12. The Steelers trailed the Browns 13-18 in the fourth quarter, following another disappointing first half of offensive play. However, shortly after a strip-sack recovery, Pittsburgh scored the go-ahead touchdown that definitively got them within minutes of a comeback win.

With 7:10 left on the game clock, the Browns lined up on 2nd & 9 from their own 25 with Jameis Winston in the shotgun. With snow falling heavily, outside linebacker Nick Herbig was able to beat the outside block and strip the ball out as he made the sack on his birthday. DeShon Elliott recovered the fumble.

The Steelers offense took over within striking distance of the end zone. On 3rd & 6 from the Cleveland 23, Russell Wilson took the snap from shotgun and saw Calvin Austin streaking towards the end zone. Despite low visibility and less than ideal conditions, Wilson threw a perfect, deep touch pass that cleared defenders and made it easy for Austin to secure the pass in stride for a 23-yard touchdown strike to move the Steelers to a 19-18 lead.

Pittsburgh’s two-point attempt was thwarted when a pass to Cordarrelle Patterson fell incomplete. That left the final minutes up to the Steelers’ defense to earn the stop. Unfortunately, the Browns were able to get into the end zone two series later to win, 24-19, and end the Steelers’ four-game win streak.

Plays of the Year: Austin grabs go-ahead TD against Browns appeared first on Steel City Underground.

Throwback Thursday: Ben Roethlisberger sets two-game TD record with Steelers

Steel City Underground takes fans back in time to feature events, special moments, and historical times and players in the world of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Steelers Nation. Join us in our “Steelers Throwback Thursday” series as we revisit these moments.

The Pittsburgh Steelers can lay claim to many records in the National Football League, whether set by the team itself or individual players. We look at two games during the 2014 NFL season that became part of league history due to a record-breaking performance by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

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Week 8 vs the Indianapolis Colts

The Steelers entered the October 26th game with a 5-3 record, as did the Colts. Indianapolis won the coin toss and opted to take the opening kickoff. Quarterback Andrew Luck led his team down the field but the Colts weren’t able to get into the end zone, relying on Adam Vinatieri to put the first points on the scoreboard.

On the Steelers opening offensive series, Roethlisberger ran a balanced mix of runs by Le’Veon Bell and throws. Big Ben found Markus Wheaton and threw an 18-yard touchdown pass.

Roethlisberger and the Steelers offense were hot. In subsequent series, Roethlisberger found Martavis Bryant twice, Antonio Brown twice, and Heath Miller for touchdowns for a total of six touchdown passes.

Roethlisberger finished the game having completed 40 of 49 passes for 522 yards to zero interceptions.

The Steelers won the game, 51 to 34, and moved to 6-3 ahead of their next matchup with an AFC North divisional rival.

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Week 9 vs the Baltimore Ravens

In the November 2nd game, the Steelers weren’t able to get on the scoreboard until the second quarter. Roethlisberger hit Bell for a five-yard touchdown in the second quarter, and then went on to throw a touchdown pass to Bryant. He threw a deep ball to Wheaton for another touchdown in the waning moments of the same quarter; punter Brad Wing then threw a short pass to Matt Spaeth for the two-point conversion.

In the third quarter, neither team was able to find the end zone due to strong defensive play by both teams. The score was 22 to 21 in favor of Pittsburgh.

In the fourth quarter, Roethlisberger threw a nice ball to Antonio Brown for a 54-yard touchdown. He then outperformed Joe Flacco by throwing an 18-yard strike to Bryant for another six points.

Just after the two-minute warning, Roethlisberger gave the Steelers the opportunity to put the Ravens to bed when he completed a deep pass to Spaeth for the sixth touchdown pass.

Roethlisberger finished the game with 25 of 37 attempted passes completed for 340 yards.

As recorded by NFL official statistics and the Guinness Book of World Records, Roethlisberger surpassed the 11 touchdown passes thrown by Oakland (Raiders) Tom Flores in 1963 and (New England Patriots) Tom Brady in 2007 by  becoming the first player in NFL history with six touchdown passes in back-to-back games, joining Y.A. Tittle in 1962 as the only players with two six-touchdown games in one season.

You can watch every touchdown Big Ben threw in the record-setting two games here:

The record set by Roethlisberger in those two games helped propel the Steelers to an 11-5 regular season record. Pittsburgh faced the Ravens again in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs that season, but were defeated.

 

Throwback Thursday: Ben Roethlisberger sets two-game TD record with Steelers appeared first on Steel City Underground.

Re-evaluation: Steelers tight ends led by Freiermuth

Steel City Underground presents a post-2024 NFL season re-evaluation of each positional group on the Pittsburgh Steelers roster in this series, highlighting the standout player or players among each group.

When the Pittsburgh Steelers added Arthur Smith as their offensive coordinator in 2024, it was expected that he would install an offensive scheme heavy in tight end usage. Although that was the case, with several personnel packages employed – including 12 personnel, 13, and less often 22 – the tight end that led the group was Freiermuth. We look at the tight ends group’s performance and what might have led to higher overall production.

Tight Ends: Pat Freiermuth, Darnell Washington, MyCole Pruitt, Connor Heyward

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Why “Muth” stood out

In a season that saw the Steelers offense move from Justin Fields to Russell Wilson at quarterback yet still ebb and flow in production due to a number of factors, the contract deal Pittsburgh completed with Freiermuth proved worthwhile. Freiermuth led the team in total number of receptions with 65 and seven touchdowns, outpacing receiver George Pickens‘ 59 catches and three touchdowns (Pickens had 900 yards to Freiermuth’s 653).

Muth’s reception total was tied for eighth-most among the league’s tight ends. His touchdown total ranked him fourth among all NFL players at that position.

Despite not being targeted more than three times in a game during six total games, Freiermuth was one of the most reliable players who altered routes to help out his quarterback. Both Fields and Wilson were plagued by pressure and an offensive line that played unevenly through the season; both were tentative throwing over the middle of the field. Freiermuth showed more ability to create opportunities, including off of blocks, and that made him stand out.

Freiermuth would have stood out even more had Fields and Wilson realized that he was also the most sure-handed receiving target they had available on nearly every play of the season.

Related content:

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A second look at Washington

The Steelers offense got a total of 96 receptions for 933 yards and 10 touchdowns from their tight ends. That was an improvement from the 2023 NFL season, but lagged behind pre-season prediction models and resultant season play by other tight ends across the league. Yes, four tight ends split the time in Pittsburgh versus teams like the Las Vegas Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs who relied on Brock Bowers and Travis Kelce almost exclusively at the position, but production could have – perhaps, should have – been better for the Steelers.

Because of his blocking prowess, Washington lived up to his “Mt. Washington” moniker and was utilized on 584 offensive snaps (a little more than 50 percent) in 2024. His size makes Washington a nice target, but he was targeted just 25 times for 19 receptions, 200 yards, and a single touchdown.

Pittsburgh’s redzone offense was abysmal, which could have been made better had Fields and Wilson attempted more passes to Washington inside that area. Whether that was an issue with Smith’s schemes or execution can be debated. Although Washington isn’t speedy in the open field, his size makes him the type of target NFL teams covet in the redzone… yet, the Steelers didn’t.

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Heyward and Pruitt

Heyward, listed as a fullback/h-back, played just 18.3 percent of his snaps on offense. He caught 6/8 targets for 40 yards and a touchdown. Heyward tied Miles Killebrew‘s special teams snaps in 2024 (303) and was responsible for a big-time play in Week 18 against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Pruitt got lost in the mix a bit. He played 24 percent of the offensive snaps but was often the second or third tight end in a package. Despite missing five games due to injury, Pruitt caught 6/10 targeted passes for 40 yards and a touchdown.

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Moving forward

The Steelers need to find a way to better implement their tight ends into their overall offensive plans outside of just lining them up as extra blockers. Had the tight ends been utilized as passing targets in the packages they were often lined-up in, Fields and Wilson might have found more success passing the ball and converting critical downs.

Moving forward, Arthur Smith has some work to do to really re-energize the multi-TE packages in Pittsburgh as a true offensive weapon. Whether that will include changes in personnel/players or schemes will be something to keep an eye on.

Re-evaluation: Steelers tight ends led by Freiermuth appeared first on Steel City Underground.