The two-point conversation stop that preserved a two-point lead with 1:06 left in regulation against the Ravens was a product of anticipation and an ability to adjust.
"You have scenarios," defensive coordinator Teryl Austin explained of the thought process involved in trying to maintain the Steelers' 18-16 lead late last Sunday at Acrisure Stadium. "You go back and look at what they've done in the past in terms of low red zone and two-point plays, and you just kind of take an educated guess as to what you think they may run and you build a defense, a couple calls, around that.
"We had a couple scenarios in mind, some things we thought they may do. And then our guys just did a really good job of executing."
The two-point stand, reminiscent of the defense winning a rep in "Seven Shots" back in training camp, was the exclamation point on a performance that saw the Steelers hold the Ravens to just over half their average of 31.8 per game.
"Our guys made a heck of a play," Austin assessed.
The Ravens initially lined up in a two-running backs, two-wide receivers, one-tight end set (Justice Hill and fullback Patrick Ricard, Tylan Wallace and Nelson Agholor, and Mark Andrews). The Steelers countered with a "nickel" package, with safety Damontae Kazee as one of the five defensive backs deployed and Elandon Roberts lining up with Patrick Queen at inside linebacker.
A whistle blew after the Steelers called a timeout just prior to the snap, but quarterback Lamar Jackson caught the ball and took a step or two forward and to his right before play was halted.
"That looked like 'jump pass,'" color analyst Charles Davis observed during the CBS broadcast.
"It did kind of look like that, didn't it?" head coach Mike Tomlin acknowledged when the subject came up in a press conference on Monday.
When the Ravens lined up again following the timeout, tight end Isaiah Likely had replaced Ricard in the formation and the Steelers had countered with their "base" defense (with defensive lineman Dean Lowry filling in for injured defensive tackle Keeanu Benton in place of Kazee).
Jackson broke left at the snap this time but had to retreat away from penetration created by outside linebacker Nick Herbig.
"He knocked three dudes off," Austin maintained. "That was a catalyst."
Jackson next looked to throw, or so it appeared, but there was no eligible receiver available in the end zone on that side of the field.
When he eventually got to the edge he found unblocked cornerback Joey Porter Jr. waiting for him.
Jackson's desperation flip before being thrown out of bounds robbed Porter of a tackle for a loss and was officially designated an incompletion.
The job got done either way as far as the Steelers were concerned.
Their two-point lead had been preserved.
There was a time when Austin wouldn't have been comfortable with Porter on Jackson in an open-field matchup, but not this time.
"Joey's done a good job this year," Austin emphasized. "There's always gonna be some missed tackles during the course of the year. Those guys on the other side get paid, too.
"But I'm really pleased with where Joey is and how he's progressed in that regard."
The defensive effort against Baltimore also included rookie inside linebacker Payton Wilson's first interception (a spectacular, athletic theft of the football from Hill on the way to the ground), the latest in a series of recent contributions made by relative complements to the Steelers' star power on defense.
The combined three interceptions in two games against the Jets and Giants in late October registered by rookie nickel cornerback Beanie Bishop are three more such examples.
"Yeah, I think to me, that's a sign of a pretty good defensive team that you have depth," Austin said. "I told them this before the game, the night before the game, I said, 'The best thing I like about you guys is that when it's time to make a play, nobody is afraid to make a play.'
"I mean, somebody always seems to make a play. And that's a testament to them and the group and how they work together. So it's great that you're not always depending, you know you have those bell cows that can do it but everybody else is stepping up when it's needed."
