When the Steelers went out to punt I said to the guy right in front of me at the game “Tomlin is gonna call a fake.” After the fake he called me Nostradamus. It was a terrible call but I just had a vibe.
The two plays that everyone is focusing on, I disagree about them.
FAKE PUNT:
You want to use a fake punt when no one is expecting it. If it’s an obvious time, then it’s easily stopped.
More importantly, they saw that the Cardinals had a habit of putting two guys on each side outside (leaving 6 guys on the line)... setting up the return. So, if those four guys had stayed outside, it might have worked. But, when the two extra guys came to the LOS (attempting to block the punt), the entire Steelers special teams stood up and waved their arms. The. Entire. Team. How did Berry miss this???
THROWING ON 2ND DOWN:
The Cardinals were going “all out” to stop the run (8 in the box). So, spreading them out and throwing a bubble screen was a good idea; it’s essentially a run play. If Johnson catches it and goes nowhere, it’s the same as a run play... except, considering Johnson’s shiftiness, he probably gets 3 yards (or... a TD).
The problem was that the pass was batted down. Maybe Duck waited a half-second to long to throw? Maybe Johnson should have been lined up further back (a different angle)? I’m just glad that it was merely batted (and not intercepted).
The execution wasn’t great (and/or it was a good defensive play), but I still like the “idea” behind play call.
The fake punt did not come from the sidelines. It was an automatic call the Steelers had practiced for all week. If the Cardinals gave the Steelers a certain look, they were going to have punter Jordan Berry run.
Personal protector Jordan Dangerfield called off the fake, but Berry never heard him.
https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/...s/201912080207
I put this on Danny Smith.
According to the article the Steelers were on autopilot to run the fake whenever the Cardinals showed a particular punt return formation on the line (including when punting from their end zone? would be interesting to know if the Cards showed the four men outside on the LOS before the doomed fake)
Smith should have told the punt coverage team before it went out not to run the fake with a ten point lead from their own 40 no matter what formation the Cards showed. This was not Lamar Jackson the Steelers defense needed to hold off. Or maybe Smith spoke with Tomlin and Tomlin said go for it, which puts it on Tomlin.
All Defense!
That makes complete sense.
Several times, I noticed that the Cardinals were going all out to set up the return (not much of a rush at all). The Steelers obviously watched a lot more tape, and saw something similar.
So, when I saw that extra two DBs go outside, a fake made sense. Then, when those DBs moved back towards the LOS, the Steelers all waved their arms (calling off the fake). I’m not sure how Berry missed this... unless it was simply a bad snap that occurred right after a “called off” fake punt.