Blocked punts often come from the sheer speed of edge rushers getting around the outside of the group of blockers. However, Saturday saw Pittsburgh Steelers’ tight end Connor Heyward get through straight up to block a punt from the Indianapolis Colts’ Rigoberto Sanchez. That led to Pittsburgh’s Nick Herbig recovering the ball inside the one-yard line, leading to a touchdown soon afterwards on a short pass from Mitch Trubisky to Diontae Johnson:
This was the second straight week the Steelers blocked a punt. Last week, it was safety Miles Killebrew who came up with the block (his fourth since signing with Pittsburgh in 2021) in a 21-18 loss to the New England Patriots, with him doing so by beating multiple blockers on an outside rush:
The Steelers are the only team to block two punts so far this season, with Dallas and Indianapolis each blocking one so far. And doing so in back-to-back weeks is impressive, and is important for them given their offensive struggles this season. Earlier this game, they also got another bounce, with a Trubisky fumble on fourth down overturned to a touchdown on review after it was ruled that he broke the plane of the goal line:
The Colts did get a touchdown of their own on the next drive, and took a 14-13 lead into the half. But with both teams 7-6 and battling for the seventh and last playoff spot in the AFC (currently held by the Steelers due to tiebreakers), this is a vital game, so that Pittsburgh punt block may wind up looming large going forward.
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About Andrew Bucholtz
Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.