Steelers’ Turning Point: Calvin Austin III Explosive Plays Change The Game

Following each game in the 2024 Pittsburgh Steelers season, I will highlight the event, or string of events, in the game that was the turning point. Not all turning points will be earth-shattering but are meant to give a unique look at how we arrived at the outcome of the game, one that may be hard to see during the live watch.

The Pittsburgh Steelers emerged victorious from a very physical matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday to advance to 3-0. While certain aspects of the box score look like the Steelers dominated, like the -5 net yards allowed in the second half, it was a very close game until about halfway through the third quarter.

Both teams struggled to move the ball or sustain drives in the first half, and the Steelers entered halftime with a three-point deficit. In these types of games, turnovers and explosive plays can often make the difference. While the Steelers lost the turnover battle one-to-zero, they won the explosive play battle five-to-one. That is a large advantage in the field position battle for the Steelers and one of the big reasons they were able to win the game.

Today, I want to highlight two explosive plays, in particular, by an often-overlooked member of the Steelers offense. Calvin Austin III had a 25-yard reception on a key 3rd-and-long on the field goal drive that tied up the game, and then he put the final nail in the coffin with a 55-yard touchdown midway through the fourth quarter.

This first play was 3rd and 14 for the Steelers. Based on how the rest of the game had gone, it seemed like it would have to be a punt while the Steelers were still trailing by three points at the beginning of the second half.

It was the perfect play call with slot CB Ja’Sir Taylor dropping to play the deep half, which left OLB Tuli Tuipulotu to cover the middle of the field. By the time he turned, Austin blew by him into a wide-open area of the field. It was a quick pass by Fields, a great catch by Austin, and a 25-yard gain to ensure at least a game-tying field goal. Austin also blew right by S Alohi Gilman for a few extra yards. Austin’s speed was on full display.

The Steelers found another explosive play to Austin in the middle of the field midway through the fourth quarter to ultimately seal victory for the team. They ran a high-low concept on the corner. As soon as Fields saw the corner take away Pickens, it was back to Austin in the middle of the field. His speed took care of the rest as the safety was coming downhill to take away Freiermuth and Austin blew past the rest with his 4.32 speed.

Shout-out to Cordarrelle Patterson for making a block downfield, too.

The 25-yard gain was a 5.7-percent swing in win probability per ESPN analytics, and the touchdown was a 23.6-percent swing to effectively put the game out of reach for the Chargers.

I don’t know how much involvement Austin will have going forward, but I sure hope they find ways to leverage his speed to their advantage. It can change the game in a hurry.