Ideally, a group of players that you praise in a team’s win is the punting unit, but this is the unique situation that the Pittsburgh Steelers currently find themselves in.
Punter Pressley Harvin has been under scrutiny ever since he became a Steeler starting in the 2021 season. He’s earned a lot of the criticism he’s faced, having several rather poor stretches of play during both the 2021 and 2022 seasons. His job has been in jeopardy, facing a training camp battle with Braden Mann, as well as in-season competition as well.
The criticism of Harvin comes in part because fans and media have seen a lot of him, far too much from a punter, but that’s an indictment on the offense rather than Harvin himself.
After Week 1, Mike Tomlin called the punting game a “significant letdown.”
However, he was a big factor in Monday’s win over the Cleveland Browns.
Harvin punted 7 times in Monday night’s win over the Browns, routinely pinning Cleveland back deep in their own territory and forcing the opposing offense to put in extra work on the field.
Of his 7 punts, Harvin had 4 of them down within the 10 yard line, including this absolute beauty, which was placed perfectly at the Browns 1-yard line.
Overall, Harvin had punts that were downed at the 5, 9, 1, and 6-yard lines, which stacked up for one of the best games of his career.
His teammates on the punting unit deserve credit as well, helping solidify the push to pin Cleveland back deep, but this was a huge game by Harvin.
It was the bounce back he needed after a harsh opening week that only saw him have 1 punt inside the 20-yard line, and averaging just 42.33 yards a boot.
He was clearly feeling it on Monday, as he should be for a guy who desperately needed to show he can perform at a competent level.
He had a legitimate claim to AFC Special Teams Player of the Week, although in the end he lost out to Tennessee Titans kicker Nick Folk.
With the offense still showing minimal (if any) signs of life sadly the Steelers are going to need to rely on Harvin a lot still in the upcoming weeks.
Harvin currently leads the entire NFL in total punts (13) and, as a result, total punting yards (574).
Harvin’s biggest issue has been his consistency, and has struggled to string together several solid performances in a row, but it’s crucial for Pittsburgh that he is able to build upon what he did Monday night.
(Featured photo by Ed Thompson / Steelers Now)
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