The Patrick Peterson signing has not worked out nearly as well as the Pittsburgh Steelers had hoped for in 2023.
Peterson has been routinely beaten in the passing game and has been maligned by fans and media who have been very critical of the 33 year old’s poor play.
But Peterson found a new level in Sunday’s game vs the Green Bay Packers. Not only was Peterson better in coverage, but he found a way to contribute multiple times with splash plays to help his team win.
No one would have guessed that Peterson would have been a big reason why the Steelers won, but he very much was.
He started with a blocked extra point attempt after a Packers touchdown.
Green Bay’s Jordan Love completed a 35-yard pass on a 3rd and 16 for a touchdown with the Packers down 10.
That touchdown put 6 on the board for Green Bay, and with an all-but-guaranteed extra point, a field goal ties the game now.
But Peterson is able to time things just right, and was able to block Anders Carlson’s kick.
That missing point ended up being massive for the rest of the game. With the Packers down 4 instead of 3, they were forced to change the way they operated play-calling for the rest of the game.
A field goal now meant next to nothing for them, and even after they executed one to make it 17-16, they were still chasing the lead.
That extra point re-entered the conversation late in the game, with the Packers once again trailing. Green Bay was trailing by 4 once again with the ball late in the game, and despite being in very good field position, that does nothing for the Packers, who need a touchdown to win the game.
If the Packers have that extra point, they can kick the field goal with 5 seconds left, instead of being forced to take an endzone shot that ended up being picked off by Damontae Kazee.
But of course, this situation was created in part by Peterson helping burn off some clock earlier in the fourth quarter.
On a similar drive that saw Love and the Packers offense surging down the field, Love takes a shot to the endzone that was intended for Green Bay’s Christian Watson. Peterson is with him all the way, and deflects the ball away from Watson and up into the air.
Peterson’s deflection ends up in the hands of teammate Keanu Neal, who cradles the ball into his hands and runs it out of the endzone.
This interception, forced by Peterson, was huge for the Steelers. It gave Pittsburgh an opportunity to run out the clock and end the game.
The Steelers were able to get the first of two first downs needed to kill time, as they forced the Packers to use timeouts, and had Calvin Austin not been called for offensive pass interference (which negated a George Pickens 28-yard first down catch), that would have been it.
Instead, unfortunately, the Steelers are forced to punt and give the Packers one last gasp, but they were at least able to kill 2:21 off the clock before giving Green Bay the ball back.
And in the end, that time burned off being vital for the Steelers. Jordan Love started that final drive with a 46-yard completion to put the Packers into Steelers territory.
That play struck some fear into the fans at Acrisure Stadium, and as the Packers moved closer to the endzone, time started to become more and more of an issue for a Green Bay team that was out of timeouts.
The Packers were forced to hurry up and, despite that, they had some good rhythm on that drive. Had they been afforded more time, it’s likely they would have been able to get into the endzone.
But a play by Peterson minutes earlier prevented that opportunity for Green Bay.
It was nice to see Peterson on the positive end of some plays today, something that has been very rare for him this season.
(Featured image by Joe Sargent/Getty Images)
Fifth Avenue Sports 
Leave a comment