On a second and 10 from the Indianapolis 30-yard line in a 17-10 game, it appeared that Pittsburgh Steelers star defensive lineman Cameron Heyward had made a game-changing play.
Heyward used a great rush to beat Colts left guard Quenton Nelson and then got his hands on Colts quarterback Joe Flacco, wrapping him up for what should have been a sack.
Instead, Flacco was able to spin out of the sack attempt and throw the football away, living to fight another down. That play ended up being rather huge as the Colts ultimately went down and scored a touchdown on the drive with Flacco hitting tight end Drew Ogletree on a 15-yard touchdown nine plays later. That made it a 24-10 lead for the Colts in what would ultimately be a 27-24 win.
For Heyward, who appeared on the latest episode of his podcast “Not Just Football with Cam Heyward” that published Thursday morning, it’s a play he’s going to have nightmares about for the rest of the week. Heyward questions why the play wasn’t blown dead as the league is making it harder for pass rushers to play, because if he would have slammed down Flacco for the sack, it would have resulted in a penalty.
Though he later had a sack in the fourth quarter to help get the ball back, Heyward believes he should have had one in the third quarter on Flacco.
“I’ll be up every night thinking about this from here on out. But, had ’em wrapped up, thought the play was over, thought they were gonna blow it dead. Especially after you see that there’s been roughing the passer already called in the game,” Heyward said, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “What is turned into a QB hit, I mean was supposed to be a QB sack is turned into a QB hit because he throws that out of bounds. I just think we’re in a game now where we don’t know what we want to do. Either we want to blow a play dead immediately, or if you want me to slam him on his head, that’s fine, too.
“But there’s something to pay with that. It’s just, it’s not like it was a fluid moment where he was throwing out of it. He literally curled up and turned and the play should have been over. If that’s not the case, then you know, more guys are just gonna tee you off in that approach.”
Looking back at the play from the All-22 angles, Heyward certainly has a gripe.
Take a look.
Flacco does see Heyward coming and tucks the ball and curls up. Heyward has him from behind and Flacco is wrapped up, which typically is ruled “in the grasp” and the play is blown dead.
But not this time, not with Land Clark’s crew.
Flacco is able to spin free just a bit and get a throw off out of bounds, resulting in a 3rd and 10 rather than a much longer 3rd and 15-plus. The Colts converted on the 3rd and 10 after Flacco hit wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. for 12 yards.
A few plays later, Minkah Fitzpatrick’s penalty changed the game.
For Heyward, it’s understandable why he thought the play would be blown dead. But now it’s clear he has to play through the whistle in these instances moving forward. As he pointed out, there could be a price to pay with that, whether that’s a penalty or a fine after the fact.
It’s a very tough position to be in, one that the league created due to its protection of quarterbacks. It cost Heyward a sack on Sunday, and played a part in the Steelers not being able to get the requisite stops defensively, and that’s a shame.
Check out the full episode of the “Not Just Football with Cam Heyward” podcast below.
