The Pittsburgh Steelers secured victory in the most unorthodox of ways against the Washington Commanders last Sunday. After 59 minutes of back-and-forth momentum, the game was decided by a 4th-and-1 hard count that forced rookie DL Johnny Newton offsides. Newton told reporters after the game that he jumped because of a “tell” in C Zach Frazier’s game that was reliably working for him throughout the day.
Frazier was asked about those comments this morning on 102.5 WDVE’s Morning Show with Randy Baumann.
“No I wasn’t [aware],” Frazier said of the comments Newton made. “I mean I was trying to act like I was about to snap the ball. So I mean I tried to make it look like I was gonna snap it.
“So I guess I did the right thing.”
Frazier hadn’t heard Newton’s comments, and it didn’t sound like he was aware of this supposed tell, but that didn’t stop him from instinctively going through the motions to sell that he was about to snap the ball.
Newton didn’t make it clear what exactly that “tell” was. Usually for a center that will be a head bob or picking up on something in the silent count with the guard next to them. In this case, I don’t really see any movement from Frazier, who looks as still as a statue. Maybe he slightly leaned into his plant arm on the football, but that is grasping at straws.
It is hard to say what Newton claimed he was seeing. It is entirely possible he just felt some pressure and threw out an excuse to help cover his butt. Just look at the reaction from defensive linemen all around the NFL media landscape as they talk about that situation. That is the golden rule for defensive linemen in those situations. Whatever you do, don’t jump offsides.
“That was a lot of fun. I mean if you watch that play and you see everyone celebrate, that’s the kind of stuff you can’t, I mean, it’s hard to put words on it,” Frazier said of the pure elation by all 11 Steelers on the field following the offsides penalty. “You’d bottle that stuff up and sell it if you could.”
If there was a tell, now Zach Frazier has the opportunity to go back and look at his tape to figure out what exactly it is, which can only make him better.
