A day after their season-opening win at Buffalo, the talk of the Steelers’ offices yesterday was of the special teams making a so-called “splash play” in the fourth quarter – a blocked punt by safety Miles Killebrew that was scooped up by linebacker Ulysses Gilbert and returned for a nine-yard touchdown. That play, coming on the next series after a touchdown catch by Diontae Johnson, gave the Steelers a ten-point lead.
Killebrew said yesterday that the special teams players work together to make plays like that happen.
Gilbert, who scored his first NFL touchdown on the play, said special teams coach Danny Smith designs plays that he believes can exploit a weakness on their opponent’s special teams.
Coach Mike Tomlin will hold his weekly news conference today with an injury update and a preliminary report on this week’s game against the Raiders, who upset the Ravens last night, 33-27 in overtime after trailing in the game, 14-0.
