Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin pulled Calvin Austin III aside before the undersized wide receiver took the field for a punt return in the third quarter of a somewhat lifeless game against the New York Giants. The Steelers were scuffling. The offense was moving the ball, just not into the end zone.
Tomlin knew the 5-foot-9, 162-pound Austin had come close to breaking a big return several times this season. And the NFL's longest-tenured head coach had a feeling. “I thought it was his time,” Tomlin said.
"And he thought it was his time. And he delivered.” Not once, but twice.
Austin — who texted his friends over the weekend that he was due to break a big one — sprinted across the field and raced 73 yards for a touchdown after Tomlin's little pep talk. He later added a 29-yard, over-the-shoulder scoring grab to give the Steelers the boost they needed to beat the Giants 26-18 on Monday night. Pittsburgh (6-2) won its 22nd straight home game under the Monday night lights behind Austin's playmaking and a pair of late turnovers.
T.J. Watt strip-sacked Daniel Jones with less than three minutes to go to end one New York drive, and rookie cornerback Beanie Bishop picked Jones off with 42 seconds to play to end it.
“It wasn’t as fluid as we’d like but that’s football,” Tomlin said. “We’ve got to guard against (caring about) style points.” Good thing, because style points were in short supply on a night when three apparent touchdowns — two by Pittsburgh,.