The Pittsburgh Steelers had a big win in Week 13 of the 2024 NFL season, defeating the Cincinnati Bengals with a standout performance from Russell Wilson and the offense.
While Wilson’s game was a key story, a more shocking moment came from a brutal hit on Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
The Jaguars were playing the Houston Texans when linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair of the Texans made a dangerous hit on Lawrence as he slid. This led to a fight between the two teams, and Lawrence left the game. He was later placed on injured reserve.
Lawrence is expected to be out for the rest of the season due to the hit, and Al-Shaair was given a three-game suspension by the league. The suspension was likely a result of the hit itself and Al-Shaair’s actions afterward, including fighting multiple Jaguars players on the field.
While the hit was clearly dirty and could have been avoided, it sparked a debate. Some believe quarterbacks are sliding too late or trying to trick defenders by pretending to slide or go out of bounds. The slide is meant to protect quarterbacks, but some are using it to their advantage. In this case, the hit was dirty, but it raises the question of quarterbacks timing their slides to deceive defenders.
Kenny Pickett, the Steelers’ first-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, was known for his time at Pittsburgh, where he became famous for using a fake slide during the ACC championship game, resulting in a 58-yard touchdown.
On “Pardon My Take” Friday, former quarterback Robert Griffin III talked about the controversy surrounding the quarterback slide.
“My belief is yes, sliding is a mechanism to protect the quarterback. You don’t take sliding out of the game,” Griffin said. “But I can also understand from a defensive side, why they get mad when Patrick Mahomes does a fake slide, or when Kenny Pickett had the infamous fake slide in college that I was on the call for.
I thought it was awesome. But from a defense’s perspective, they’re saying, ‘Well I’m not supposed to hit the guy.’ I don’t think there’s a perfect solution to it.”
The quarterback slide puts defenders in a tough spot. If they hit the quarterback while he’s sliding, they’ll get a penalty, but if they don’t hit him, the quarterback could gain extra yards or make a big play, like Pickett did with his fake slide in college.
This situation makes things harder for defenders. With the NFL’s rules already heavily protecting quarterbacks, there might need to be a solution for plays where a quarterback tries to give himself up.
One possible solution could be penalizing quarterbacks who fake slides or make moves like Mahomes pretending to go out of bounds, only to stay in bounds to gain extra yardage.
Pickett’s time with the Steelers didn’t last long after he was drafted in 2022. He was the starting quarterback for nearly two seasons but struggled and couldn’t quite find his rhythm.
The Steelers traded Pickett in the 2024 offseason after signing Wilson, which has turned out to be the right choice. Wilson has been one of the league’s top quarterbacks since taking over as the starter, and it seems like he has found a future with the Steelers.
