Plays of the Year: Big Ben pump fakes Browns secondary into Washington’s wide-open TD

Steel City Underground presents “Plays of the Year” featuring the top runs, catches, hits and everything else in-between from the Pittsburgh Steelers 2020 season.

The Pittsburgh Steelers were finding all kinds of ways to manhandle the Cleveland Browns during their first of two meetings in 2020. For the second-straight week the Steelers would host a game at Heinz Field, with fans – and for the second-straight week, the offense, and defense, would look explosive against their opponents.

On both sides of the ball, the Steelers were making big plays. Just four plays after Cameron Sutton jumped a Baker Mayfield-to-Rashard Higgins pass for the second Pittsburgh interception of the game (the first made by Minkah Fitzpatrick), the man who ‘owns’ the Browns hit the hard pump fake to give yet another of his many talented receivers a perfect pass for a touchdown.

Ben Roethlisberger has long been touted for having one of the most effective pump fakes in the NFL. With nearly six minutes left in the first half, Roethlisberger used the hard pump to completely oversell a play while allowing James Washington to make a double move against the Browns secondary. Denzel Ward completely bit, giving Washington an easy lane away from Kevin Johnson for the touchdown that gave the Steelers a 24-0 lead.

This pump fake led to the lone touchdown pass from Roethlisberger in the 38-7 win over the Browns. Washington finished the day with four receptions for 68 yards and the score as the Steelers improved their flawless record to 5-0.