Steel City Underground will pick a play of the game from each side of the ball each week of the Steelers 2020 season. Stay tuned as we hand-select the very best from the black and gold!

The Pittsburgh Steelers got off to a slow start in their 2020 NFL regular season opener against the New York Giants on Monday Night Football but were able to utilize a quick, well-designed defense to give Ben Roethlisberger time to shake off the rust, test his arm, and lead the offense.

Traditionally, the Steelers start slow. That didn’t change in MetLife Stadium where the audio technician(s) piped boos over the public address system when the Steelers were on the field. Pittsburgh did enter the locker room at the half with the lead, however.

It was in the third quarter that a veteran Steelers player literally stole the wind from the sails of a 87-yard, 19 play offensive drive led by Giants quarterback Daniel Jones, however. Pittsburgh’s up-tempo pressure on the Giants’ offensive line had them gassed a bit as New York moved down the field, slowly and methodically. Jones had his team in the red zone, ready to strike, when pressure got the best of him.

Jones took the snap and rolled left, immediately met by Bud Dupree who played with freight train-like aggressiveness all night. Sensing the sack, Jones, from the four yard line, lofted a desperation lame duck forward pass only to have it land in the hands of Steelers defensive end Cameron “Cam” Heyward.

“I saw (Dupree) laying him down,” Heyward said following the game. ” I tried to make a good play and float to the ball.”

Upon review, Dupree did, in fact, get at least a finger on the ball before Heyward make a less-than-beautiful pick in the end zone. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, however, because the interception kept the Giants off the scoreboard and allowed the Steelers to ultimately win the game.

“We got to be an opportunistic defense,” Heyward admitted. ” We got sacks by guys who don’t usually get sacks and interceptions by guys who don’t usually get interceptions.”

The interception was Heyward’s first career pick since entering the NFL in 2011 despite his 30 pass defenses heading into the game.

Roethlisberger marched the Steelers offense 62 yards down the field following Heyward’s heads-up play that culminated in a successful Chris Boswell field goal to put Pittsburgh up, 19-10.