Veteran Pat Freiermuth has arguably become the No. 3 tight end for the Pittsburgh Steelers this season. In the previous two games before Thursday, Freiermuth barely received any playing time. He had just two catches over the prior three contests combined.
But Freiermuth had his breakout moment with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback Thursday. Freiermuth posted five catches for 111 receiving yards against the Cincinnati Bengals. He also scored two touchdowns, both of which came in the second half.
After the game, Rodgers couldn’t say enough good things about Freiermuth when addressing the team’s tight end room to reporters.
“Pat’s a great player, and he hasn’t had a lot of looks. His playing time’s gone down, but his attitude hasn’t,” Rodgers said. “I think there’s a lot to be said for the professionalism that he showed, especially over the last couple weeks.”
Unfortunately for the Steelers, Freiermuth’s effort came in a 33-31 loss. But the tight end’s second score put the team in position to potentially win late in the fourth quarter.
TE Pat Freiermuth Takes Advantage of More Playing Time in Week 7
In the previous two weeks Rodgers referenced, Freiermuth played a career-low 15 offensive snaps against the Minnesota Vikings and 21 snaps on offense versus the Cleveland Browns.
Instead of deploying Freiermuth, the Steelers used 300-pound tight end Darnell Washington and an extra offensive tackle, Calvin Anderson. The strategy helped the Steelers generate more of a ground attack.
But in Week 7, Freiermuth received 37 offensive snaps. That was one shy of a season high.
With the Bengals focused on stopping DK Metcalf in the passing game, things opened up for Freiermuth. He caught a 19-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Then in the fourth, Freiermuth hauled in a 68-yard score.
“I’d actually told him at halftime, I said, ‘If we come back, and I call this play, be ready,’ because I saw something on one of the pictures on the sideline in the first half. So, at halftime, I pulled on the side,” said Rodgers.
“I didn’t think it would be third-and-18 from the 19, but they clouded pretty hard to DK [Metcalf] and Pat did a nice job down the middle.
“It was really the same play on the second touchdown.”
That score put the Steelers ahead 31-30 with 2:21 left. But the Bengals responded with the game-winning field goal in the final seconds.
In three of his first four NFL seasons, Freiermuth had at least 60 catches. He’s also registered two campaigns with more than 650 yards.
Freiermuth has the talent to be one of the top pass-catching tight ends in the league. But to produce, he obviously needs to see more playing time as he did at Cincinnati.
Freiermuth’s Career vs. the Bengals
It’s a very encouraging sign for the Steelers that Freiermuth and Rodgers developed a connection Thursday. However, it might be too early to say the tight end is due for more performances like he had Thursday.
Regardless of Pittsburgh’s quarterback, Freiermuth has always performed best against the Bengals defense. In nine career games versus Cincinnati, Freiermuth has 48 catches, 600 receiving yards and six touchdowns.
The 66.7 receiving yards per game Freiermuth has averaged against the Bengals is his best mark against any team. The New York Jets are the only other club Freiermuth has faced at least three times and is averaging more than 50 yards per game against.
It’s possible Thursday was just another example of Freiermuth taking advantage of a defense he loves playing against. He will have to post another 100-yard game or score a touchdown against a different opponent to prove he’s truly a focal point of the Steelers offense again.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Aaron Rodgers Issues Strong Message on TE Pat Freiermuth After Bengals Loss appeared first on Heavy Sports.