3 biggest overreactions to Steelers' nail-biting Week 10 win vs. Commanders

The Steelers got arguably their most impressive win of the season against the Commanders this weekend. An upstart team, Washington was easily the biggest task this team had faced their year, as their high-octane offense and stout defense had allowed them to defy all expectations. Considering the gritty way that the Steelers won, we should all be heavily praising this team this week.

There are a lot of things that we should be excited about. This offense is gelling like we haven’t seen since the tail-end of Ben Roethlisberger’s prime years. The defense has been advantageous and has held teams to respectable yard outputs and scores. This is a tough team right now, and that hasn’t been the case for Pittsburgh for most of the previous years.

There are still some overreactions though that aren’t worth your time. Celebrate the win, yes, but please ignore these three blatant overreactions floating around following the impressive win against the Commanders.

Steelers are forgiven for the fake punt

No, they certainly are not. The Steelers' decision to call a fake punt deep in their own territory was head-scratching, and this team is extremely lucky it didn’t cost them the game. I don’t care if the look was there, and even if James Pierre had caught the pass, the play call was far too risky that early in the game.

The short field allowed the Commanders to quickly score and take back all of the momentum that the Steelers had gained early in the game. That momentum shift was hard to overcome until later in the game when Pittsburgh made their comeback. Choices like that lose you games, and even though we got the win, the decision needs to be criticized.

READ MORE: 4 winners (and 3 losers) from Steelers' slim Week 10 win vs. Commanders

Mike Williams has arrived for the Steelers

Mike Williams didn’t see a lot of snaps in his first game with the Steelers, but he made the most of his nine times on the field. Mainly. He found some space deep and secured the game-winning touchdown pass that allowed the comeback to be completed. I’m not sure what the cornerback was thinking, but Williams showed a little burst and good control to come down with the pass.

All of that said, the intention clearly wasn’t for Willaims to play much as he got adjusted to a new scheme. He also benefited from what looked like just bad coverage. I’m not saying that he won’t continue to develop a role on offense, and I hope that he does, but he needs to show a bit more and over an entire game before I can say that he was worth the addition.

Steelers have a Joey Porter Jr. problem

On the flip side of things, Joey Porter had a lackluster game against the Commanders. Terry McLaurin got the best of him on a few plays en route to a big game. The bigger issue was the penalties, as he was once again heavily flagged which cost the defense. It isn’t the first time he has struggled with that, and it seems like when he has a few miscues in coverage early he resorts to getting grabby to compensate late.

That all said, Porter is still having a really good second season. More often than not he has had lockdown coverage on an opposing receiver and has played clean. The potential is still there, and these are likely growing pains for a young cornerback.

I will say this: if those issues remain, that is what separates a good player from a great one, and they will need to be resolved sooner rather than later, but I’m willing to give him the time to prove he can overcome those issues.