Unforgivable special teams error costs Steelers seven points vs. Commanders

Just as quickly as the Pittsburgh Steelers jumped out to a lead in Week 10 against the Commanders, they gave it away with a critical mistake on special teams.

On their second offensive possession of the game, Russell Wilson marched his team down the field and capped off a seven-play, 70-yard drive with a gorgeous touchdown pass to George Pickens, who made a miraculous catch in the endzone.

Pittsburgh had all the momentum on their side early in the first quarter... until they gave it away at a moment's notice.

After holding Washington's offense again, Pittsburgh found themselves with the ball backed up against their own endzone. Instead of booting the ball away, the Steelers caught everyone off guard with with a fake punt on 3rd-and-18.

The Steelers got the exact look they wanted. With no gunner lined up across from defenseman James Pierre, upback Miles Killebrew threw the ball to a wide-open Pierre for what should have been a first down.

Sadly, Pierre let the ball slip right through his fingers.

The error on the fake punt instantly resulted in a touchdown for Washington, who only took three plays and 15 yards to answer back with a touchdown of their own.

Steelers' aggressiveness cost them vs. Commanders

Fans are always harping on Mike Tomlin, one of the league's most conservative head coaches, to be more aggressive. This isn't exactly what we had in mind. Theoretically, this play should have worked. But I guess this is what you get throwing to a reserve cornerback and not practicing these situations often.

Had the Steelers punted the ball away in this situation, they likely would have been able to hold Washington from scoring (or at least keep them to a field goal). Instead, the costly special teams mistake by Pittsburgh cost them seven points and every bit of momentum they carried early in this game.

Steelers were playing a daunting 7-2 opponent on the road, and they can't afford to make errors like this.