Comeback for Steelers deflated by late pass breakup at goal line

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Needing a touchdown to pull out an improbable victory at MetLife Stadium, Devlin Hodges winged a pass 44 yards toward the end zone with 51 seconds remaining Sunday.

James Washington jumped high in the air near the goal line and got both hands on the ball.

Trouble was, safety Marcus Maye needed just one to deftly knock it away.

Using his left hand to dislodge the ball, Maye’s pass breakup on a third-down heave helped preserve the New York Jets’ 16-10 victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“It was probably one of my top plays, for sure,” said Maye, a three-year veteran. “Just the situation of the game.”

Out of timeouts, the Steelers were trying to take their first lead when they got the ball back at their 40 with 1:27 remaining. Two completions combined for 13 yards, putting the ball at the Jets 47.

A pass on first down fell incomplete, and a toss to Jaylen Samuels gained 3 yards. That set up third-and-7. Washington lined up in the slot and headed down the middle when the ball was snapped.

With his back to the end zone, Washington leaped for the pass. Maye did, too.

“I feel like we both caught it at the same time,” Washington said. “As we were falling, I tried to rotate away from him. His hand just got in there and jarred it out.”

In his second NFL season, Washington has shown a knack for making such combat catches by wrestling the ball away from safeties and cornerbacks.

“I was trying to give him a jump ball,” Hodges said. “He’s been good all year with those.”

Instead, Maye won the matchup. When Hodges’ fourth-down pass went through JuJu Smith-Schuster’s hands, the Jets had secured their sixth victory.

“We knew it was going to come down to one of us in the secondary,” Maye said. “We knew that had to take a shot to get into scoring range. We were prepared for the moment. We were ready for it.”

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