Cory Trice makes game-changing play with 1st career interception in Steelers' victory against Broncos

DENVER — When the Pittsburgh Steelers headed on the road last season, rookie cornerback Cory Trice Jr. remained at home rehabilitating an ACL tear that he sustained early in training camp.

Healthy and filling a role as the team’s top backup outside cornerback in his second NFL season, Trice has accompanied the Steelers on trips for each of the first two games this season.

And when he returned to Pittsburgh on Sunday night, he had a special souvenir tucked in his bag — the ball he kept after recording his first NFL interception.

“It’s going home,” Trice said after the Steelers’ 13-6 victory against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field. “I’m going to hang that up.”

Subbing for starting corner Donte Jackson, who left the game two plays earlier with a minor injury, Trice intercepted Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix in the end zone. The pick came with 6 minutes, 10 seconds left in the third quarter and preserved the Steelers’ 10-0 lead.

Trice’s interception was the first turnover of the game for the Steelers defense and led to Chris Boswell’s 53-yard field goal that provided a 13-point advantage.

“How about Cory Trice,” outside linebacker T.J. Watt said. “All that he’s been able to overcome and all the work he puts in. To see him get that play, that interception, was huge.”

A seventh-round draft pick in 2023, Trice’s rookie season ended before it started when he tore his ACL on the first day the Steelers practiced in pads in training camp. He spent the entire season on injured reserve and didn’t get clearance to fully participate in practice until August.

Not only did Trice earn a spot on the 53-man roster, he is playing a role in the secondary. At 6-foot-3, 206 pounds, Trice has the height to be matched up against some of the NFL’s tallest wide receivers. Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin has used Trice’s size to fill a role as a pseudo dime linebacker in certain subpackages.

Trice, though, found himself pressed into duty on the outside when Jackson exited following a 49-yard completion on a trick play that gave the Broncos a first down at the Steelers 7. A run on first down gained a yard.

That’s when Nix looked for 6-4 receiver Courtland Sutton in the back of the end zone. Trice stepped in front of the pass and cradled the ball when he landed.

“I was able to read the quarterback and see where he was going,” Trice said. “I looked over and was like, ‘Oh, that’s coming over (here).’ He really threw it. It was crazy.”

Defensive tackle Cameron Heyward was in Nix’s face when the quarterback unleashed the pass, but he didn’t want any credit for the play that kept the Broncos from cutting into the Steelers’ 10-point lead.

“I got pressure on him, but I thought Cory just stepped up in the moment,” he said. “What a heck of a way for a guy who was hurt all last year to be ready for that moment and make a big play for us and keep seven off the board.”

It was the closest the Broncos would get to the end zone. They got inside the red zone on two occasions in the fourth quarter but could only muster a pair of Will Lutz field goals.

Broncos coach Sean Payton didn’t lay all of the blame on Nix for throwing to the wide-open Trice.

“We had a mistake in the route, too,” Payton said. “So, there are some dirty hands on that play.”

After the Steelers dominated the first half by limiting the Broncos to three first downs and 62 yards, they were tested in the second. Nix had 207 of his 246 passing yards after intermission and completed 20 of 35 attempts overall.

The Steelers were unable to sack Nix after bringing him down twice in the first half. But they made the plays when needed as evidenced by Trice’s interception and Damontae Kazee’s pick inside Steelers territory on the final play of the game.

The interceptions gave the Steelers five takeaways through two games. Four have been interceptions.

“We were all dying out there trying to make a play,” Trice said. “Every time we were out there, everybody was trying to make one. It’s fun out there, especially with all the rush and coverage and the way it works together.”