No one, and I mean no one, blocks punts like the Pittsburgh Steelers. With three last year, two in 2021, and one this year, this team keeps opposing special teams coordinators up late at night. There’s nothing more demoralizing than a blocked punt, and it provided a big boost in the Steelers’ 32-13 win Sunday over the Las Vegas Raiders. From the moment OLB Jeremiah Moon came free up the middle to reject P AJ Cole’s boot, the rout was on.
So how did it happen? How did Moon get so free? Let’s break it down.
First, let’s just admire the play. Moon is rushing through the A-gap and has a direct line to the punter, Cole booting it off his chest. The Raiders recovered (Pittsburgh still can’t block a punt for a touchdown) but the Steelers took over on the Raiders’ 9.
So what the heck happened? Did Pittsburgh out-scheme and confuse Las Vegas? It doesn’t appear so.
The pre-snap look. Pittsburgh is in an aggressive rush formation. But it’s eight on eight. Eight rushers against eight blockers so Vegas is safe here. They have enough guys here to block it up without issue, just like an offensive line would against a pass rush.
From the protection scheme, the left wing, left tackle, and left guard are responsible for the three Steelers on their left (Pittsburgh’s right). The right wing, right tackle, and right guard have the three Steelers on their right (Pittsburgh’s left). That leaves two blockers and two rushers. The long snapper and the personal protector (PP) and the two interior Steelers’ rushers. All the Raiders have to do is assign one blocker to one interior player and the other to the remaining Steeler and they’re golden. It should look like this (you could also flip the LS/PP assignments).
But the Raiders don’t communicate it well. The snapper and the PP take the same man. The snapper looks right off the snap but then comes left and the PP takes him as well. That leaves Moon as a free rusher up the middle. And that’s a big problem. Having a free rusher anywhere on the punt protect team is bad. Having one with a direct line up in the middle is worst-case scenario. And Moon rushes in free.
See, the PP is supposed to make three calls. He declares how many defenders are in the box. He sets the blocking scheme for himself and the long snapper, who will go left and right. And he yells out “Set” to note the protection team is ready and the snapper can hike the ball at any point (standing so far away, the punter obviously isn’t announcing the snap).
In my coaching clinic notes from literally a decade ago, I have it written out as one example:
“8 Up, 8 Up, Red, Set!”
And in my training camp notes from nine years ago, the summer of 2015, I made a note of the verbiage back then from camp PP Alden Darby.
“8 Up! 8 Up! Green, White, Set!”
Verbiage has changed over time, the Steelers use a “Rip” call if Miles Killebrew wants to send LS Christian Kuntz to the right (as he mentioned here in one of his recent podcasts) but that’s the idea. Identify the rushers, the protection, and get the ball ready to be snapped. Then execute.
And the Raiders dropped the ball here. As they did throughout the game, they were sloppy and had critical errors. This one leads to a block. Perhaps there was some confusion created as Connor Heyward, the player the LS/PP picked up, switched sides pre-snaps, though at the NFL level, this kind of stuff should be child’s play. And either way, one guy go left, one go right, and the Raiders are fine, no matter where Heyward ends up. Both Steelers aren’t going to rush into the same gap.
Nice technique by Moon to dive, extend his arms, and have his palms facing down so if the ball hits his hands, it has a decreased chance of clipping off his fingers and going forward, as would be the case if his hands were facing up/out.
We didn’t get an amazing Danny Smith reaction, but this will do.
But we got a great shot of Miles Killebrew, selfless teammate he is, tackling Moon in the end zone as they celebrated the moment.
Unfortunately, Pittsburgh ended its ensuing drive with a field goal instead of a touchdown. But it made things 15-7 and the Steelers controlled the rest of the game. Punt blocks really swing momentum in your favor. They quiet a road-game crowd (even if Steelers fans were well-represented at Allegiant Stadium). And they give a struggling offense a near-guaranteed three points. Pittsburgh took advantage of Las Vegas’ mistakes. That’s evident here and in so many other parts of the game.
