The Pittsburgh Steelers under Danny Smith have had one of the best special teams units in the league this season. They are on quite a run entering the bye with three blocked kicks and a touchdown return over the past four games. No other team in the league comes close to as many splash plays, and Smith knows that’s an advantage.
Especially when you can put results on both sides of the tape. In one game, the Steelers blocked a punt and then weeks later returned one for a touchdown. Even on the touchdown return, the Steelers came close to a block. That gives opposing teams so much more to worry about.
“Success breeds that. It does it itself. When you’ve got a unit that’s blocking kicks and returning punts, you’re different”, Danny Smith said, via the Steelers’ media relations department. “You’re just really different. And it’s a hard preparation for opposing teams. What are you gonna do? Are you gonna rush us? How are you gonna play us in the punt game?”.
In Week 6, OLB Jeremiah Moon blocked a punt against the Las Vegas Raiders. He put the pressure on the New York Giants on Monday when WR Calvin Austin III returned the ensuing punt for a touchdown. While the Steelers had been threatening to crack Austin all season, this was their first big break.
And that not only creates a deeper buy-in from the Steelers’ own players, it also worries their opponents’ coordinators. Because you can’t max protect a team that can house a punt—and you can’t max cover a team that can block a punt.
“That’s been a factor that we’ve tried to develop in accordance with the block”, Smith said of the Steelers’ ability to threaten the home-run ball on the return. “It speaks for itself when you see it on tape. I as a coach believe that players play better when they know what they’re doing and why they’re doing it. That’s really what I live by in my meetings. I want them to know what they’re doing and why they’re doing it”.
“Now they’re beginning to really understand. They know what they’re doing and why they’re doing it”.
And that’s the other component of the equation, of course, going back to Danny Smith’s first comments. When you have success, you want more. You see the fruits of your labors and you understand that the effort is worth it. “Everybody wants their shot” to try to block a punt now on the Steelers’ special teams units, he said.
How many other teams do you think there are in the NFL with that kind of culture? Most players try to “graduate” off special teams, while Minkah Fitzpatrick is blocking extra points. And the Steelers are showing Fitzpatrick on their special teams tape doing these things. Other special teams coordinators around the league probably think Danny Smith is nuts—and they would be right. But there’s a method to the madness.
