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Failure To Implement Tush Push Would Be ‘Lost Opportunity’ For Steelers, Says Beat Writer

Steelers tush push

This offseason felt like the NFL’s best opportunity to strike down the controversial tush push play, but the vote fell just short of the two-thirds needed to ban it. With a green light on the play for the foreseeable future, it seems like a no-brainer that the Pittsburgh Steelers—and virtually every other team in the league—should implement it.

“If the Steelers don’t work on the tush push this summer in training camp, it’s a lost opportunity for easy yards,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo wrote on X. “If Aaron Rodgers is the QB he doesn’t have to run the play. It can be a TE, WR or RB who can take a snap from center. Or Will Howard.”

Short-yardage situations are one area where the Steelers have struggled mightily in recent years on offense. In 2024, the Steelers ran 59 plays on either third or fourth down with two or less yards to go. They converted only 34 of those opportunities for the fourth-worst mark in the league at just 57.6 percent. That is 12.1 percent behind the Philadelphia Eagles and their infamous tush push play and a whopping 22.8 percent behind the Baltimore Ravens with the best conversion rating.

Mike Tomlin constantly preaches about winning in situational football on weighty downs. If the Steelers want to get better, they might need to think outside the box and adopt what other teams are doing.

They had an especially great opportunity to do that last year with Justin Fields for a package of plays. While they ran out of the tush push formation a few times, it wasn’t used often enough to matter.

As Fittipaldo mentioned, it wouldn’t be ideal to have 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers trying to operate the tush push, but other teams have experimented with using tight ends or other players. Could the Steelers use Jaylen Warren, Kaleb Johnson, Kenneth Gainwell, or Pat Freiermuth? Heck, even Will Howard could run it at 6042, 236 pounds if he ends up with a helmet on game days at some point in the season.

Imagine the difference it would have made had the Steelers converted an additional seven or eight of those short-yardage situations. That can be the difference between a punt and a field goal. Or a field goal and a touchdown. It can also have a huge impact on how many opportunities an opponent is given to score with extra time on the clock from a three-and-out drive.

Like it or not, the tush push is here to stay until there are tangible examples of injuries caused by the play. The Steelers need to take advantage of that.

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