The Steelers ran the Tush Push for the first time on Sunday with Connor Heyward as the so-called “quarterback”. It sounds like it won’t be the last time, either. After all, why not? They ran it with success, and it’s not like they haven’t had recent short-yardage issues.
Of course, QB Aaron Rodgers was actually on the field but serving as a football player about as much as I was watching from home. Making the Tush Push a 10-man play puts the Steelers at a disadvantage compared to the Eagles. But if they can run it successfully, with Heyward, there’s no reason to stop doing it.
“I’m extremely comfortable in that”, Heyward said of running the Tush Push against the Vikings, via the Steelers’ website. “We only called it once, but if we were to call it again, I’m ready for that. It’s something that we’re just gonna keep building off, I bet”.
Although Rodgers served as spectator on the play, Connor Heyward said that Rodgers worked with him, instructing him on how to take the snap. After all, that’s all he really needed to do, since Darnell Washington pretty much carried him over the line.
While the NFL annually contemplates banning the play, some teams are working to implement it to their advantage. In May, the Steelers voted in favor of keeping the play, which sure makes a lot of sense in hindsight. And according to Heyward, they have been planning to run it for a while.
“We talked about it in training camp, but we started repping it Week 1 and just started grooming it up and dressing it up and getting everybody on the same page”, he said of the Tush Push. “Then Coach [Mike Tomlin] asked me if I was ready for it and I told him I was”.
The Steelers ran the Tush Push in a 24-14 game on 3rd and 1 inside Vikings’ territory 10 minutes into the fourth quarter. They converted, eventually reaching a goal-to-go situation, but could not capitalize. After some coaxing from his players, Tomlin passed on a field goal opportunity, going for it on 4th and 3. RB Kenneth Gainwell got the carry, but they came up a yard shy.
Thanks to the successful Tush Push from Connor Heyward, the Steelers used up an extra minute of game clock and ultimately put the Vikings on their own 1-yard line. Unfortunately, the disastrous coverage breakdown that led to an 81-yard reception made the end of the game far more interesting than it ought to have been.
But Heyward believes the Steelers can continue to utilize the Tush Push as an effective short-yardage play. “I think it’s just a hard play to stop in general”, he said. “Then with Darnell [Washington] and KG [Kenneth Gainwell], who’s run it in Philly, which helps. they know what it takes, and Isaac Seumalo knows what to do”.
And now, hopefully, so do the Steelers when it comes to the Tush Push. Aaron Rodgers might not want any part in diving into those piles, but Heyward will be happy for the opportunity. And Rodgers will be happy to show him how to execute the play—especially so that he doesn’t have to.
