Run it until they prove they can stop it!
You’ve probably heard a number of youth and high school football coaches push that mindset over the years when it comes to offenses and running the same plays over and over again. You don’t typically see that in the college or NFL level, though.
But Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith borrowed that mindset just a bit, particularly in and around the red zone against the New York Jets on Sunday.
It led to two touchdowns from Aaron Rodgers to wide receivers Ben Skowronek and Calvin Austin III.
“Yeah, Ben was wide open, so that was nice. Good play call by Arthur [Smith],” Rodgers said of the touchdowns, according to video via the Steelers YouTube page. “We actually ran it that played twice, had two touchdowns. One to Ben, one to Calvin [Austin].
“So, I thought Arthur called a really good game.”
Let’s take a look.
The Steelers open in 11 personnel here with one running back and one tight end in Jaylen Warren and Darnell Washington A three-wide receiver set with DK Metcalf and Skowronek split left, and Austin split right.
A quick motion inside for Austin pre-snap gets him aligned right between Washington and right tackle Troy Fautanu, giving him a quick, clean release between the two into the second level. He’s running a flag route here, drawing the safety over the top, while Washington has a delayed release into the flat and draws a defender down to him.
On the backside, Skowronek is running a crossing route into Rodgers’ field of vision after the play-action fake, while Metcalf runs a post route, drawing the attention of not only cornerback Sauce Gardner, but also the safety over the top on his side of the field.
That leaves Skowronek wide open for the walk-in score from 22 yards out.
Great design, good concept from Arthur Smith here to scheme this up just outside of the red zone.
It worked so well that the Steelers came back to it inside the red zone shortly after Skowronek recovered a fumble on a kickoff return, setting up the Steelers in great field position.
Same play, same result. Wide-open touchdown.
Play-action fake to Warren from under center, Austin releases into the second level from between Washington and Fautanu. Washington runs a delayed release into the flat drawing a defender. Skowronek runs the crosser, and this time has a defender on him, while Metcalf runs the backside post.
Austin is the key here, though. He wins quickly on his route, and Rodgers is able to get his head around very quickly to take a look and fire a strike on the move of the score.
Two plays from around the same distance, two wide open touchdowns. Great calls by Arthur Smith on good concepts, and they have the quarterback in place to execute it at a high level. Two touchdowns.
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