PITTSBURGH — As George Holani watched the football land at the 12-yard line and scoot past Steelers returner Kaleb Johnson and head toward the end zone, he began running even harder, if that was possible.
“I was like, ‘Yeah, that ball is live,'” the Seahawks second-year reserve running back said. “I just chased it down and downed it right there, so it was a touchdown.”
The touchdown, with 12:46 remaining in the game, proved pivotal in the Seahawks’ eventual 31-17 win over the Steelers.
The play began with Jason Myers kicking off, after giving the Seahawks a 17-14 with a 54-yard field goal.
A few seconds later, but with no time coming off the clock, the Seahawks led 24-14.
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“Broke it open in our opponent’s favor,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said, noting that last week they had used a fumbled kickoff to beat the New York Jets 34-32.
It was the first TD of Holani’s career and he may never have an easier or stranger one.
Much of the Steelers crowd seemed not to know what had happened until the announcement was made that Holani had indeed scored a touchdown.
Tomlin called the misplay by Johnson — a rookie third-round pick out of Iowa — “poor judgment by a young player.”
Johnson was quoted by ESPN as saying: “I just made a mistake. Got to stick to it, move on, and just continue to get better every day.”
Asked how often his players are reminded of the kickoff rules — which have changed dramatically in the last two years thanks to the dynamic kickoff — Tomlin said, “Every day of our lives.”
But so do the Seahawks.
“You’ve got to know the rules of the game and play by them better than everybody else,” Seahawks coahc Mike Macdonald said.
Maybe Johnson got the rules confused with college, where a bouncing ball like that would have been a touchback.
It’s not in the NFL.
One change in the rules this year is that a kick into the end zone is returned to the 35.
So Macdonald said Myers was attempting to bounce the ball short and force a return with the hope the Seahawks could tackle the returner before the 35.
The ball has to land between the goal line and the 20-yard line — the so-called “landing zone” — otherwise it is spotted at the 40. It appeared to land at about the 12.
“It’s tougher than it looks because the landing zone, it’s easy to kick it short in the landing zone,” Macdonald said. “So if you’re going to kick it low you’ve got to be on your stuff and he’s on his stuff now.”
Holani said the Seahawks kickoff coverage team lives by one simple rule. “Every ball is live,” he said. “We’ve got to down every ball.”
Once Holani knew he might have a TD in his sights, he knew he needed to make sure he got to the ball before it went through the end zone for a touchback.
“I was trying to just get on it and cradle it and stay in bounds,” he said. “It was close, though. I didn’t want my momentum to just get me out of bounds and it’s not fully recovered.”
The Seahawks actually practice that, too, Macdonald said, adding that Brian Eayrs, the director of football analytics & special situations, talked to the team this week about sideline recoveries and their value.
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“We were just going to pick it up,” Macdonald said. “Any ball on the ground we’re picking it up no matter the situation. Let it play out.”
Witherspoon, Milroe inactive for Seahawks
Devon Witherspoon, listed doubtful heading into the game, went through a lengthy workout on the field about two hours before kickoff.
But he was declared inactive.
“If it was physically possible for him to do it he would have done it,” Macdonald said. “We just couldn’t get there. Probably most prudent decision not to have him go.”
Among the Seahawks’ other inactive players was rookie quarterback Jalen Milroe.
The third-round pick out of Alabama was designated as the emergency third quarterback, so he was in uniform but could have played only if Sam Darnold and Drew Lock were unavailable.
Milroe was active and played one snap in the opener against the 49ers and Macdonald said the Seahawks had more plays in its package for him that they didn’t get to.
But depth needs at other positions — specifically having five active wide receivers with the return of Jake Bobo and Dareke Young instead of four against the 49ers — left no room for him on the 48-player active roster.
The Seahawks’ other inactives were safety Nick Emmanwori, who was ruled out on Friday with a high ankle sprain suffered last Sunday against the 49ers, as well as offensive linemen Mason Richman and tight end Nick Kellerup, outside linebackers Jared Ivey and Connor O’Toole.
The last four are all rookies who were inactive last week.
Notes
The Seahawks scored a touchdown on their opening drive for the first time since Week 14 of the 2023 season — a Lock pass to Metcalf at San Francisco on Dec. 10, 2023.
Center Jalen Sundell had to leave late in the game because of cramps and was replaced by Olu Oluwatimi. That appeared to be the only injury in the game for the Seahawks.
Woolen left briefly in the first quarter after one of his contacts got knocked out — he said by Metcalf. He had to ask for a trainer to run into the locker room and get him another one. He said the one he lost was never found.
Bob Condotta: bcondotta@seattletimes.com. Bob Condotta is a sports reporter at The Seattle Times who primarily covers the Seahawks but also dabbles in other sports. He has worked at The Times since 2002, reporting on University of Washington Husky football and basketball for his first 10 years at the paper before switching to the Seahawks in 2013.