The Steelers nearly hit a huge explosive-play touchdown with Kenneth Gainwell off a “counterpunch” of the Tush Push. According to Calvin Austin III, that is a play that they just installed, likely following league trends. The Ravens, of course, recently scored a game-winning touchdown off a similar play a week earlier. Other teams are doing it as well as we await the counterpunch to the counterpunch.
“We actually did just put that in this week”, Austin said of the Tush Push handoff to Gainwell, speaking with Gerry Dulac on 102.5 WDVE. “With the Tush Push and how much success it has been getting, everybody’s just selling out for the middle. Any time a team has used some type of speed sweep or roll-out play off of it, it’s worked, like, 100 percent of the time”.
The Steelers now add to that Tush Push tally, Gainwell picking up 55 yards off of it and nearly scoring. Earlier in the game, they actually ran a Tush Push play that failed. Some wondered if that play was meant to be the one they eventually ran. Later on, they used a traditional quarterback sneak to convert short-yardage opportunities. That was with Mason Rudolph, though, and is not something Aaron Rodgers is likely to do.
Steelers OC Arthur Smith alerted us to the possibility of the “counterpunch”, as he called it, to the Tush Push. When you watch games, you do see defenses completely selling out—and having a little more success. Now with teams running counter plays, that will only make it even more effective. They will have to prepare for either opportunity, making both harder to stop.
“The edges are wide open. When we had that in, we knew that whenever we used it, it was gonna hit”, Austin said of the newly-installed Tush Push variable that they eventually ran against the Bears. “That was the perfect time to use it”.
And he credited Connor Heyward for its success, who functions as the Steelers’ Tush Push “quarterback”. Ordinarily, he is the one taking the snap and moving forward with the football. That one time, he handed it off to Gainwell, who bounced around the edge for the huge play.
The question is, of course, what comes next, both for Pittsburgh and for the league. Every defensive coordinator in the league is probably showing his players a cut-up of these plays, and the Steelers’ Tush Push counterpunch will be a part of it.
But of course, the more you do the same thing, the easier it is for others to prepare for it. The Steelers did a nice job of offering variety, with a now “traditional” Tush Push, a counter, and quarterback sneaks. The latter, however, was presumably only in their arsenal due to Rodgers’ status. With Rodgers back, he can resume his role as cheerleader on those plays.
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