PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It’s a situation that may only happen once every eight years, but it happened on Sunday and was a key to showing the Steelers are getting to where they want to be. Why ‘Thunder’ not only provided points, but a status where the team is.
It was 19 seconds to play in the second quarter and Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was sacked with no timeouts left with the ball at the Saints 30-yard line. Now it’s where practice meets opportunity.
“It's something that we, especially early in training camp spend a lot of time working situations,” said Steelers special teams coach Danny Crossman. “We have periods designed just for specific situations, and obviously that's a big one that comes up.”
The situation is called ‘Thunder’. The offense is running off the field, while the field goal unit is running on. They are prepared for this situation sometimes a few plays before it happens. When the Steelers reach the one-minute mark with one timeout, players get a warning from the coaches.
“I'm going to come back and find you and make sure you understand with one left, as soon as that thing disappears, we're automatically into that alert,” Crossman said.
“It's something that you rep constantly. You talk about constantly. It's always in the reminders and the situation stuff weekly, but rarely does it come up. I think teams do such a good job with holding onto their timeouts anymore, that usually everybody's got one in the pocket to be able to use, so you're not really in that situation.”
But here the Steelers were, needing points in a tight game. Another factor in these quick turnarounds, there is no time for the refs to substitute for the kicking ball. In the NFL in obvious kicking situations, the regular football is exchanged for a kicking ball. One that has been worked on by the kicker and equipment staff and part of the reason field goals are made at record rates from record distances.
No time for any of that, you are running on the field, getting lined up. No time to think about anything, it’s practice instinct. Get lined up and just go immediately knowing a false start is likely to end the half.
If there is one advantage to this situation, the regular football is easier for Christian Kuntz to snap. He made a perfect one to holder Cameron Johnston, who is dealing with a different type of ball, but puts it down perfectly and Chris Boswell split the uprights from 47 yards and gave the Steelers the lead at halftime.
“Really good execution by the players,” Crossman said. “They were dialed in, and it went very, very smoothly.”
“Everybody trains those situations week in and week out, going all the way back to the OTAs,” said Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy. “But to have it in live action, the ‘Thunder’, the rush on field goal for us right at the end of the half, I don't know how many times we practiced that, and our guys, bang, they nailed it.”
“It was perfect.”
And a sign for McCarthy that his team and coaches are doing what they need to do in a stressful situation. Who knows what is on the line the next time that situation occurs?
What coaches said the ‘run-on’ field goal proves about the team
What coaches said the ‘run-on’ field goal proves about the team
