Usually, when a special teams coordinator is shaking his fist after a kickoff goes out of bounds, it’s out of anger. Danny Smith’s reaction Sunday afternoon, however, was one of pure joy.
After a personal foul on the Indianapolis Colts on a Pittsburgh Steelers extra point, the Steelers accepted the penalty on the kickoff. The ball was placed at midfield. In past years, that might elicit a high, hanging kick to allow the coverage team plenty of time to get downfield. But new NFL kickoff rules eliminated the advantage of hangtime considering the coverage team can’t move until the ball hits the ground or is fielded.
A normal kickoff isn’t helpful either. A return could still come out to the 30- or 35-yard line, mitigating the benefit of kicking from midfield. A touchback, unless perfectly squibbed into the landing zone, is equally unhelpful.
Danny Smith chose Door No. 3. An intentional kick out of bounds. Here’s the play and stick around for Smith’s reaction.
Smith’s body language had everyone confused. Even CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore wasn’t fully understanding of the rules, initially commenting the ball was supposed to be set at the 20, not 25, before following up with a brief apology and correction.
Under normal circumstances, a kick out of bounds is brought back out to the 40-yard line. But the NFL rules simply say a kick out of bounds is placed 25 yards from where the kick occurs. When that’s at the normal 35-yard line, that makes it the opposing 40. When it’s at midfield, it makes it the 25.
Without the risk of a return, Pittsburgh backed Indianapolis up into what’s considered “deep” in an NFL world where most teams start at or around their own 35-yard line. Those 10 yards are huge, especially late in a game where every blade of grass, and every second it takes to earn them, matters.
Pittsburgh’s not the first team to use this trick. In 2024, the Houston Texans used the same tactic against the Green Bay Packers. It resulted in a Packers punt.
As the Texans explained at the time, the true intent of the play may have been to try and kick it through the landing zone and truly back the Colts up. But the kick could be aggressive and risk going out of bounds with little downside. And by the looks of it, Chris Boswell was fine with booting it well through the sidelines.
The Steelers’ only downside was still allowing points to the Colts. But they only gave up a field goal, not a touchdown, and took 3:31 off the clock.
Coaches get paid to know the rules. But there have been many instances of teams making gaffes, especially for these kickoff rules that are only two years old. There are oddball situations like this one that haven’t occurred to every team. How many teams have had coaches flub kicking through the end zone before the two-minute warning instead of forcing the return to negate that advantage? It’s happened – a lot.
Pittsburgh played a complete game. The offense wasn’t at its best but 27 points in a “down” game is hard to be mad at. The defense played its best game of the season. Special teams complemented it with an all-around showing. Boswell’s field goals, Corliss Waitman’s punts, great kick coverage when the ball was kept in play, and a fumble recovery for the first of six Steelers takeaways on the afternoon.
Smith and his gum chewing got plenty of TV love today. For good reason.
The Steelers don’t always outcoach the opposition. Sunday, they bested the Colts from the sideline and between those white lines.