The Pittsburgh Steelers have had their ups and downs with special teams moments all throughout their history. Everyone remembers the period where Shaun Suisham tore his ACL in the Hall of Fame Game, which resulted in chaos ensuing at the kicker position. The team ended up taking a flyer on a guy that turned out to be statistically one of the greatest kickers of all-time, even with a pair of rough seasons. There are plenty of others that some members of Steeler Nation have likely forgotten, although everyone probably wishes they could forget the first one.
Bad Steelers Special Teams Moments
Against the then-Oakland Raiders, and in the middle of a terrible season, Chris Boswell was lining up for a game-tying field goal. What seemed like a pretty normal kick, turned bad when Boswell suffered the same fate that Ryan Switzer had suffered throughout the game. He slipped while trying to kick the football, and the ball hit his own lineman in the back, ending the game in an upset loss.
Before that, against the Baltimore Ravens, Boswell decided to try a sneaky kick that he had successfully executed in college with Rice. He planted his foot in front of the ball like he was going to kick left, then wrapped his right leg around to shoot it the other way. It did not work like it did back at Rice, as the ball didn't even reach a yard. To be fair, onside kicks are borderline impossible in the NFL, so it's not unreasonable to see Boswell try something that's high risk/high reward. The result just went the wrong way.
Ugly Steelers Special Teams Moments
From a bad specials teams play, it turned to gold quickly. After a touchdown against the Ravens, the team lined up for the extra point, as usual. Brad Wing muffed the snap and the kick never got off. Instead, he called out a "fire drill" and was able to complete a pass to Matt Spaeth for the 2-point conversion. This is the exact reason why you need to be prepared for anything, although there's another reason later on.
In 2017, the Chicago Bears blocked a kick before halftime, leading to Marcus Cooper returning it for what should have been a touchdown. He slows way down before getting to the end zone, which allows Vance McDonald to catch up to him and strip the ball. Due to an illegal bat by Jordan Berry, the Bears still got the ball at the one-yard line, then a false start pushed them back a bit, leading to a field goal for Chicago to end the half. Cooper's error and McDonald's hustle helped prevent more points from going on the board for the Steelers.
Good Steelers Special Teams plays
We have all seen different variations of the fake punt, but when was the last time you saw a screen on a fake punt? The Steelers executed it in 2003, again, against the Ravens. Chris Hope was blocking Ed Reed as the personal protector, then let him go and slipped away. He took the screen pass as everyone else was getting blocks downfield, allowing Hope to score on an 81-yard touchdown. It wasn't often that Ed Reed's aggressiveness is used against him, and even more rare that a screen pass that far behind the line of scrimmage resulted in a touchdown. Nobody show Matt Canada this. He'll get the wrong idea.
We can't talk about special teams history and not bring up the greatest special teams story ever. You thought that that kick before halftime for the Indianapolis Colts in 2014 was mundane? Oh no, there's a lot to this. If you didn't watch Pat McAfee or Troy Polamalu's stories, there is a lot to unpack.
The Colts found a flaw in the Steelers' FG Block team and had the perfect chance to exploit in right before halftime. The plan was for McAfee to run through a wide-open hole on the left side of the line. Danny Smith, knowing that he had ran the same FG Block play too many times, chooses this moment to switch it up. Right as McAfee was about to call for the snap, Polamalu moves to the exact spot that McAfee was going to run it in. Without a planned audible, McAfee announces to the team that there is no fake, and it's just a kick. The story has blown up and helped make McAfee famous as a YouTuber and podcast host.
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