Life as a special teams coach can take funny bounces.
Almost as if it's an onsides kick.
Fortunately for Steelers special teams coordinator Danny Smith, there weren't any funny bounces Sunday during the onsides kick Roman Wilson fielded with 2:08 remaining in a three-point game against the Vikings.
In fact, it was pretty smooth.
"We looked smooth Sunday," Smith said in emphasizing the day.
But they had to do it again. The Steelers called timeout just before the start of the first onsides kick. That meant the Steelers needed another smooth recovery on the second one.
"Here's the deal," Smith said in explaining the timeout. "This (Vikings kicker) had no onside kicks in his career. None. Played three games in the National Football League, in his fourth. This kid was a kicker at Alabama. How many times do they onside kick? OK? I watch all the tape. Everybody, everything. I'll tell you every number of onside kicks everybody has that we play, what his percentages are, where he's going with the ball, what his movement is, everything. We had nothing on this kid. So, it was very smart that Mike Tomlin suggested we take a timeout. It was a great move on the head coach's part. We took a timeout, took a look. We got the exact same kick – because the kid is inexperienced – and we were able to recover. So, there is so much science and so much thinking that goes into these things that people have no clue about. That's our job."
Until the ball takes a crazy bounce. And THAT, Smith emphasized, is what onsides kicks are all about.
"It's amazing, really," Smith said. "We play the game 59 minutes and 30 seconds, or whatever it is. There's a minute left in the game, 30 seconds left in the game, and really we're working on the bounce of the ball. There are some people that don't get that recovery, and it's simply the bounce of the ball. I mean, it really is the bounce of the ball, and it's sad to come to that. But really, it comes down to the bounce of the ball, because if we didn't get that, y'all be ripping me about it. And that just comes with the territory. I get it. But it's really the bounce of the ball. We made the play."
Wilson recovered both times. So, if it were a typical Friday practice day, he could've left the field.
"We work it every Friday," Smith said of the specialty play. "Everybody has to get two onside kicks clean, or they can't leave the field. We work it every Friday since I've been here."
So it was just another day at the office for Roman Wilson and the Steelers.
There were a couple of other special teams oddities in the 24-21 win in Dublin that Smith addressed when he got back home to the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex:
* What happened when the Vikings blocked Chris Boswell's 30-yard field goal attempt?
"It was just a lack of technique by a player," Smith said. "It was a good jump by an opposing player. He had great speed coming off the edge and he did a good job, more power to him. But it was a lack of technique on our part."
* Why did Corliss Waitman punt into the end zone for a 20-yard net with 1:08 remaining?
"I'm not worried about his net punting at that time. I'm worried about winning a game. They've got a returner back there? We're gonna win the game. They got one timeout starting at the 20? Win the game."
