PITTSBURGH -- Facing third-and-1 deep in Steelers territory Monday night, Pittsburgh tight end/fullback Connor Heyward lined up under center Zach Frazier. As Heyward called for the ball and corralled the snap, 300-pound tight end Darnell Washington and 200-pound running back Kenneth Gainwell shoved him forward. Officials signaled the ball was still short of the line to gain.
So, the Steelers' offense lined up and did it again.
This time, Heyward plunged forward 2 yards as quarterback Aaron Rodgers stood several yards behind the play with one hand in his handwarmer and the other signaling a first down. The Steelers went back to that play two more times throughout the 28-15 win against the Miami Dolphins, including at the goal line for a Heyward touchdown.
Before using the tush push -- a play offensive coordinator Arthur Smith named "Spartan" as a nod to Heyward's alma mater (Michigan State) -- four times Monday night, the Steelers had run it a maximum of twice in the same game over the past four seasons, according to ESPN Research.
The Steelers' willingness to run the tush push shows increased confidence in their short-yardage unit and is an important tool at their disposal -- especially as they face a Detroit Lions team Sunday (4:25 p.m. ET, CBS) that's unafraid to take risks on offense.
Pittsburgh incorporates Connor Heyward into its short-yardage tush push package.
"It's not a play that anybody really likes, I don't think, across the league," Rodgers said. "There's been some talk about trying to get it out of the league. I think there's a way to maybe find a happy medium with some of the splits and stuff. But the way the rules are now, it's been a play that we've had success with. So, Mike [Tomlin] likes it, Arthur likes it, and obviously Connor likes it, too."
Most teams run the tush push -- or Pittsburgh Plunge or Steel City Shove -- with the quarterback under center, plunging forward with a boost from his teammates. But when it started to become clear that the Steelers were signing the then-41-year-old Rodgers, Smith approached Heyward to lead the job, though Smith has cycled through other candidates, too.
"[Smith] told me in the offseason if we get an older quarterback or a guy that we don't want taking those hits, I was going to be doing it," Heyward said. "He knew that I had a diverse background playing quarterback in high school, doing some things at Michigan State."
Once the season arrived, Heyward started taking snaps from Frazier after practice and was repeating cadences out loud in the car.
"I want to hear myself but also make sure I'm saying the things correctly because that play is extremely crucial," Heyward said. "It can be as simple as a quarterback exchange, CQ exchange and mess up the whole play. It's a play that I take seriously."
Though Heyward (6-foot, 230 pounds) gets a physical boost from Washington backing him, he gets a mental boost from Gainwell, who had a front-row seat to the genesis of the tush push during four seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles from 2021 to 2024.
"Darnell, he's 300 pounds, 6-foot-7, just his weight behind me pushing me on that play, it's big-time," Heyward said. "And then also you have KG, who's done this in Philly, and he sometimes is back there coaching me up and telling me what he sees from each play and that play specifically.
"I take their feedback because there's times where they're like, 'Hey, I'm going to push you more this way, so get the ball, have it seated. You don't want the ball to fumble.' Having those two behind me makes me have even more confidence in this play."
The Steelers have run the tush push 11 times this season, which is the third most in the NFL behind the Eagles and Buffalo Bills. From 2022 to 2024, Pittsburgh ran the play 12 total times, tied for the fifth most in the league during that span. The Steelers have picked up nine first downs on those 11 plays, giving them the third-best success rate (82%) among the seven teams with at least five tush push plays this season.
Of the Steelers' 11 tush push plays, 10 of them have been run with a tight end carrying the ball. The exception came in Chicago, where the Steelers ran "Yazoo," a tush push play named for Gainwell's Mississippi hometown. Heyward took the snap and quickly handed the ball off to the running back, who ran an end around to the right side and gained 55 yards. The Steelers scored a 1-yard touchdown a play later.
"I feel like that builds confidence with us just being aggressive, calling it on fourth-and-1 or whatever it may be," Washington said.
Pittsburgh is one of eight teams to have snapped the ball to a tight end in its version of the tush push. The Steelers, though, add a unique wrinkle by having Rodgers stand stoically behind the play, creating a pretty funny visual as the quarterback watches on from outside the action.
"He's goofy," wide receiver DK Metcalf said of Rodgers. "I'm just looking for the TV copy, just looking for him to do something crazy. He's always back there being a character."
Rodgers is fond of his role and laughed at the suggestion that maybe he should line up wide or come off the field for a player who might be more involved in the play.
Jeff Saturday and Domonique Foxworth break down the Steelers' win against the Dolphins on Monday night.
"You never know," he said with a grin. "I will say that it's not a 10-on-11 play. I've seen that where, 'Oh, it's 10-on-11, what's the quarterback doing back there, just standing with his hands on his hips?'
"There's a lot of guys who aren't involved in that play, usually a deep safety, and the guys on the edges have absolutely zero impact on the play. So, as long as we're going to keep sneaking it, I'm going to keep standing back there and hopefully signaling first down."
Though Gainwell didn't score on his tush push trick play, Heyward found the end zone Monday with a tush push on third-and-goal from the Miami 1-yard line.
"What's cool to see is when a guy like Connor scores and how fired up the other guys are, Darnell and Kenny," Smith said.
Instead of celebrating his first rushing touchdown of the 2025 season, Heyward handed the ball to left tackle Dylan Cook, a former practice squad member making his first NFL start. Cook spiked the ball in the end zone.
"I've always wanted a lineman to spike a ball on those types of plays," Heyward said. "And I found Dylan. He told me I was a real one. I'll find another lineman next time."