Todd Haley Stole Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy’s Trick, and Now It’s Back in Pittsburgh

Todd Haley watched Aaron Rodgers bait the Indianapolis Colts into jumping offside during the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 34-22 win on Sunday, and it took him straight back to his years calling plays for Antonio Brown. The former Steelers offensive coordinator said the hard count was a staple of his offense in Pittsburgh, and that it paid off far more than most fans realize.

“I copied Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay and Mike McCarthy, and we did it in Pittsburgh all the time,” Haley said Monday on Dave Dameshek’s Football America show. “I mean, AB probably caught 15 touchdowns off of that exact concept.”

The idea is simple. When a quarterback gets a defender to jump before the snap, the offense gets a free play. Haley said Rodgers set up exactly that against the Colts, but the throw didn’t connect.

“We saw him get to the proper play. We saw him creating offsides by the defense, giving them potential shots,” Haley said. “They missed a huge opportunity because, you know, the one time they jumped… And the receiver dropped it. I get it.”

Brown was the perfect target for it in Haley’s six seasons as coordinator. From 2012 to 2017, he caught 648 passes for 8,635 yards and 57 touchdowns, including back-to-back seasons with at least 129 catches in 2014 and 2015. Haley’s “probably 15” is his own estimate, but it gives an idea of how often Ben Roethlisberger and Brown cashed in on a jumpy defense.

Haley also said Sunday’s game was “a thousand times better” for Rodgers than the week before, when a hot-mic exchange with McCarthy during a Thursday night loss to the Cleveland Browns made headlines. Haley called it “very un-Steelerlike” and said, “You can’t call out the coach on national television, and the coach can’t yell back at him, but we’ve all done it.”

Rodgers finished 22 of 31 for 235 yards and three touchdown passes against Indianapolis, and Jaylen Warren piled up 188 yards from scrimmage. Haley liked that Pat Freiermuth was finally getting the ball, too, saying he was “frustrated the entire year last year” that the Steelers didn’t throw to him more.

For a fan base that remembers Brown torching defenses on those free plays, the message from Haley was clear. Give Rodgers time at the line, and he can still make a defense pay before the ball is even snapped.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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