Seahawks’ short-yardage threat: AJ Barner and the ‘Barnyard’

Renton, Wash. – One of the more unstoppable plays for the Super Bowl-bound Seattle Seahawks It has its roots in one of the most disappointing moments of their 2024 season.

This was in overtime of their Week 9 home loss to their NFC West-rival Los Angeles Rams.

On the first possession of the extra period, Seattle was eyeing a sudden-death touchdown. The Seahawks needed less than a yard from the Rams’ 16 to take off the chains, but Kenneth Walker III Was stuffed on third-and-1 and again on fourth-and-1. Penetration kills on both plays, even as then-offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb fielded a heavy package on the second attempt. After a turnover on downs, the Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford The game ended with a four-play touchdown drive.

“We’ve got to be able to get half a yard on two shots,” coach Mike McDonald. said after that defeat. “Great football teams convert third-and-fourth and short, and right now we’re not doing that.”

The Seahawks finished their first season under McDonald with a 10–7 record, but missed a playoff berth, losing a tiebreaker to Los Angeles for the division title.

Fast forward to Week 16 of this season, when the Seahawks hosted the Rams with first place in the division and control of the NFC’s No. 1 seed on the line. This time, Clint Kubiak was calling the plays.

And this time, when the Seahawks faced third-and-1 in the third quarter, Seattle’s offensive coordinator turned to his new short-yardage weapon: the tush push. Or as fans have dubbed it, “The Barnyard.”

tight end aj barner Got a straight hit and pushed away and ran back Zach Charbonnet and fullback Robbie OuztsRaised down first. Walker scored a 55-yard touchdown run on the next play, giving the Seahawks a 14–13 lead, before going on to seal the victory. 38-37 in overtime.

Barner has been one of the less publicized factors in Seattle’s offensive success, adding seven touchdowns during a breakout second year. One of those scores came via the “Barnyard”, which has produced an additional 13 first downs with only one failed attempt. The playmaking that Barner has helped execute with near-perfection has transformed low-yardage situations for the Seahawks from a struggle in 2024 to a strength in 2025.

This could be the difference maker against Super Bowl LX new England Patriots.

“It’s been great,” McDonald said of the hard work to reach the playoffs. “We’ve got to be vigilant with it and keep doing the work we’re doing. I’m sure there’s some wrinkles we can iron out as well. But it’s an important part of our short-yardage package.”

philadelphia eagles Started using the tush push seriously in 2022, adding his own twist to the traditional quarterback sneak. Most notably: lining up a pair of players behind the quarterback. jalen hurts Helping him cross the line to achieve it. This has become a signature play in low-yardage situations for the defending Super Bowl champions.

But opposition to the game from other teams – ostensibly over player safety concerns – became so widespread last offseason that a proposed ban to vote in may. Most NFCs were in favor of the ban, but it was two votes short of the 24 votes needed for passage. The Seahawks were not among the 10 teams that voted to continue playing the game, even though McDonald and general manager John Schneider had previously expressed public support for the tush push.

“I think it’s a good play and we’ve got to defend it,” McDonald said earlier in the offseason, “and maybe we’ll execute it one day.”

With games allowed, and one of their NFC counterparts still planning to use it to their advantage, the Seahawks decided they would do the same.

The Seahawks struggled in short-yardage situations last season, with their 58.8% (20 of 34) conversion rates ranking third and fourth worst in the NFL, according to ESPN Research. So when McDonald hired Kubiak to replace Grubb, he had his new coordinator install a tush push — only with Barner running it, not the quarterback. Sam Darnold.

Why Barner?

“He’s big,” McDonald said.

Darnold, at 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds, doesn’t have as big a body as the Bills quarterback josh allen (6-5, 237), who Buffalo regularly uses on pass rushes. Hurts (6-1, 223) is built like a running back and can squat up to 600 pounds.

During his time as the Ravens’ defensive coordinator, McDonald saw Baltimore occasionally use the 6-foot-5, 250-pound tight end mark andrews On tush push plays. McDonald thought Barner, who stands 6 feet 6 inches and 251 pounds, could handle Seattle’s version.

“I don’t ask for much, but it was something I asked for from our offense,” said McDonald, who ran Seattle’s defense.

The Seahawks kept the game mostly under wraps throughout the offseason. The first time they ran it with a rookie quarterback outside of closed practices. Jalen Miller In preseason. But they had long been planning to use Barner in that role. Their 2024 fourth-round pick played his first two years at quarterback at Aurora High School just outside Cleveland, so taking snaps was nothing new for him.

“It’s a decision we made in the spring and it’s a credit to everyone involved,” McDonald said. “It involves ball handling, and the ball is really important, so you want to make sure you take care of that first and foremost. So he’s taken a lot of snaps during the offseason and he’s been willing to put in the extra work, which is a credit to him.”

Between the regular season and playoffs, the Seahawks have converted 10 of 11 tush push attempts, all on either third-and-1 or fourth-and-1. Barner, channeling his QB past, has been quite effective with tight counts forcing the defense offside four times.

except for Barner scored a touchdown Through that game, 11 scoring drives extending into another 13 first downs were generated, four of which resulted in TDs.

Darnold has lined up deep in the backfield on every scrimmage and stayed there safely away from the field. One idea to keep him on the field is so that when he sacrifices a potential blocker/pusher, it doesn’t telegraph that a pass push is coming. It also gives Seattle an opportunity to return to a play with Darnold under center.

“AJ is the leader in our offense,” Kubiak said. “He’s a guy we can all rely on. If it’s not the quarterback handling the ball, AJ has done a great job at it. He’s a physical guy. It’s something that started in April and we’ve gotten a lot of practice reps in.”

Barner considered More of a blocker than a receiver entering the 2024 draft, he caught only 22 passes during his final college season while helping Michigan win a national championship. But he has become a full-fledged tight end in two NFL seasons.

As a rookie, he performed better than many expected in the passing game, finishing with 30 catches for 245 yards and four touchdowns. The promise he showed was factored into Seattle’s decision to release the veteran noah fantastic Barner was promoted to Seattle’s starter after taking over the No. 2 role through 2024 as part of a cost-cutting move last summer.

Barner took a significant leap forward as a receiver in 2025, more than doubling his rookie yardage with 519 during the regular season, third-most on the team. His 52 catches and six receiving touchdowns were second only to both Pro Bowl wideouts Jackson Smith-Njigba.

Despite being on the Seahawks’ injury report seven of 10 weeks leading up to their divisional round win over the 49ers, Barner has played in all 19 games.

“I like to play physical … and that can take a toll on your body,” he said. “But everything is fine on my side. Whatever I need to do to be ready for the game is going to be done.”

This includes spending time in a hyperbaric chamber, massage therapy and acupuncture. Last offseason, this included training with Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell.

After connecting with NFL reporter and training guru Jay Glazer, Barner began working with the UFC legend at Proactive Sports Performance in the Los Angeles area, where he now spends most of his offseason time.

He said, “I have a wrestling background, and when I perform at my best, I’m really in the UFC mentality of kill or be killed.” “Not that it’s like that, but it’s intense, and when I channel it and play with that energy, I feel like I play my best. So I was able to work on some stuff with those guys in the offseason. … There’s not a lot of guys that do that, so I feel like it gives me an edge.”

Barner used those sessions — about 10 of them, each lasting about an hour — to supplement her normal workout routine.

“A lot of grappling, a lot of levitation stuff, and just working with the weird ‘Iceman’ dog,” Barner said. “It was sick. Talking to him about how it is.” [as a fighter] When the lights go out and you walk out. This is very good work.”

One of the ways the work has paid off is tush push, a sport in which leverage is paramount.

Thanks in part to a strong push, the Seahawks have converted 26 of 36 attempts on third or fourth down in 19 of their games. Their regular season conversion rate on such plays (73.5%) was the eighth best in the league. Charbonnet was responsible for five of his conversions, and six of his team’s 12 rushing touchdowns were from 1 or 2 yards.

The Seahawks lost Charbonnet for the remainder of the playoffs after suffering an ACL injury in the divisional round, meaning more of their short-yardage scheme may be on Barner’s plate in Super Bowl LX.

Despite allowing the fourth-fewest points and eighth-fewest yards during the regular season, the Patriots’ defense has allowed opponents to convert 33 of 42 attempts (78.6%) on third or fourth-and-1 in their 20 games.

Barner said he would “love” to run Tush Push in the Super Bowl.

“Hopefully we’ll get it called,” he said. “It would be amazing to do it on that stage.”