The Pittsburgh Steelers defense hasn’t done a very good job this season at defending against deep passes and this Sunday at the Georgia Dome, they’ll more than likely have their hands full again in that area with the Atlanta Falcons.
So far this season, Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan is 28-of-45 (62.2%) on passes thrown more than 15 yards past the line of scrimmage at home. That completion percentage is tops in the league entering Week 15.
Ryans’s favorite deep pass target is wide receiver Julio Jones as he has caught 16-of-28 deep passes thrown his way at home this season. Jones, who is likely considered questionable right now for Sunday’s game against the Steelers with a hip injury, also has all three of the deep touchdown pass receptions thrown at home by Ryan this season.
Ryan’s deepest home completion thrown so far this season has gone for a long of 41 yards. On the road it’s 79 yards. In the last four games that the Steelers have played, they’ve allowed opposing offenses to complete passes that were season-highs for them as far as yardage goes.
Just so you know, the Steelers defense has allowed 52.4% of all passes thrown more than 15 yards past the line of scrimmage to be completed this season and only four other teams have allowed a higher percentage.
