Prior to the start of the regular season, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said that he envisioned this offense as one that he believes could put up 30 points a game, but through the first 12 games of the season, the defending AFC North champions are averaging just 25.9 points per game.
That is more than four points off Roethlisberger’s admittedly lofty goal, though it is still good enough to rank the team sixth in the league in terms of points scored. The Cardinals, Patriots, and Panthers are the three teams who have managed to average over 30 points per game, which is an impressive feat.
But the Steelers have managed to average over 30 points per game in their home stadium, having already played eight of their eight games slated to take place in Heinz Field, which is a notable achievement.
Of course, one of Pittsburgh’s major issues a year ago was the inability to score points on the road, and there was a stark contrast between home offense and road offense. It is a theme that has continued this season, though not as drastically, and with more mitigating circumstances.
Predictably, the Steelers’ four highest-scoring games of the season have come in Pittsburgh, putting up 43 against the 49ers, 38 on the Raiders, 30 on the Browns, and finally a season-high 45 points on the Colts
But they have also scored just 20, 25, and 10 in their other three home games. In total, they average 30. 14 points per game in Heinz Field, with one final home game remaining against Denver, which boasts easily one of the top defensive units in the league.
The road scoring has been much more difficult to come by. The first game out of the bye week in Seattle is the first and only time the Steelers have managed to crack 30 points away from Pittsburgh this season, with the second-highest total being 24. In their other three road results, they have put up 21, 12, and 13 points, and average exactly 20 points per game on the road.
As previously mentioned, that works out to a season total of 25.9 points per game through 12 games. In order to reach the 30 points per game season total, the Steelers would have to score 169 points over the course of the final four games.
That works out to an average of 42.25 points per game, and considering that they have only scored over 40 points twice this year, that seems rather unlikely. But given the way they have been scoring over the past month, it figures that they should be able to elevate their total at least somewhat.
The Steelers have scored 143 points in their last four games, averaging just under 36 points per game, as they appear to be heating up at the right time. But three of their final four games are on the road. In Roethlisberger’s three road games, the offense has put up 21, 12, and 30 points, so there is certainly room for improvement.
