The Pittsburgh Steelers are on their way shortly to Kansas City to take on the Chiefs tomorrow night, but before we get there, let’s revisit their offensive performance against the Dolphins on Sunday in the Wildcard Round as I bring you my offensive charting notes for their first playoff game.
- Personnel formations:
- 10: 2/59 (3.4%)
- 11: 30/59 (50.8%)
- 12: 4/59 (6.8%)
- 13: 8/59 (13.6%)
- 21: 1/59 (1.7%)
- 22: 10/59 (16.9%)
- 23: 2/59 (3.4%)
- V-32: 2/59 (3.4%)
- It was a bit surprising that the Steelers still managed to play just over half their snaps out of the 11, though, still, that’s a pretty low number. Run formations were heavily represented, with one or even no receivers on the field for a full third of their snaps.
- This is the first time in a good long while that they used any four-receiver sets. I believe they only did that in a couple of games early in the season, without checking my notes. Wasn’t expecting to see that out of the blue. One came on first and 10 deep in their own end, and the other on third and 11. The former was successful, the latter resulted in an eight-yard scramble.
- As you can probably guess, Chris Hubbard got a lot of work, seeing 20 snaps. He played on all 13 and 22 personnel snaps.
- Another interesting thing to note is that David Johnson has been the Steelers’ main tight end for obvious run looks this year. He was on the field for all but two snaps in which they used fewer than three wide receivers.
- The only time Antonio Brown came off the field is when the Steelers went to a 23 look at the goal line for two plays to score a rushing touchdown.
- There was a surprising diversity of looks within their three-receiver sets, with Darrius Heyward-Bey, Cobi Hamilton, and Demarcus Ayers fairly evenly splitting reps.
- The Dolphins didn’t blitz much, and that was probably wise. Both of Brown’s touchdowns came against blitzes. They did force a few incompletions, though one was a drop.
- The Steelers attempted five deep passes of 15 yard or more. None of them were completed, though one was on a free play, and another drew a pass interference. Another came on third and eight, while the other two were intercepted. Not a good day for the long ball.
- Average depth of target – 8.6
- Antonio Brown – 8.4 (9 targets)
- Darrius Heyward-Bey – 17 (2 targets)
- Cobi Hamilton – 6 (1 target)
- Eli Rogers – 0 (1 target)
- Demarcus Ayers – 2 (2 targets)
- Jesse James – 10.5 (2 targets)
- Le’Veon Bell – -1.5 (2 targets)
