The Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off their second win of the season, this coming over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, and are hoping to claim a third against the Cincinnati Bengals next. The offense was the driving force behind that victory, even if it was a complete game from all phases. Let’s take a look inside the numbers about how that unit was deployed.
- Personnel packages
- 01: 2/62 (3.2%)
- 11: 36/62 (56.1%)
- 12: 13/62 (21.0%)
- 13: 3/62 (4.8%)
- 22: 5/62 (8.1%)
- 23: 2/62 (3.2%)
- V-32: 1/62 (1.6%)
- For the first time this season, the Steelers deployed three or more wide receivers on the field together on less than 60 percent of their offensive snaps, though it was incredibly close. 59.3 percent, in fact, just two tenths shy of rounding up to 60 percent.
- You might surmise that that is merely a reflection of the fact that they won by three possessions, but in fact the Steelers only ran 18 of 33 first-half offensive snaps with three or more receivers on the field. And 17 of those snaps came in the two-minute offense.
- 12 of the first 13 snaps, in contrast, saw the team use two—or even more—tight ends on the field together. Overall, they used multiple tight ends, across four separate personnel packages, on 23 of 61 meaningful offensive snaps, or 37.7 percent of the time.
- Rookie Chukwuma Okorafor got seven snaps in the game as a tackle-eligible. The Steelers averaged just 1.3 yards per play on those snaps, but it included two touchdowns runs of one and two yards. One was a short-yardage snap on third and one that was not converted.
- I don’t know why, but Justin Hunter replaced Antonio Brown for one snap during the game. He also was used as the ‘victory back’ in the victory formation with Darrius Heyward-Bey
- Running back Stevan Ridley got his most extensive playing time of the season to the tune of 12 snaps. Consequently, we saw a reduction in the usage of four-receiver sets, down to just two snaps this week, a season low. Was that a product of the scoreboard or a sign of things to come?
- Ben Roethlisberger was officially one for three on deep passes this week, that one connection a 47-yard touchdown. Another deep pass drew a 38-yard pass interference call.
- He also used play action on five of 33 snaps, which for him is comparatively significant (15 percent), and he completed three of five passes for 64 yards, averaging 12.8 yards per attempt. That includes the 47-yard touchdown, however. He averaged 4.25 yards on the other four attempts.
- The Falcons’ attempts to blitz (six times) did not go well. Roethlisberger completed four of five official passes for 75 yards and a touchdown, while the sixth drew the aforementioned pass interference.
- Average depth of target: 9.1 (31 targets; 29 official)
- Vance McDonald: 6 (3 targets; 2 official)
- Xavier Grimble: 6 (1 target)
- Antonio Brown: 9.8 (13 targets)
- Jesse James: 17.7 (3 targets; 2 official)
- James Conner: -.5 (4 targets)
- JuJu Smith–Schuster: 7.8 (4 targets)
- James Washington: 23 (2 targets)
- Ryan Switzer: 2 (1 target)
