One more series before we get into training camp and speed ahead towards the Pittsburgh Steelers’ regular season. A numbers to note campaign, focusing on one specific number we want to see the Steelers change in 2023. Some may be individual, some unit, and some team. Next up in the series:
NUMBERS TO NOTE: Steelers’ Red Zone Offense (51.9%)
Remember that Jim Carrey movie, The Number 23? That horror movie, a different direction compared to his otherwise funny-man career. That’s the Pittsburgh Steelers’ red zone offense. Because for each of the last two seasons under Matt Canada as the team’s OC, the Steelers have finished 23rd in red zone offense.
In 2021, it sat at 54%. Last year, it dipped to under 52%. Obviously, that’s not a winning formula. And it’s why the Steelers’ offense has felt so anemic, ranked in the 20s in scoring in both those years. Pretty simple concept. Settle for field goals instead of red zone touchdowns in a high-scoring world and you’re going to struggle to compete. This goes hand-in-hand with Kenny Pickett’s low completion percentage we recently mentioned.
What if the Steelers were just slightly better than average here? Let’s say they were 60%. That’d mean Pittsburgh found the end zone four more times than it did and a nearly two-points-per-game, going from 18.1 to 19.8. It might not seem like much but for a Steelers team habitually in one-score games, it can be a massive difference. And it’s just one way of several for Pittsburgh to put more points up on the board.
Over the last decade, Pittsburgh’s red zone offense has underwhelmed despite some talented offenses. To their credit, they were #1 in 2018 but that’s the only season since 2016 they’ve even ranked in the top 19. That’s just not acceptable, not with the talent the Steelers have.
They don’t have to be #1 again this season but with a stronger offensive line, better run game, and a ton of big guys to throw too down low, this unit has to get out of the bottom third. If they can’t, that might be justification alone to dump OC Matt Canada and find someone else.
