Last year, sprint outs were the bane of my existence. I hated them with a burning passion and ranted as much in articles, videos, and on the podcast. Not because they are inherently poor plays — they aren’t — but Pittsburgh Steelers OC Matt Canada called them at the worst time.
A year ago, they got called on second and long. If it was second and 11, you could count on a sprint out coming. At one point six weeks into last season, over 20 percent of Canada’s calls on second and 7 or longer were some variation of a sprint out. Just as importantly, he refused to use them in short-yardage situations when it made the most sense to call them. They’re plays designed to get you a couple of yards and probably not more. At the time, I dubbed it the most annoying play call in the world. And it was.
To provide some definition, the sprint out is as it sounds. The quarterback rolling, or sprinting, to one side, with a short two-man route concept for him to hit. That is often either a smash concept, a curl and a corner route, or a speed out with a more vertical route to clear it out.
To gain a better understanding before relating it to the Steelers-Raiders game, here’s one such example with the All-22 view last year in Week Two against the New England Patriots.
Let’s take it to last night’s game. Canada called these sprint outs a handful of times, at least three, but in much better situations. Two were completed. The first came on first and 10, the initial play of an early second-quarter drive. Pickett sprinted left and hit TE Pat Freiermuth open on a speed out in the left flat. He had leverage on the inside-aligned defender and was able to turn upfield after making the grab, a good YAC ball by Pickett, to gain 14 yards.
Even if Freiermuth can’t turn upfield here, it’s still gaining about five yards. You take that on first down. That keeps you on schedule, puts you in second and manageable, and opens up the playbook. But here, it gets Pittsburgh a first down, a solid start on a drive that ended with a Chris Boswell field goal.
The second completion was even more valuable. It came in a gotta-have-it-situation. Steelers up five, 23-18, with 2:12 left in the game, Pittsburgh facing third and 2. What’s the call? The Steelers came out in empty, aligning RB Najee Harris as a wing. Pickett again sprinted to his left and found WR Allen Robinson II wide open for the grab and conversion. It was a perfect play call to counter the Raiders’ blitz, sending the nickel corner off the edge in the hopes of sacking Pickett had he done a traditional drop back.
It’s a gain of six yards and a first down. That’s all you need on third and 2. Don’t need 20 yards. Just convert and kill some clock. Pittsburgh did have to punt the ball away but the Raiders got the ball back with just 12 seconds left, Levi Wallace ending the game one play later.
Here’s another look at the Robinson grab.
These are the times for these calls. Getting easy yards, layups, on first and 10 to get the offense going. Converting on third and short when you gotta move the sticks. The calls are the same as last year but they’re used in far smarter situations. And the results paid off. Kudos to Matt Canada for adjusting and watching it live, calling a pretty solid game. In big moments, he and this offense came up large.
