An interesting fact about yesterday’s game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the San Francisco 49ers is that, while the 49ers retained possession of the football for nearly 15 minutes more (37:23 to 22:37) than the Steelers, they only ran five more plays (66 to 61).
How to account for this? Well, the Steelers attempted 15 more passes and had five more incompletions, so that’s five more opportunities for which the clock was not running. The 49ers also had the lead from their opening possession, so they had no interest in preserving the clock.
Even though they didn’t play significantly more snaps by the end of the game, the Steelers’ defense was on the field a lot longer than their counterparts, and that was especially true earlier in the game. It was a recipe for disaster.
“It became a time of possession component of it as well. The defense that’s on the grass is gonna die on the vine in early September”, head coach Mike Tomlin said yesterday in his post-game press conference, via the team’s website.
Translating that, what he’s saying is that when your defense is on the field a lot in the early portions of the season when endurance is not at its highest levels, the unit is going to wear down, make mistakes, and get beaten.
Consider this: the Steelers did not have a single possession that lasted longer than two minutes until the second half. Their longest possession was their first, running for 1:45. Their first five possessions, of course, consisted of three plays each, with four three-and-outs and one three-and-interception.
By contrast, the 49ers’ opening possession stretched for nearly four minutes, which alone was nearly as long as the Steelers possessed the ball on their first three drives. Their next four possessions averaged over four minutes.
“They did a lot of things well, but I don’t know of anything specifically. It was an accumulation of variables, if you will”, Tomlin said in explaining how the 49ers kept things moving while they did not. “We’ve got to get off on defense. We’ve got to convert on offense.
“Just look at the time of possession. I think the last time I looked up it was 36 or something to 22 something. The day is gonna unfold the way you desire when it’s lopsided like that. And it boils down to possession-down play”.
It also didn’t help that the Steelers were battling injuries, with both Cameron Heyward and DeMarvin Leal along the defensive front exiting the game. Larry Ogunjobi was already nursing some type of foot ailment even though he played. It’s safe to say those are not ideal circumstances.
