Ben Roethlisberger was just as surprised as the rest of Steelers’ Nation. Facing a fourth and one late in the third quarter in a critical moment of the game, Pittsburgh in Houston Texans’ territory down 16-6, the Steelers opted against running the ball. Instead, they came out in shotgun, a five-step drop with no play-action, and hoped to convert.
They didn’t. Kenny Pickett was sacked, injured his knee, and the Steelers turned the ball over on downs. Houston promptly marched downfield for another touchdown to essentially put the game away. On the latest episode of his Footbahlin podcast, Ben Roethlisberger gave his thoughts on the play call, weighing the pros and cons.
“I hated the play call,” Roethlisberger told his co-host Spence.
Before the play, the Steelers took a timeout, which Mike Tomlin cited was due to the refs changing the spot of the ball, making it a longer yard than Pittsburgh initially anticipated. Roethlisberger expected the team to either run a quarterback sneak, send RB Najee Harris up the middle, or at most, play-action, comparing the moment to Las Vegas Raiders’ WR Davante Adams’ touchdown a week ago.
“Those are your options,” Roethlisberger thought before the Steelers broke the huddle. “It has to be those three things. And they come out in shotgun and I’m like, ‘Oh, maybe they’re gonna draw them offsides.'”
Instead, Pittsburgh did none of the above and conventionally dropped back. Pickett didn’t have his first read opened, spun and scrambled to his left, ran into pressure, and was sacked. He twisted and injured his knee on the play, though he appears to have suffered only a minor injury.
“They snap the ball and I see they’re running a little choice route and. I’m just like, ‘oh no.’ I don’t believe it. Of course, Kenny, he gets sacked. He probably had the backside in-route potentially. But, again, that’s us looking back on film.”
Let’s go to the tape of the play. It’s a half-field read with WR Allen Robinson, the receiver furthest to the bottom, running a speed out. But the Texans are in Cover 2, the CB clouding and taking it away. Nothing else to that side is immediately available either. That’s when Pickett tries to scramble out and runs himself into the sack.
The backside route he’s referring to is WR Calvin Austin III, running a dig route as the ‘X’ receiver away from the initial read. It’s a ball that could’ve possibly been thrown but he’s not part of the initial progression.
While Roethlisberger isn’t defending the call, he tried to explain why the team might have chosen to call it in that situation.
“When you go into a game Saturday night or the night before a game, you go through the play sheets. You will pick your top two or three. Third and short, third and medium, third and longs. All the quarterbacks are in there. Quarterbacks coach, offensive coordinator. And it’s like, ‘okay, which is your favorite?'”
Roethlisberger’s theory is that was one of the calls Pickett liked in that situation. Perhaps that’s true. None of us on the outside knows. But what might dismiss that idea is the fact Pittsburgh ran the exact same concept earlier in the game. They used it in the first half on 2nd and 16. Robinson was the primary read and Pickett hit him for eight yards.
Having the same play call for 2nd and long and 4th and one is certainly a choice. My best guess of the situation is that this play call was Canada-driven, not Pickett-driven, and the team was expecting the Texans to play Cover 3 in this situation, just as they did on the first play, the completion to Robinson. That Houston would come out and put an extra defender in the box, assuming the Steelers were going to run it, and Pickett would again hit Robinson uncontested in the flats.
But the Texans played Cover 2 on fourth down, the corner taking Robinson away, and what was supposed to be a quick-hitting play turned into anything but.
“It didn’t feel like a specialty play,” Roethlisberger said, noting that play calls in those situations are often tailored to that moment.
And he’s right. That was just a “normal” play that the Steelers used earlier in the game.
There’s no reason to call that play on fourth down. And calling the same plays on 2nd and forever as you do on 4th and short is some lousy game planning. Yet again, Canada is calling something hoping to see the exact same coverage. And yet again, defenses are adjusting and staying one step ahead. With how well RB Najee Harris had been running the ball that quarter, he’s the one who should’ve had the football in such a crucial moment that genuinely could’ve allowed Pittsburgh to get back into the game.
Check out the full episode below.
