At what point does futility become commendable? It is a fair question to ask, perhaps, or at least it feels that way for those who watch Pittsburgh Steelers games. There likely is not a worse team in the league at the start of games. Entering Sunday, the Steelers’ 11 first-quarter non-scoring drives of three or fewer plays were the most in the NFL—and they added three more yesterday.
Indeed, Pittsburgh blanked on its first four possessions, only picking up its first first down about 20 minutes into the game. While the Jacksonville Jaguars hardly compiled an insurmountable lead during that time, it was just the latest example of a bad start creating a hole to be dug out of. This time they couldn’t, but head coach Mike Tomlin downplayed its significance.
“The early portions of the game doesn’t decide the outcome”, he said after the game, via the team’s website. “It usually doesn’t. It didn’t today. Obviously, you want more fluid starts, but it didn’t determine the outcome of the game. I thought the critical things were the things that transpired in the second half. The long score, the turnover, things you can’t do as you’re leaning in on the last portion of a football game”.
The Steelers went into halftime down 9-3, though it could have been a different story. Indeed, they could have been leading. They had a touchdown for the taking on their penultimate drive of the half with better execution. On the next possession, they connected on a 55-yard field goal before a phantom penalty forced a re-kick from 61 yards out that was unsuccessful. Change those two plays and it’s a different game.
Still, while Tomlin is correct in stating that the bad start on offense did not determine the outcome—in that the Steelers still could have won if they performed better later on—the pattern is troubling and unhelpful. You can’t keep digging yourself holes to sit in with the expectation that a rope will always be available to climb out.
Everyone in that locker room, including Tomlin, talks weekly about the importance of getting out to faster starts. Yet when they don’t perform in that capacity, it gets brushed over. The poor starts are one of the reasons they are 4-3. If they didn’t start so poorly against the San Francisco 49ers and the Houston Texans, perhaps they would have been in those games as well. As it was, they were uncompetitive and frankly embarrassing.
So Tomlin can downplay the significance of starting yesterday’s game with four consecutive three-and-out drives as the Steelers continue to stockpile a cache of series of futility, but it doesn’t make it any better. Football is 60 minutes, not 45 or 15. And the first 15 minutes matter, just as the last 15 do. They all shape the eventual outcome. You don’t hurt yourself by scoring on early possessions, I know that much. Give it a try sometime, Mike. You might like it.
