Every play looks good on the whiteboard. Every play, if drawn up perfectly, is going to hit for big yards. That’s how you scheme them, that’s why you call them. But, as I’ve said a lot this year, and as much as I love schemes and concepts, it’s not always about the X’s and the O’s. It’s about the Jimmy’s and the Joe’s.
Meaning, you have to understand your personnel as much as you know scheme. The strengths and weaknesses of your players. What they can do and just as importantly, what they can’t do.
One play against the Indianapolis Colts illustrates the Steelers’ lack that understanding. It’s just one play out of a bunch of them but it’s a key one to highlight.
As Dave Bryan posted on Twitter Sunday, RB Najee Harris often didn’t have running room and had to create for himself (though he also had a costly fumble and one terrible missed read). On this snap early in the second half, Pittsburgh’s running its “Crunch” scheme, a concept it has leaned on throughout the season. Mostly against 4-3 fronts as opposed to 3-4 defenses and it’s why we’ve seen this play call go away in recent weeks.
But the Steelers brought it back against the Colts, the team they first showed it against in 2022.
A quick explainer of the concept. Designed to be a quick-hitting run with essentially two wham blocks, down blocks that ear-hole the d-line from the side. Specifically, you get an off-ball blocker, typically the tight end, responsible for whamming and sealing inside the three-tech so the guard can immediately work to the second-level linebacker. The back runs off the outside hip/leg of the tight end and inside hip/leg of the tackle fanning out to block the defensive end. Here’s a look at how it can be drawn up.
Normally when the Steelers have called this play, they’ve used a big-blocking tight end. Someone who is effectively an extra tackle. Last year, it was TE Zach Gentry. This year, it’s been rookie TE Darnell Washington.
But for some reason on Saturday, the Steelers tried it with TE Pat Freiermuth. Doesn’t exactly fit into the camp of “big-bodied blocker.” Freiermuth is, at best, a below-average blocker, without especially great size/length or strength. He can block out in space, sure, but as an in-line guy, he’s struggled. Especially this season.
And as you’ll see below, he’s overwhelmed by the three-tech. Freiermuth has correct initial positioning and angle but the defensive tackle, Pro Bowler DeForest Buckner, walks Freiermuth backwards and into Harris and the lane he’s supposed to run to.
What’s supposed to be a quick-hitting downhill run becomes anything but. Harris is stopped, has to bounce wide, and the whole play is doomed at essentially the start. Harris tries to make something out of what is now nothing. But the play ends in further disaster, Harris fumbling the football and the Colts recovering. They found the end zone the following play.
Harris has to take care of the football, that’s his mistake alone, but this is what happens when things aren’t blocked up properly. It goes from a designed and practiced play to a free-for-all. Pittsburgh didn’t understand its personnel here. Freiermuth isn’t blocking a three-tech, let alone someone like Buckner (the Colts did flip their DTs on the TE motion that I didn’t capture above but those are things that should be spotted and noted in scouting reports, how teams respond to motion is a pretty basic check).
Sure, you could argue having Freiermuth do it instead of Washington reduces the “tell” of the play since Washington has done it many times this season. But Pittsburgh hadn’t yet run it this game and hadn’t run it in a couple weeks. They shelved the play for a couple weeks. I’m sure the Colts were aware of the Steelers’ tendency but still, give me the guy who can execute the block and lose a little bit of the surprise element versus the guy who can’t make the block.
Put your players in position to succeed. In a sentence, that sums up coaching. While the players have their own host of problems, this isn’t either/or, stuff like this can and should be avoided. If the Steelers understand their personnel and not just the play call.
