How the Pittsburgh Steelers offense performs under Arthur Smith remains to be seen. Ideally, the running game is strong out of the gate, the tight ends are highly involved in the passing game, and the team puts together its first above-average unit in four years. One thing that should be taken to the bank is a spike in play-action usage under Smith compared to past coordinators and systems.
In a chart shared by Ryan Heath Wednesday morning, each offense’s motion and play-action rates were mapped out. While Smith’s Atlanta Falcons and the Steelers had similar motion rates, their play-action usage was night and day. Pittsburgh at the bottom, Atlanta closer to the top.
Pittsburgh being last in play-action isn’t a new finding, by them or by us. Our Clayton Eckert studied the concept earlier in the offseason while the Steelers have been ranked at or near the bottom for years. Late in the Ben Roethlisberger era, the supposition was his bad knees and declining mobility was the reason for the team’s lack of play fakes. But under Steelers quarterbacks of the past two years, including the more mobile Mitch Trubisky and Kenny Pickett, Pittsburgh’s play-action rates remained among the lowest in football.
That will change under Smith. His wide-zone run game pairs with play-action, changing the quarterback’s launch point and getting him on the move off bootlegs and rollouts. It’s a system Russell Wilson is comfortable with, getting in space and having better sight lines to mitigate his lack of height to see over the middle from within the pocket.
That combination should allow the Steelers’ offense to have more and improved layered/constraint plays, building one concept off the other. It’ll make the run and play-action game look the same to defenses, keeping them off balance and Pittsburgh one step ahead.
Based on that chart, most successful offenses utilize play-action at an at least average rate. There are some exceptions, San Francisco the most notable, but four of the top five scoring units ranked above-average in play-action rate last season. Play-action alone won’t make Pittsburgh automatically successful, but it will be a fundamental ingredient the offense has been missing for years.
