The Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t look perfect in their 18-10 win against the Atlanta Falcons, but they did enough to secure victory. For the most part, their offensive game plan seemed fine, even if it didn’t produce touchdowns. However, perhaps their most critical mistake of the day was going for it on fourth down in the red zone when they were already up 15-10.
On a new episode of his podcast, Chris Simms Unbuttoned, former NFL QB Chris Simms broke down why he was more frustrated with the Steelers’ play call than their decision to go for it on fourth down midway through the fourth quarter.
“There’s one thing I had a problem with the Steelers,” Simms said. “They were up 15-10. It was 4th and 1 on the 5-yard line. They went for it, quarterback sneak, and [Justin Fields] got nothing. Here’s my pet peeve, I don’t even care that they go for it anymore. What I don’t want to see is, don’t fucking run it up the middle.
“I’m so sick of seeing teams go, ‘Well, fourth-and-one, we’ll just run it up the middle.’ You don’t think the other team thinks that?”
That’s good criticism from Simms. The play in question came with a little over eight minutes left in the fourth quarter. The Steelers had the ball at the Falcons 6-yard line, and they ran a quarterback sneak behind the left guard. The play resulted in no gain and gave the Falcons the ball. Instead, the Steelers could have kicked a field goal to go up 18-10.
Falcons linebacker Nate Landman did make an excellent play by jumping over the offensive line to halt Justin Fields’ momentum, but the execution was still poor. The Steelers tried to go no-huddle to keep the Falcons from getting set, but they took too much time to get ready. It seemed like there was a communication issue while Fields was calling the play.
Regardless, the decision to run the play to the left side of the Steelers’ offensive line is also slightly confusing. They had backup Spencer Anderson starting in that spot for the injured Isaac Seumalo. Anderson is a young and unproven player, and it would have been interesting to see if the play would’ve been more successful if they’d run it behind James Daniels on the right side.
Interestingly enough, the Steelers ran two successful quarterback sneaks earlier in the game, but both plays came on third down and did go behind Daniels. The third attempt’s failure likely resulted from the lack of clear communication, but maybe it would have had a better chance if they’d have run it to the right side.
The Steelers also entered the game with rookie Zach Frazier starting at center, and although he looked good, it was still his first real NFL action. In that spot, where they could have ensured that the Falcons could do no better than tie the game, they left the door open to fall behind once again. Luckily, their defense held strong.
Overall, it isn’t really a huge problem because the Steelers won, but hopefully it isn’t an issue that persists. The Steelers probably felt like a touchdown would’ve truly iced the game but making it an eight-point game would’ve been just as good. With the strong rushing attack they have, there probably were other options for that scenario. Simms’ frustration is fair, but if the Steelers execute the play better in the future, it should produce as well as it did the first time.
