There were no touchdowns in Week 1 for the Pittsburgh Steelers, but that didn’t cause any problems. Thanks to Chris Boswell, they were able to beat the Atlanta Falcons, 18-10, but they probably still weren’t satisfied with that offensive effort. Arthur Smith seems particularly disappointed that the Steelers couldn’t score a touchdown on their longest drive of the day.
Speaking to the media on Thursday, Smith talked about the drive that ended in a failed fourth-down conversion for the Steelers.
“The one thing that I wish we had handled, that long drive we had, we really could have gone for the kill shot there,” Smith said via ESPN’s Brooke Pryor. “Credit to them, they out-executed us on third and two and fourth and one, but that took a lot of clock and we were rolling them off the ball.”
The drive Smith referenced started near the beginning of the fourth quarter. The Steelers were only up 15-10, so there was still a real avenue for the Falcons to take the lead. It was a drive that needed to end in points or take time off the clock. Doing both would’ve been ideal, but like Smith said, the Steelers went for the kill.
The drive did take seven minutes off the clock, so the Steelers were successful there, but they got a little too greedy in the red zone. With eight minutes to go, the Steelers faced a third and two, only managing to gain one yard. They went no huddle for fourth down, attempting to catch the Falcons off guard, but their attempt failed, leaving them with nothing to show for such a promising drive.
It seemed like the issue on that fourth-down play was a lack of clear communication. The Steelers tried to use hurry up to leave the Falcons confused, but it took too long for them to get set. The Steelers could have just settled for a field goal there, which would have probably been just as good. It would’ve meant the Falcons could do no better than tie the game.
Ultimately, the Falcons were better prepared than the Steelers on that play. Linebacker Nate Landman made an impressive play by jumping over the line of scrimmage to halt Justin Fields’ momentum. It’s true that a touchdown there would have basically sealed the game, but that’s a tough spot to put a young offensive line in.
In the end, it was no harm, no foul, and Smith’s line of thinking wasn’t awful. We’ll see if that communication improves with time. It sounds like Smith is hungry for the offense to score a touchdown though, so perhaps he’ll continue to stay aggressive. That wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.
