With an offense building brick by brick and the NFL’s most elite defense, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has no issue living in his fears. After being the most conservative “go for it” team last season, the Steelers are in a similar spot through three weeks of 2024. According to Pro Football Focus’ aggressiveness metric, a system that measures if teams follow the analytics and go for it on fourth down instead of punting or kicking, the Steelers are the one of the safest teams.
They rank 31st in aggressiveness, only ahead of the Los Angeles Chargers, the only two teams to earn the “conservative” label from the site.
Pittsburgh has attempted only one fourth down, a failed QB sneak in the season opener against the Atlanta Falcons. But there’s good reason for Tomlin to play it safe. He has one of football’s best kickers in Chris Boswell, making 39 of his last 42 attempts with two misses coming from 60-plus yards. And Tomlin currently boasts the league’s best defense, putting up electric numbers even considering the small sample size. The Steelers are the first team in 15 years to hold their first three opponents at or under 10 points.
In the world the Steelers win, low-scoring slugfests, punts, field goals, and field position aren’t dirty words. It’s helped that Pittsburgh has also played with a lead throughout most of the year and hasn’t felt a need to be aggressive to gain an edge or get back into a game.
It certainly says something that the Chargers are right there with them. A team whose personality mirrors the Steelers. Play great defense, run the heck out of the football. And they have an old-school coach, though their Ravens flair makes them analytically advanced, having multiple staff members who focus on crunching the numbers (which is used for a variety of things, not just fourth-down decisions).
The most aggressive team in the league resides across the state. The Philadelphia Eagles rank No. 1 through three games, still running the Tush Push even without center Jason Kelce. The Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Rams, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Miami Dolphins round out the top five.
