If blocking and tackling are fundamental to football, then snapping the ball is the most basic building block. Invented by John Heisman in 1893, directing the center to actually hike the ball to the quarterback instead of the original way of rolling the ball back to him, it’s literally the beginning of every offensive play in history.
And yet. It’s the play Pittsburgh just can’t get right. Dating back to training camp, these woes have followed them through the preseason and through the first month of the regular season. As obvious as it is, it’s worth revisiting all the problems they’ve had so far.
Below is a cut-up of the eight snap issues the Steelers have had this season across their seven games (three preseason, four regular season). More than one per game. They’ve only been completely clean once in their four regular-season contests, the Week 3 win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
It’s been a variety of issues. Botched exchanges under center, three times from shotgun when Fields wasn’t expecting the ball, and I included the one from Sunday when C Zach Frazier stepped on QB Justin Fields, leaving him unable to get away from center and nearly causing a fumble. That might not have been a true exchange problem, but the initial footwork is an extension of that.
The reasons here are likely multiple and blame can be assigned to multiple people, I’m sure. Pittsburgh has a young interior offensive line that’s featured a rookie center in Zach Frazier, a rookie left guard in Mason McCormick, and second-year guard in Spencer Anderson.
But none of these are excuses. It doesn’t make an inability to snap the ball cleanly any more acceptable. It was hardly tolerable in training camp when valuable reps were lost, unacceptable in the preseason inside stadiums, and infuriating in the regular season.
Incredibly, the Steelers haven’t turned the ball over on any of these eight snaps. Statistically, that feels almost impossible. And while the players know they have to clean things up, maybe the fact they haven’t truly been hurt by these fumbles have made them too complacent. Heck, they’ve actually gained yards on a couple of these. Of course, yesterday’s final miscue, of which Fields took blame, ended a drive that likely would’ve ended in a game-tying Chris Boswell attempt.
Even knowing that these issues have largely occurred on the road, which puts more stress and strain on cadence, they don’t get a pass.
Mike Tomlin should put a running loop of these mistakes on every television inside the Steelers’ facility this week. I want the entire team to be reminded of it each day, Monday through Sunday. I want them to be so sick of seeing these plays they have nightmares about another bad snap. Obviously, the wide receiver or left outside linebacker has nothing to do with these issues, but I want the whole team to feel it. And I want the people directly responsible, center, quarterback, and the guards on silent counts, to have that weight on them. It’s centered on Justin Fields and Zach Frazier but also the young guards, McCormick and Anderson. Fortunately, Isaac Seumalo looks likely to return Week 5, though RG James Daniels could miss a chunk of time.
This is something they’re obviously capable of doing and something they’ve done correctly about 99 percent of the time. But 99 percent isn’t good enough. Airlines don’t tout “99-percent success” in safe landings. The standard is perfection, 100 percent. That’s the bar that must be set.
I know this is obvious and hardly even “film” even if I re-watched every single Steelers snap this year. But if you can’t figure out the basics, then nothing else matters. This wouldn’t fly on a seventh-grade squad, let alone an NFL unit. There shouldn’t be one more bad snap again this season. This is Football 101, and the Steelers are getting a failing grade.
