I’m back – again – to talk about the Pittsburgh Steelers’ play-action changes from Justin Fields to Russell Wilson. I figured on a Tuesday that is a rehashing of the same things you’ve heard the last three months, the trade deadline and Election Day, repeating myself here would fall right in line.
So play-action. A big deal and a big change once Wilson was inserted into the lineup. Having more time to pour over the numbers, the contrast only gets starker. Like we did before, here’s a breakdown of play-action effectiveness with Fields versus Wilson. I just looked at simple categories. Attempts and passing yards and the yards-per-attempt you get from examining both figures.
| Stat | Justin Fields PA | Russell Wilson PA |
|---|---|---|
| Attempts | 46 | 21 |
| Yards | 250 | 275 |
| Yards/Attempt | 5.4 | 13.1 |
Some interesting and drastically different figures. Wilson is already up to 21 attempts in just two starts, closing in on half of Fields’ attempts. It’s worth pointing out Fields had another 14 dropbacks that ended in scrambles or sacks, so the attempts don’t demonstrate the usage rate. Factoring that in, Fields averaged 10 play-action dropbacks per game, while Wilson has averaged 11.5 when you include his scrambles/sacks (one apiece). But the usage has been about the same.
In just two starts, Wilson has already thrown for more yards than Fields did in his six starts.
The fact that such a large percentage of Fields’ dropbacks ended in the ball not being thrown speaks even more to how inefficient the team was with him using it. Play-action should be creating easy completions and throwing lanes down the field or in the flat for YAC. This wasn’t happening with Fields. It is with Wilson.
In fairness, Wilson’s numbers feel unsustainable. He’s not going to average the gaudy relative numbers he’s posted so far. An ANY/A well over nine, a yards-per-attempt on play-action of more than 13. Those will come down. But they still figure to far exceed what Fields managed to do.
I harp on it so much because of the Steelers’ high play-action rate under Arthur Smith. It’s not a small part of the offense. Per our charting from Tom Mead, here are the team’s play-action rates year-over-year.
2024: 32.0-percent (83 of 259)
2023: 14.7-percent (88 of 597)
2022: 16.7-percent (107 of 640)
2021: 18.8-percent (136 of 722)
More than double from a year ago. In fact, Pittsburgh is likely to end the Commanders’ game Sunday using more play-action through their first nine games than they did all of last season. Arthur Smith is all about the run game and marrying play-action to it, and that’s as true with the Steelers as it was in his previous coaching stops.
It’s one of a handful of reasons why the offense has taken steps under Wilson. He sells it well, gets the defense to bite, and has open receivers downfield. Play-action’s success will be key to the offense finishing strong.
