As if you needed more proof of how much better and more potent the Pittsburgh Steelers’ passing game is this season, they’re connecting on big plays that were previously painful to pull off. Even with Justin Fields, but especially under Russell Wilson, the Steelers are hitting the long ball. It’s mostly in the form of air yards, but there’s also been a YAC attack of catching short and running long.
To put that in perspective, below is a table of the Steelers’ 20-plus yard completions and the team’s league-wide rank. This isn’t just air yards but any completion gaining 20 or more, the standard of an explosive passing play.
| Year | 20+ Yard Completions | NFL Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 49 (Projected 64) | 3rd |
| 2023 | 41 | 27th |
| 2022 | 44 | T-23rd |
| 2021 | 41 | T-27th |
| 2020 | 48 | 17th |
| 2019 | 37 | Last |
| 2018 | 62 | 4th |
Through just 13 games with four more to go, Pittsburgh already has more 20-plus yard completions than any of the past five seasons. Even knowing how much the passing game has struggled, that’s still a number hard to believe. The change in ranking is obvious. The last three years, even Ben Roethlisberger’s final season, they were in the 20s. Now, they’re third, only trailing the Minnesota Vikings’ 54 and the San Francisco 49ers’ 50.
What makes the Steelers’ ranking more incredible is how little they’re throwing the ball. A 10-3 squad under a run-heavy offensive coordinator like Arthur Smith, Pittsburgh is 29th in passing attempts and 28th in completions. Exactly two percent of the Steelers’ completions this season have gone for at least 20 yards. Last season, just 1.3 percent of them did.
The last time Pittsburgh was close to this measure of success came in 2018, their last truly successful offensive season. The Steelers’ current pace arguably beats it. They’re projected to have more 20-plus yard completions. While they’re playing an extra game, the ’18 Steelers threw the ball a ton and led the league in completions and attempts. Only 1.3 percent of their completions went for 20-plus yards. The 2024 Steelers have been far more efficient.
Since Russell Wilson took over in Week 7, the Steelers rank second league-wide with 34 completions of 20 or more yards. That’s despite having a bye week, something the first-place Minnesota Vikings didn’t have. On that relative basis, Pittsburgh is tops in the league. Extrapolate that over an entire season, and the Steelers would’ve had 82, the most in aggregate since the 2001 St. Louis Rams and the Greatest Show On Turf.
It’s not the most obvious stat to illustrate the Steelers’ success, but it offers a different perspective on their passing game. Most have couched it as a better one, raising a low bar set by the past few seasons. But this data suggests an explosive, potent attack. The answer is in the middle. They’re not truly elite through the air, but they’re not simply the tallest kid in kindergarten, either.
Under Wilson, Pittsburgh has shown to be a formidable group in the air, even if their ability to create big plays will be tested for however long they’re without WR George Pickens.
