Just when things seemed to be going well for the Pittsburgh Steelers coming off of a win over the Cleveland Browns in Week 14, moving all that much closer to clinching a playoff spot and adding to their lead in the division, Sunday’s performance against the Philadelphia Eagles was rather poor as the Steelers were outplayed and outcoached.
Now, just one week after being talked up as a legitimate Super Bowl contender for the Steelers’ performance against the Browns without the services of wide receiver George Pickens, many of the talking heads are seemingly jumping ship after the 27-13 loss to the Eagles.
That includes former NFL head coach Rex Ryan. Appearing on ESPN’s Get Up Monday morning, Ryan wasn’t just jumping ship on the Steelers after the loss to the Eagles, he wants a quarterback change for the Black and Gold.
“Yeah, you should [panic]. And I’m gonna tell you that they’re not as good as the record as they are,” Ryan said of the Steelers, according to video via ESPN. “I mean, they really aren’t. He’s [Mike Tomlin] a great coach, now don’t get me wrong. But ever since Russ [Wilson] took over — and this is why I like Justin Fields better. The impact that Russ has had on the rushing game, they’re absolutely atrocious running the football. Now, look, that was to be expected. You don’t have Justin Fields running the ball and things like that.
“But they are running at a 37-percent success rate, averaging an incredible 3.8 yards per carry over that eight-game span.”
The Steelers ran for just 56 yards on Sunday against the Eagles, consistently getting manhandled at the line of scrimmage. There really wasn’t any running room, and that’s more of a credit to the Eagles’ defensive front than anything. They are very good, and they won their matchups consistently.
The Steelers just didn’t execute, period. It happens.
But taking that performance and making a grand statement like Ryan did that the Steelers are atrocious running the football is rather absurd. And stating that he’d rather have Fields in the game due to his rushing abilities just doesn’t really make much sense.
In the six games that Fields started for the Steelers, Pittsburgh averaged 33 rushing attempts for 131.5 yards. Solid number. but that’s also 3.98 yards per carry, not some magical number Ryan was attempting to state it was with Fields under center.
In the eight games that Russell Wilson has been the quarterback, the Steelers are averaging 32 rushing attempts for 123 yards, so one less rushing attempt and 7.5 less yards, which is 3.84 yards per carry. Not really all that big of a difference. Take away Sunday’s game against the Eagles in which the Steelers ran the ball just 17 times for 56 yards and the rushing numbers with Wilson under center jump to 34 carries a game on average for 132.5 yards per game, 3.89 yards per carry.
So, the numbers show that the Steelers are slightly worse running the football with Wilson under center compared to Fields. But it’s not some massive gap that should have the Steelers considering turning to Fields again, like Ryan wants them to do.
“I don’t see Russell Wilson playing a whole hell of a lot better than Justin Fields. In fact, I see the opposite when it counts the most in the red zone,” Ryan says. “Going into this game, they were 43% efficiency iscoring touchdowns in the red zone with Russell Wilson and with Justin Fields in there, they were 50% and he’s way more dynamic in the run game.
“And I think you’ve lost a hell of a lot when you don’t play this kid.”
The Steelers really haven’t lost much by going from Fields to Wilson. In fact, they’ve gained more in the passing game by doing so. They also became a top 10 scoring offense with Wilson. Since the 14th-year veteran took over under center, they’ve been one of the highest-scoring offenses in the league, period.
Yes, the red zone has been an issue all season for the Steelers, but they weren’t some juggernaut in the red zone with Fields. It’s more of a schematic than quarterback issue.
It’s a fair argument that they might be harder to defend overall when you have to account for all 11 plays on a given play, especially a run with Fields under center compared to Wilson. But the numbers just aren’t that much different to even attempt to drum up the need for a change.
Former NFL linebacker and ESPN analyst Tedy Bruschi pushed back on Ryan’s comments about Fields and Wilson and wanted to nail down Ryan on his take.
Ryan doubled down on it.
“I don’t mind defending Russell Wilson. And the reason for it is all I have to do is extend the play. He’s gonna throw the ball up there deep and so I’ll stay on top, okay? And then the running game is non-existent. It’s non-existent,” Ryan said. “And that’s why to me, you do yourself a disservice. I think when Justin Fields is in there, you make them defend 11 on 11. And the rushing, the running game is so much more better when Justin Fields is in than it is with Russell Wilson.
“So again, look, he’s [Tomlin] not gonna listen to me and I get it. He has won a hell lot more than I have, but I’m just telling you, I’d much rather defend against Russell Wilson at this stage of his career than Justin Fields.”
Again, the numbers bear out that Ryan is way off the mark here. Is one more carry a game for 7.5 yards, on average, from Fields and Wilson’s stints “so much better” in favor of Fields? The answer is no. Ryan also stated the Steelers are 29th in rushing this season. The Steelers sit 10th in the NFL in rushing yards per game at 126.6.
They’re 30th in yards per carry at 3.9, per Pro Football Reference, but again, that was the same average of YPC when Fields was the QB.
They just got beat up by a great team Sunday, negating any shot at running the football. It happens. It happened without their best playmaker on the outside, too, in George Pickens, making them a bit easier to defend. They got outcoached. Again, it happens.
But there’s no need to have a QB change discussion because of rushing yards since the numbers show they’re largely the same.
