The Steelers are muddling through it right now, but on Tuesday, Mike Tomlin highlighted two areas of strength on offense. Specifically, he commended the group for its work in some areas of situational football, although another area needs major improvement. While early, there is one crucially important category in which the Steelers rank fourth in the NFL.
“I thought, largely, we’ve been really good in the red area”, Tomlin said, via the Steelers’ website, meaning red zone. “Obviously, until that turnover. Being good in the red area is a major component of good offensive football. You seek and desire to put points on the board and to score points. We did a lot of it in Week 1. I thought we supported our defense, appropriately so, after the big interception by [Nick] Herbig in the first half and punched that in”.
The Steelers went 3-for-3 in the red zone in Week 1, registering touchdown passes to Jonnu Smith, Jaylen Warren, and Calvin Austin III. They all came from different distances and in different situations, responding to different circumstances. On Sunday, they went 1-for-2 with a 2-yard touchdown catch by DK Metcalf.
Of course, we can’t not talk about the red-zone trip that didn’t end in seven points, especially since it should have. Arguably, the Steelers made the play they needed to in the red zone, but Austin made a mistake. Using scramble rules, he bled into Pat Freiermuth’s territory. Rodgers targeted Freiermuth, but Austin undercut the pass and failed to secure it, tipping it up for an interception. Barring that completely avoidable unforced error, the Steelers have otherwise been very good in the red zone. And they have also been good at closing out halves—three of them, anyway.
“I like the overall trajectory of us performing in situational moments”, Tomlin said of the Steelers’ offense. “We’ve been good before halftime in both games in terms of moving and putting points on the board. I like the overall trajectory of situational play. I think we’re gaining some traction in terms of consistency in our run game, but we just have to continue to have all those arrows moving upward and onward. Obviously, the agenda is to produce a winning victory”.
Through two weeks, the Steelers have scored three times with under two minutes to play in a half. That includes two touchdowns (with a two-point conversion) and a game-winning field goal. Unfortunately, they couldn’t close out the game Sunday. But more concerning is the third-down offense, where they rank 23rd. At an 80-percent conversion rate, they rank fourth, in contrast, in red-zone offense.
